The influence of intrinsic motivation and learning styles on the classroom performance of extensive reading II students.

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x ABSTRACT

Wiwoho, Argian Nicko. 2008. The Effects of Intrinsic Motivation and Learning Styles on the Performance of Extensive Reading II Students. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Programme, Sanata Dharma University.

The underlying principle that Extensive Reading does not only require the learners to comprehend the texts but also to generate critical notions about them is greatly influenced by each pupil’s individual characteristics. The referred to characteristics originate from inside, recognized as internal factors, as well as outside, recognized as external factors, the learners. The research focused on the internal factors, especially intrinsic motivation and learning styles, since they appeared to give direct influence on the learners’ performance. It calls for an investigation of how intrinsic motivation and learning styles influence each individual performance in the classroom. The learners’ classroom performance was assessed by employing behaviours rubric which covered emotional, conduct, and learning behaviours. In addition, the research also attempted to find out the way how learners overcome the existing drawbacks in carrying out the course assignments.

The research investigated the influence of intrinsic motivation and learning styles on the learners’ performance in Extensive Reading II class and involved eight research participants representing one population consisting of learners with various individual characteristics. Descriptive qualitative was the method best utilized to treat the data. Supported by mainly qualitative data collected from a questionnaire, classroom observation sheets, and interview, the research attempted to figure out (1) how intrinsic motivation and learning styles influence learners’ classroom performance and (2) how learners overcome their internal drawbacks in performing the assigned Extensive Reading II tasks.

The research revealed (1) that intrinsic motivation and learning styles functioned differently among the research participants. Research participants who shared the similar characteristics appeared to demonstrate discrepant performance in the classroom. Furthermore, (2) learners, who were intrinsically motivated and had a particular tendency on either wholistic or analytic, dealt with several problems in carrying out the course assignments. Consequently, they had different ways to overcome the existing drawbacks; some of research participants formed study groups in which each member became a proofreader for the other member. Some others were encouraged to undergo trial and error strategy in doing their projects. The rest were sometimes not enthusiastic about doing the tasks and relied on their peers’ help in completing the assignments.

Based on the findings and discussions, teachers are to design the a suitable materials, select a proper teaching methodology, implement the course design, improve the course administration, and finally re-implement the design based on the obtained feedbacks. Furthermore, the findings and discussions of this research could be generalized and implemented in other classes besides Extensive Reading II course with learners who possess the similar individual characteristics. In the end, the ideal course design to facilitate learners with various range of individual characteristics could be generated and implemented to teaching learning processes.

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ABSTRAK

Wiwoho, Argian Nicko. 2008. The Effects of Intrinsic Motivation and Learning Styles on the Performance of Extensive Reading II Students. Yogyakarta: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Prinsip dasar Extensive Reading yang tidak hanya menuntut siswa untuk memahami teks bacaan yang diberikan dalam kelas tetapi juga menuntut siswa untuk berpikir kritis tentang inti permasalahan didalamnya sangatlah dipengaruhi oleh karakteristik setiap siswa. Karakteristik yang dimaksud berasal baik dari dalam diri siswa, disebut sebagai faktor internal, dan dari luar diri siswa, disebut sebagai faktor eksternal. Penelitian ini mengacu pada faktor dari dalam diri siswa, terutama motivasi dari dalam diri dan pola pikir, karena faktor tersebut memberikan dampak langsung terhadap kinerja siswa di dalam kelas. Oleh sebab itu dibutuhkan adanya penelitian tentang bagaimana faktor-faktor internal tersebut mempengaruhi kinerja setiap siswa di dalam kelas. Kinerja siswa di dalam kelas akan dikategorikan berdasar rubrik perilaku yang meliputi perilaku emosi, perilaku interaksi, dan perilaku belajar. Selain itu, penelitian ini juga mencoba untuk mencari tahu cara siswa dalam mengatasi masalah-masalah yang mereka hadapi ketika mengerjakan tugas mata kuliah Extensive Reading II.

Penelitian ini mengarah pada pengaruh-pengaruh motivasi dari dalam diri dan pola pikir yang tercermin pada kinerja siswa di dalam kelas Extensive Reading II. Penelitian ini melibatkan delapan peserta yang mewakili satu populasi yang terdiri atas siswa dengan berbagai macam karakteristik. Deskriptif kualitatif menjadi metode yang digunakan untuk menganalisa data yang ada. Dengan dukungan data kualitatif yang diperoleh dari kuisioner, observasi dalam kelas, dan wawancara, penelitian ini mencoba mencari jawaban dari (1) bagaimana motivasi dari dalam diri dan pola pikir siswa memberi dampak pada kinerja siswa di dalam kelas dan (2) begaimana siswa mengatasi masalah-masalah yang mereka hadapi ketika mengerjakan tugas mata kuliah Extensive Reading II.

Dari penelitian ini didapati bahwa (1) motivasi dari dalam diri dan pola pikir mempunyai dampak yang berbeda pada tiap siswa. Peserta yang mempunyai karakteristik yang sama tampaknya menunjukkan kinerja yang berbeda di dalam kelas. Bahkan (2) siswa yang termotivasi dari dalam diri dan mempunyai kecenderungan pola pikir tertentu mengalami beberapa masalah. Maka dari itu, mereka mempunyai cara masing-masing untuk mengatasinya. Sebagian siswa membentuk kelompok belajar sebagai sarana diskusi. Sebagian siswa mencoba langkah trial and error. Sebagian lainnya tidak begitu antusias dalam mengerjakan tugas yang diberikan dan mengandalkan teman lainnya untuk mengerjakannya.

Berdasarkan hasil yang diperoleh dari penelitian ini, guru disarankan untuk merancang sususan materi yang tepat, memilih metode pengajaran yang sesuai, menerapkan desain yang ada dalam kegiatan belajar mengajar, mengevaluasi proses belajar yang berlangsung, dan pada akhirnya menerapkan beberapa perbaikan dari proses yang telah berlangsung. Maka dari itu dapat diperoleh metode yang tepat untuk memfasilitasi siswa-siswa dengan karakteristik yang berbeda-beda tidak hanya terbatas pada kelas Extensive Reading II saja tetapi juga kelas-kelas lainnya dimana terdapat siswa-siswa dengan beragam karakteristik.

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THE INFLUENCES OF INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

AND LEARNING STYLES ON THE CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE OF EXTENSIVE READING II STUDENTS

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

Argian Nicko Wiwoho Student Number: 031214092

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2008

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THE INFLUENCES OF INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

AND LEARNING STYLES ON THE CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE OF EXTENSIVE READING II STUDENTS

A THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

Argian Nicko Wiwoho Student Number: 031214092

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2008

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“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he died that distinguish one man from another.”

Ernest Hemingway

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Winston Churchill

“A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.” Theodore Roosevelt

To my beloved family, I an, and friends

w ho make me learn

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, my greatest appreciation goes to Allah SWT for all the blessings to finish this thesis and all the opportunities in this life. Second, my appreciation goes to my parents who have funded my education, shared a wonderful life, and given me meaningful experiences to deal with problems in this life.

Third, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my major sponsor, Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd., and my co-sponsor, Christina Kristiyani, S.Pd., M.Pd., for sharing with me the critical thoughts, helpful suggestions, and encouraging advice. Furthermore, I would like to express my deep gratefulness to the head of the department, Ag. Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A., and all PBI lecturers who have contributed to the completion of my thesis.

Fourth, my thankfulness also goes to all my PBI mates, who have provided me sincere supports during my study and the completion of my thesis especially Dera, Vendi, Bunga, Chandra, Febri, Intika, Rere, Andreas Denny, Ari, Meiske, Daniel. It has been a remarkable memory to work and go through it all together.

Fifth, I intend to express my deep gratitude to Ian, who has supported me unwaveringly, helped me unconditionally, and provided a last escapade each time desperation strikes through. Lastly, my great thankfulness is for those who directly or indirectly helped and supported me in writing this thesis.

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vi COVER PAGE

TITLE PAGE... PAGES OF APPROVAL... PAGE OF DEDICATION... STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... TABLE OF CONTENTS... LIST OF TABLES... ABSTRACT... ABSTRAK... CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A.Research Background... B.Problem Formulation... C.Problem Limitation... D.Research Objectives... E.Research Benefits... F. Definitions of Terms... CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A.Theoretical Description... 1. Extensive Reading... 2. Intrinsic Motivation... 3. Learning Styles... 4. Classroom Behaviours... B.Theoretical Framework... CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

A.Research Method... B.Research Participants... C.Research Setting... D.Research Instrument... E.Data Gathering Technique... F. Data Analysis Technique... G.Research Procedures... CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

A.The Influence of Intrinsic Motivation and Learning Styles on Learners’ Classroom Performance... 1. Individual Characteristics of the Research Participants... a. Research Participants’ Intrinsic Motivation... b. Research Participants’ Learning Styles...

Page i ii iv v vi vii ix x xi 1 1 3 4 5 6 6 9 9 11 12 13 16 18 20 20 22 23 25 27 27 30 33 33 33 35 38 TABLE OF CONTENTS

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vii

2. The Influence of Intrinsic Motivation and Learning Styles on Research Participants’ Classroom Performance B. Research Participants’ Internal Drawbacks on Classroom

Performance... 1. Research Participants’ Strategy in Overcoming Intrinsic Motivation Drawbacks...

2. Research Participants’ Strategy in Overcoming Learning Styles Drawbacks... CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

A.Conclusions... B.Suggestions... 1. For Teachers... 2. For Future Research... REFERENCES... APPENDICES

A.Questionnaire Forms of the Research Participants... Questionnaire Forms of the Research Participant A1... Questionnaire Forms of the Research Participant B3... B.Observation Results

Observation Results of Group A from Meeting 1 up to 10.... Observation Results of Group B from Meeting 1 up to 10.... C.Interview Transcripts

Interview Transcript of Research Participant A1... Interview Transcript of Research Participant B3...

41 61 62 65 75 75 77 77 78 80 82 82 86 90 90 99 107 107 108

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viii

Table 3.1 Qualitative Components of the Research Design... Table 3.2 Behaviours Rubric on Classroom Performance... Table 4.1 Research Participants’ Perception about the Course.... Table 4.2 Research Participants’ Learning Styles... Table 4.3 Research Participants’ Preferences... Table 4.4 Learning Behaviour of Research Participant A1... Table 4.5 Classroom Performance Summary of Research

Participant A1... Table 4.6 Conduct Behaviour of Research Participant A2... Table 4.7 Classroom Performance Summary of Research

Participant A2... Table 4.8 Learning Behaviour of Research Participant A3... Table 4.9 Classroom Performance Summary of Research

Participant A3... Table 4.10 Emotional Behaviour of Research Participant A4... Table 4.11 Classroom Performance Summary of Research

Participant A4... Table 4.12 Emotional, Conduct, and Learning Behaviours of

Research Participant B1... Table 4.13 Classroom Performance Summary of Research

Participant B1... Table 4.14 Conduct Behaviour of Research Participant B2...

Table 4.15 Classroom Performance Summary of Research

Participant B2... Table 4.16 Emotional, Conduct, and Learning Behaviours of

Research Participant B3... Table 4.17 Classroom Performance Summary of Research

Participant B3... Table 4.18 Emotional Behaviour of Research Participant B4... Table 4.19 Classroom Performance Summary of Research

Participant B4... Table 4.20 Classroom Behaviours Summary of Research

Participants... Page 22 29 36 38 40 43 44 45 45 46 47 48 50 51 52 53 54 56 57 58 59 60 LIST OF TABLES

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x ABSTRACT

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ABSTRAK

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1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

The first chapter elicits general overview and description about the research. It consists of six sections namely research background, problem formulation, problem limitation, research objectives, research benefits, and definition of terms that will be used for further elaboration in the following chapters.

A. Research Background

Grabe and Stoller (2002: 9) defined reading as “the ability to draw meaning from the printed page and interpret this information appropriately”. Apparently, reading can be defined loosely as the ability to make sense of written or printed symbols. The reader uses the symbols to guide the recovery of information from his or her memory and subsequently uses this information to construct a plausible relationship and/or interpretation of the author’s message (Mitchell, 1982: 67). No matter how easy it is to put a definition of reading, an inevitable multifaceted reading dimension will be encountered frequently.

It is interesting that learners’ performance on reading tasks is not merely influenced by their ability to absorb what the author intends to say. Learners are also affected by the personal perception; it is whether they are motivated or not (Alderson, 2000: 35). Alderson also exposed the facts that a reader may be familiar with more than 10.000 words yet s/he is normally able to identify any one of these

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words within a fraction of just a second. One can do this despite the fact that the words are frequently represented by different shapes from the letter to the next. Individual can even identify words that have been misprinted or misspelt. Another example is that reader can cope with the fact that a word has different meanings in different contexts. Readers can combine the individual meaning of a word to derive the true meaning of the sentences, extended passages, and prose. This involves their strategy in drawing inferences and calling upon their experiences in the situation under the same circumstance. This circumstance differentiates successful from unsuccessful readers. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on the individual differences namely motivation and learning styles.

The research focuses on the differences among individuals, especially in how actually beginning readers become fluent readers and what variables affect their progress. The most important resource for any potential readers to possess is an awareness of the way in which they use the language (Wallace, 1992: 35). Learners’ reading performance depends on many potential features. These features may come from inside as well as outside of the students themselves. Several examples are the home/family background of the pupils, the prevailing peer culture, the ethos of school, the quality of the academic staff, and the individual characteristics of the pupils.

There are some characteristics that are under the control of a classroom teacher and there are some others that are not. It is significant to consider the overall picture and recognize what teachers can change and what is beyond their control. The first two of these factors, the home/family background of the pupils

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and the prevailing peer culture, are generally beyond the control of the educational institutions. The rest, which are the individual characteristics of the pupils, can be changed or taken into account to improve learning process significantly.

The researcher, thereby, focuses the investigation on looking for the effects of one out of many factors on students’ reading performance. Here the researcher decides to specify the discussion on the internal factors generally known as individual characteristics and scrutinizes several variables that may affect students’ performance. However, it is not easy to discover how this performance is implemented unless an idea of what is learned is clear. This means that understanding the nature of definitions, rules, and procedures which are eventually utilized by accomplished readers is obviously important. Thus, this research aims to help teachers and education practitioners to maximize their performance in carrying out teaching-learning activity.

B. Problem Formulation

The researcher focuses on the research participants’ classroom performance in relation to their intrinsic motivation and learning styles which will be elaborated in the two following questions.

1. How do students’ intrinsic motivation and learning styles influence their classroom performance?

2. How do students overcome their internal drawbacks in performing the assigned Extensive Reading II tasks?

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C. Problem Limitation

The researcher intentionally chooses Extensive Reading course conducted by Father Lucianus Suharjanto S.J., S.S., B.S.T since this course considerably applies learning approach which requires the learners to engage and generate their own learning experience. Common Extensive Reading courses are conducted in such a way that learners are required only to draw an analysis based on supplied texts. However, in the preferred class, learners are required not only to comprehend new knowledge, to apply the knowledge meaningfully, and to analyze the information into its smaller parts but also to synthesize the information to generate a general conclusion that can be inferred from each learner’s personal viewpoint. Apparently, each conclusion from each individual is different from one another due to the existing distinctive individual characteristics; they are intrinsic motivation and learning styles. Besides, the researcher chooses Extensive Reading II course taught by Father Lucianus Suharjanto S.J., S.S., B.S.T because this class is apparently different in terms of methodology from the one the researcher enrolled in previous semester. It requires the students not only to analyse a particular topic given in the classroom but it also requires the students to come up with their syntheses about the assigned topic.

With regard to the identified problems, the researcher first concentrates the investigation on particular domains of individual constituents namely motivation and learning styles. Next, the investigation evaluates the consequences of individual characteristics on students’ performance especially in Extensive Reading II course. One way to assess respondents’ classroom performance is by

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observing their behaviours. Learners’ observed behaviours are emotional behaviour, conduct behaviour, and learning behaviour. Afterwards, the researcher classifies the data in order to build descriptive conclusion of the research. Eventually, the investigation reveals the effects of intrinsic motivation and learning styles on the learners’ classroom performance in Extensive Reading II class.

D. Research Objectives

First, the research attempts to look for insight of the nature of intrinsic motivation and learning styles, especially in Extensive Reading II classroom performance. It is obvious that both domains, which are intrinsic motivation and learning styles, could influence the learners’ classroom performance. Therefore, the researcher deals with the individual characteristics description of intrinsic motivation and learning styles of each learner as well as their influence on the learners’ classroom performance. In order to measure the learners’ performance in the classroom, the researcher made use of classroom observable behaviours rubric which covers emotional, conduct, and learning behaviours. At this point, the influence of intrinsic motivation and learning styles on the learners’ classroom performance could be observed.

Second, it is true by nature that individual characteristics have both strengths and weaknesses for the learners. Thus, the researcher tries to look for the major difficulties that the learners find in the classroom. Besides, the researcher also tries to figure out the way how actually the learners overcome the existing

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drawbacks to carry out the assigned tasks in Extensive Reading II class. Eventually, the ways how learners overcome the existing drawbacks in the class could be figured out.

E. Research Benefits

This research is expected to be beneficial for teachers and education practitioners since it provides an investigative research on factors that affect students’ classroom performance. Besides, it is also expected to discover principles that could be used as a basis for improving techniques of teaching reading and give substantial contribution to English language teaching area. Correspondingly, all who are involved in education field may acquire elaborate knowledge and apply the information they obtain.

F. Definition of Terms

A number of terms are going to be utilized in the following chapters. Therefore, in order to avoid misconception or misunderstanding on the utilized terms, the researcher supplies definitions and brief points on each term.

1. Individual characteristics

Individual characteristics refer to the distinct features within the learners such as classroom behaviours and learning preference. Commonly, these attributes are the results of individual’s learning habit pattern (Riding, 2002: 2). Therefore, it is apparently different from one another among individuals. However, some of these features are generalisable to populations which share the typical constituents.

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Each individual feature varies from one another in terms of its application and visibility. In the research, individual characteristics refer to the learners’ intrinsic motivation and learning styles. The researcher seeks how these factors influence the learner’s classroom performance.

2. Performance

The word performance simply implies broad meaning in terms of what it refers to. With regard to reading domain, it may portray either reading strategies such as skimming and scanning or course achievement and course progress. However, in this research, the term performance refers to the learner’s classroom progress such as weekly assignments accomplishment and classroom individual presentation (Brown, 2000: 253). Consequently, learners’ performance could be observed and, therefore, it could help learners to achieve a better performance. 3. Extensive Reading

“Extensive reading is carried out to achieve a general understanding of a usually somewhat longer text” (Brown, 2001: 313). It is true that most extensive reading activities are conducted outside of the class ever since there is insufficient amount of time inside the class to understand the essence of the texts. Besides, it also requires students to analyze what the subject matter of the text is.

In this study, the setting of the chosen Extensive Reading II class requires the students not only to understand and to analyze texts supplied by the lecturer but it also demands the students to analyze additional texts of their own intellectual interest. The texts of their own choice have to cover popular, scientific, as well as literary aspects.

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4. Motivation

“Motivation is the direction and intensity of an individual’s behaviour in situations in which performance can be evaluated according to some standards; the standards may be personal or may be imposed as external factors” (Stipek, 1993: 9). It is apparent that individual’s performance in particular tasks is affected by both personal factor, which is called intrinsic motivation, and external factor, which is called extrinsic motivation. These factors affect students’ performance significantly and, therefore, the researcher attempts to investigate the influence of intrinsic motivation on students’ performance in Extensive Reading II classroom. 5. Learning styles

“Style is related to both personality and cognition” (Brown, 2001: 210). Personality refers to extroversion, self esteem, anxiety, and so forth. On the other hand, cognition implies left or right brain orientation, ambiguity tolerance, field sensitivity, and the like. These characterize the consistent and continuing traits, tendencies, or preference that could distinguish a learner from the others. One could, for example, tend to be extroverted or right brain oriented whereas someone else could be introverted and left brain oriented. In this study, the researcher intends to pay attention to personality and cognition aspects based on the quoted Brown’s assertion. Firstly, the researcher focuses the investigation on students’ motivation, figures out their learning styles through multiple data sources, and afterwards correlates the relationship among those factors and their classroom performance.

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9 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter includes two sections, namely theoretical description and theoretical framework. The first section, which is theoretical description, will take account of the beneficial related theories to be used in the research, whereas the second section, which is theoretical framework, will depict the correlation between the referred to theories and their roles in the development of the research.

A. Theoretical Description

Carrel and Grabe (1993), as cited in Schmitt (2002: 233), pointed out that interest in second language research and practice, especially in reading skill, has increased dramatically in the past 15 years. Part of this interest is due to the increasing recognition that reading ability is critical for academic learning. This interest is also due to the recognition that reading (either second language or foreign language reading) represents the primary way that students can learn on their own beyond the classroom activities. Reading, for either second language or foreign language readers, is complex and the development of fluent reading abilities by these readers is a challenging action.

However, it is necessary to understand the notion of learning principle. Learning is a process in which learners are engaged in particular tasks in order to accomplish specific objectives; that is, not only to succeed in executing the objectives but also to obtain new meaningful knowledge which afterwards could

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be applied to another learning experience (Fontana, 1985: 37). Obviously, teacher is not the only one factor who decides that the learning process is important. In other words, the learners are able to gain new meaningful knowledge from the on-going learning process, for each learner.

Teachers evidently cannot fully control the class and expect every student to succeed in completing the assigned course objectives. At some points, it is recognizable that some learners could succeed in carrying out the course objectives, some others could succeed although they encounter numerous hindrances during accomplishing the assigned tasks, and the rest could fail in carrying out the delegated objectives. Nevertheless, teachers can actually ‘control’ a class to promote and sustain a better learning process by running a well-organized and effective classroom arrangement. The question would be ‘how is it possible for teacher to actually control a classroom?’

First of all, teachers should realize the nature of classroom learning. A classroom is a place in which each individual learner is given opportunities to practise and implement their current proficiency for the sake of the learner’s evaluation and advancement (Fontana, 1985: 63). Apart from these opportunities, learning process can still take place outside the class yet learning process can be much better if learners are supervised by classroom teachers. One thing that should be paid attention to is that teachers only fulfill the role as facilitator of learning process. In other words, instead of spoon-feeding the learners, teachers are expected to give more drills which are more meaningful and applicable to the learners’ real life experience. Therefore, teachers are required to arrange a

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well-organized and effective classroom management in order to provide equal opportunities for each individual learner to develop the learner’s abilities and accordingly advance to higher level of proficiency.

Alderson (2000: 32) stated that it has become common practice to divide research into factors that affect reading into the two major clusters of variables that are typically investigated. These factors are particularly focusing on, first, the factors inside the reader and, second, significant aspects outside the reader. There are a lot more constituents that can be investigated from inside the individual reader. The constituents that are originally developed from each individual are generally called reader’s variables. The readers’ variables constitute a number of different variables for instance reader’s prior knowledge or schemata, motivation, strategies in reading, emotional stability, learning styles, and so forth. These variables obviously affect individual’s classroom behaviours and attainment. Referring to the factors inside the readers, this research focuses its attention on two minor variables namely intrinsic motivation and learning styles.

1. Extensive Reading

“Extensive reading is carried out to achieve a general understanding of a usually somewhat longer text” (Brown, 2001: 313). In other words, extensive reading means reading many articles, books, longer texts or passages without a focus on classroom exercises that may assess comprehension skills. There are several reading comprehension test activities namely short-answering question related to the text, generating a conclusion or personal opinion about the text,

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making a review about the text, and retelling the text in front of the class. Instead of doing these kinds of comprehension test activities, extensive reading requires the learners to gain the in depth information and, afterwards, grab what actually beyond the text is.

It is true that most extensive reading activities are conducted outside of the class ever since there is insufficient amount of time inside the class to understand the essence of the texts. Lecturers and/or instructors are only facilitators who guide and direct the learners to narrow their standpoint. Furthermore, extensive reading requires learners to analyze what the subject matter of the texts is so that learners could acquire an elaborate information beyond the written texts.

In this study, the setting of the chosen Extensive Reading II course requires the students not only to understand and analyze texts supplied by the lecturer but it also demands the students to analyze additional texts of their own intellectual interest. The texts of their own choice had to cover popular, scientific, as well as literary aspects. The course is carried out in fourteen effective meetings.

2. Intrinsic Motivation

Cohen and Dornyei as cited in Schmitt (2002: 171), mentioned that language aptitude was referred to as a special feature for language learning. Teachers, learners, and researchers will most likely agree that this is a very important attribute of learning effectiveness. Learners with high language aptitude could acquire a second language relatively easy, whereas some other learners with lower language aptitude could achieve the same level of proficiency by means of

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hard work and persistence. The locus of causality for learners’ hard work and persistence apparently comes from the learners’ intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation theorists claim that human being is naturally settled with learning related activities. Stipek (1993: 59) endorsed that external reinforcement is not necessarily needed because learning is naturally reinforcing. Intrinsic motivation is obviously not subject to direct observation because it is an abstract domain. However, it can still be inferred from continuous observations which eventually lead to a general pattern. For example, some learners exhibit interest and enjoyment during completing the supplied tasks whereas some others do not. In other words, individuals learn best when they engage themselves in learning activities for their own intrinsic motivation. That is all because they want to rather than because they have to. Working on tasks for intrinsic motivation is more enjoyable. It also leads to more beneficial learning results compared to working on tasks for extrinsic motivation, such as pleasing a person in authority, obtaining rewards, avoiding punishments, and the like.

3. Learning Styles

It is important to note that language aptitude is not the only factor that determines whether or not learners can acquire a language (Stipek, 1993: 9). Other factors that affect learning outcomes are native ability, age, contexts of learning, background experiences, qualifications, style preferences, availability of time, quality of the input, and many more. It is worth-noting that learners with low language aptitude could achieve the same level of proficiency as they who have

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high language aptitude by various other factors, such as individual distinctive learning styles. It implies that style preference also contributes to the success of learners’ learning results.

Researchers have observed that learners’ learning approach may vary in a significantly different manner. Cohen and Dornyei (as cited in Schmitt, 2002: 176) claimed that the concept of learning styles has been used to refer to these existing differences. Learning styles seems to be relatively stable since they are formed from each individual’s past experience and gradually become a habit of learning. Therefore, teachers may not have such a direct influence on this learners’ variable. Hereby, learning styles may promote a better language learning.

It is necessary to distinguish learning strategies and cognitive styles. Learning strategies are flexible whereas cognitive styles are in-built, habitual in use and fairly fixed. Pupils might develop learning strategies in order to help them in situations where their styles do not match the task being done (Riding, 2002: 99). Since learning styles is fairly fixed, individuals may find difficulties when their style does not fit the task assigned. They cannot change their styles but they can develop strategies to carry out the given tasks at ease. Moreover, it enables them to effectively encounter particular learning situations. Learning styles are both individually and culturally motivated. Within a particular context, certain learning preferences among individuals are evidently seen. It means that not everyone within a culture group has the same learning preferences but the culture clearly plays a role in the development of our preferences.

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In general, there are two major dimensions in learners’ learning preferences: they are wholistic view and analytic view (Riding, 2002: 23). The first dimension affects the way in which people think about, view, and respond to information and situations. This affects the way they learn, organize information, apply the information, and interact with other pupils. Wholists tend to see a situation as a whole and are able to have an overall perspective to appreciate its total context.

For wholists, there is a possible danger that the distinction among parts in the total context is blurred so that it is very difficult to distinguish the issues that make up the whole of a situation. The positive strength of wholistic learners is that they can see the whole picture by the time they consider a particular situation or information. Consequently, they can have a balanced view and see situations in their overall context. The negative aspect of wholistic learners is that they find difficulties in separating out a situation into its smaller parts or subsystems. In conclusion, wholistic learners are good at grabbing the overall context from a particular task. Yet, they may find difficulties in working on the details of each segment which makes up a particular context.

The latter learning styles dimension in learners’ learning preferences, which is analytic view, sees a situation as a collection of parts and often focus on one or two aspects of the situation at a time. Since analytic learners tend to focus on just one aspect of the whole at a time, this may have the effect of distorting, exaggerating, or making it more prominent than the remaining segments of a

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system. Thus, there is a possibility that the information is out of proportion to the total situation.

For the analytics, the positive ability is that they can analyze a situation into parts and this allows them to come quickly to the heart of any problem. They are good at seeing similarities and detecting differences. Nevertheless, their negative aspect is that they may not be able to obtain a balanced view of the whole. Besides, they may also focus merely on one aspect of a situation excluding the others and broaden it out of its proper proportion.

4. Classroom Behaviours

This consideration begins with what is generally known as observable behaviours to the teacher in the classroom. Teachers could notice that some pupils appear more confident than others, some behave in a cooperative way while others are disruptive, some attend to the learning tasks while others are not motivated and poorly organized, and some do well in assessments while others do not. Riding (2002: 3) classified observable behaviours into three major categories; they are emotional behaviour, conduct behaviour, and learning behaviour.

a. Emotional Behaviour

Emotional behaviour can be defined as how a student feels about himself/herself (Riding, 2002: 3). The level of emotional behaviour is apparently observable in terms of the degree of self-assurance, a quiet self confidence, an ease in associating with other pupils and environment, and not appearing very nervous

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or anxious in delivering presentations. In this study, emotional behaviour is one means to assess the students’ intrinsic motivation and learning styles.

b. Conduct Behaviour

Conduct behaviour can be perceived as students’ attitude in interacting with others (Riding, 2002: 4). Conduct behaviour can be disruptive/active misbehaviour, such as verbal interruption, distracting other pupils, inappropriate moving, physical aggression, or non-disruptive/passive misbehaviour such as inattention, daydreaming, and not completing work.

Disruptive/active misbehaviour usually reduces the pupils’ performance. Moreover, this impact is also seen not only on the pupils who are misbehaving but also of other pupils in the group who are distracted. On the other hand, passive misbehaviour is less likely to be seen as conduct disorder since it is not disruptive. It is considerably referred to as learning disorder. Like emotional behaviour, conduct behaviour is also one means to assess students’ intrinsic motivation and learning styles.

c. Learning Behaviour

Learning behaviour refers to the individuals’ attention to the lessons, learners’ interest in the available topics and classroom activities, and learners’ effective organization, perserverance, and communication (Riding, 2002: 5). The way pupils feel and behave later on determine individuals classroom performance and, therefore, it influences their learning behaviour. In this study, learning behaviour is also one way to assess students’ intrinsic motivation and learning styles.

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B. Theoretical Framework

There are obviously many factors that could influence learner’s individual performance. In this research, the researcher intends to seek the impact of the two referred to variables by monitoring individual’s observable classroom behaviours and performance. Thereby, this research focuses its investigation on the factors within the readers, which are intrinsic motivation and learning styles, and their effects on individual’s performance.

At this point, it is clear that this research involves intrinsic motivation and learning styles as its primary discussion. The researcher is aware that both intrinsic motivation and learning styles are abstract domains; they are not subject to direct observation but they can be inferred and indicated from several sources namely continuous observations, inquiry, and clarification through interview. It is also clear enough that both factors intensely affect individual’s classroom performance.

The researcher attempts to seek the influence of intrinsic motivation and learning styles on each learner’s performance through particular criteria. In order to assess the learner’s classroom performance, the researcher observes the research participants’ classroom behaviours. The intended classroom behaviours covers emotional behaviour, conduct behaviour, and learning behaviour. Each research participant is observed during the course. Their observed classroom behaviours such as being confident or nervous while delivering their personal opinions, being physically and verbally disruptive to other pupils, being interested in and engaged in tasks effectively, and so forth are recorded and classified on the observation sheets.

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Afterwards, the inquiry results from both questionnaire and interview as well as these recorded and classified classroom behaviours are used to assess each research participant’s intrinsic motivation and learning styles. As what is stated in previous paragraphs, this course requires the learners not only to comprehend new knowledge, to apply the knowledge meaningfully, and to analyse the information into its smaller parts but also to synthesize the information to generate a general conclusion that can be inferred from each learner’s personal viewpoint.

The researcher tries not only to discover how intrinsic motivation and learning styles sustain each research participant’s classroom performance but also tries to find out how each learner deals with the emerging difficulties due to the existing individual characteristics. As a result, the research investigates the research participants’ individual characteristics namely intrinsic motivation and learning styles as well as the way how each learner overcomes the encountered difficulties during performing the assigned classroom tasks.

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20 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

The third chapter exposes the applied methodology and elaborates procedural steps that are utilized during the research. It entails seven sections namely research method, research participants, research setting, research instruments, data gathering technique, data analysis technique, and research procedure.

A. Research Method

The research is descriptive survey and, therefore, it is naturalistic to the extent that the research takes place in a real world setting and the researcher does not attempt to manipulate the subject of interest. Patton (2002: 39) asserted, “the investigated phenomenon unfolds naturally in that it has no predetermined course established by and for the researcher as it would occur in laboratory or other controlled settings.” The researcher naturally gathered data from the selected participants over a period of time in particular settings and afterwards analyzes data from all members of the same research participants. Then, the researcher compares the research participants to one another to determine whether there is a pattern of change or stability in the data (Cates, 1985: 96). Furthermore, it was also non-manipulative, non-controlling, and open to whatever emerged since there were lack of predetermined constraints of findings.

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Another characteristic of descriptive survey research is that it is inductive and creative (Patton, 2002: 55). The researcher attempted to conduct a natural setting survey, carried out open-ended data collection, and performed analytical strategies that hold the factual nature of the data. Interest in the details of the data to discover important patterns and interrelationship began with exploration of what to assess. The next step was confirming information guided by general boundary of what to observe rather than predetermined specific rules. Thus, the qualitative way of understanding discerned the research results in terms of textual data featuring frequent use of descriptive forms of analysis and presentation (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 2003: 250).

The researcher constructed concepts from an inductive analysis of the data. The inductive analysis, which emphasized exploration and discovery, began with specific observations and built a particular interest to picture the general pattern. Information was gathered through open-ended observations as the enquirer came to understand the pattern that existed in the phenomenon being observed. Inductive analysis apparently did not require the presence of specified limitation before data collection began. This was to allow the significant analysis to appear from the pattern found in the case under study without assuming what the important aspect would be. The researcher sought to understand the interrelationship among factors that emerged from the data without making prior assumption. However, it was necessary to take account of general boundary prior the research began; that was, by listing several behaviours known as behaviours rubric which includes emotional, conduct, and learning behaviours to observe.

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The research conclusion presented a description that was bound to a particular context, situation, and experience. To some extent, the framework and/or the logical inference are most likely applicable to other research populations that share the identical characteristics under the specified circumstances. In order to describe the research method, the researcher provided a general framework portraying the research components in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1: Qualitative Components of the Research Design

Components Qualitative

Purposes Descriptive interpretation of the findings. Inductive development of inferences. Research method

- Relationship - Sampling - Data collection - Data analysis

- Use of researcher influence and multiple data

sources as a tool for understanding

- Stratified and simple random sampling

- Adapting to particular unexpected situation

- Textual analysis

- Descriptive approaches

Validity Internal validity

Generalizability

- Descriptive and interpretive validity

(comparing and crosschecking the consistency of information derived at different times by different means)

- Comparable to subjects sharing the similar

characteristics under the corresponding context

B. Research Participants

The target population was the students taking class B of Extensive Reading II (ER-II) course of the English Language Education Study Programme of Sanata Dharma University in 2006/2007 academic year. The researcher decided to choose students from 2005 academic year because they comprehensively encountered reading activities, especially in Extensive Reading II, which naturally differed

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from Reading I and Reading II. Besides, they were considered to have better reading sub-skills capability than other students who were still in the first year of their study.

The researcher determined to access only a class of ER-II for the sake of administration effectiveness, thorough elaboration, and time manageability. Moreover, the researcher involved eight participants belonging to the same class to be assessed during the period of the data collection phase. In order to carry out the investigation at ease, the research participants were divided into two major groups; they were high achieving (HA) participants and average achieving (AA) participants. Subjects who achieved between 3.31 up to 4.00 Grade Point Average (GPA) were considered as high achieving participants whereas subjects who achieved GPA within range of 2.75 up to 3.30 were considered as average achieving participants.

The researcher intended to search for supporting and sustaining factors that enabled learners to attain a better performance. Learners’ performance could be measured from, one out of many, their grades. Accordingly, the researcher only involved students with high achievement and average achievement. In other words, students with low achievement were left out considering that they might provide minor contribution to the research.

C. Research Setting

The research was conducted in the English Language Education Study Programme of Sanata Dharma University during the even semester of 2006/2007

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academic year. The study and the data gathering process took place in Extensive Reading II class B taught by Father Lucianus Suharjanto, S.J., S.S., B.S.T. The classroom setting required the students not only to analyze texts supplied by the lecturer but also to synthesize additional intellectual interest texts of their own choice.

In the first four meetings, the students were assigned to determine popular texts of their own choice. Popular texts referred to general up-to-date topics found in newspapers, magazines, journals, internet, or other sources. In meeting 5 up to meeting 7, the students were expected to assemble assignments that were based on scientific sources which provided theories, such as research reports, journals, books of particular domain, and the like. In meeting 8 up to meeting 10, the students had to search literary works which could be related to their previous topics from popular and scientific field. In the last two weeks, the students had to compose a final hypothesis that was based on three domains namely popular reading, scientific reading, and literary reading.

Each week, the students had to compose a report which was based on the previous text from various viewpoints. The reports and assignments were in the form of mind mapping, summary, and conclusion of their understanding. The students were expected to synthesize the relationship among the texts of their choice and generated a general hypothesis. Later on, they had to present their hypothesis in front of the class as a partial assessment of the course. Eventually, this hypothesis was going to be used as a topic of their final essays. At this point, it was seen that the refered to extensive reading was somewhat different from

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commonly known reading activities. The purpose was not to test reading comprehension skill or analysis ability but to measure the higher stage of comprehension skill that is synthesis ability.

In conclusion, it was visible that students were required to compose weekly reports or assignments, to present their findings, and to attempt to hypothesize the findings in front of the class. Apparently, this circumstance became the most prominent reason in conducting research in the referred to class ever since this was the first experience for the researcher to cope with such a class.

D. Research Instruments

The researcher employed three research instruments as the means to collect data. The three research instruments were a questionnaire, observation sheets, and a semi-structured interview. The goal of utilizing three research instruments was to triangulate and verify the collected data from each instrument. The data collected from each research instrument were complementary to each other. The researcher made use of the three research instruments in order to answer the first problem formulation. Besides, in order to answer the second problem formulation, the researcher explored the observation sheets and the semi-structured interview.

The first research instrument, which was a questionnaire, was taken and adapted from Douglas Brown’s (2000) Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. The questionnaire was in the form of close-ended and short answer questions. The question items included in the questionnaire were aimed to reveal the students’ individual characteristics namely

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learners’ intrinsic motivation and learning styles. The intrinsic motivation and learning styles were abstract domains and, therefore, not subject to direct observation. Instead, it had to be inferred from some indicators such as questionnaire results, classroom overt behaviours, and interview results.

The second research instrument, which was observation sheet, was carried out under unobstrusive condition. Webb (1966: 56) asserted that unobstrusive condition implements a principle in which the researcher is involved as participant in the preferred class in order to avoid the emergence of observer’s paradox from the students. Observation sheets were used to record research participants’ activities during the lesson hour. The nature of the observations was unstructured and, thus, the researcher was able to note down freely about anything relevant to the research development. Observations took place in natural real life setting within ten meetings out of fourteen total meetings. The observations were intended to verify the data gained from the questionnaire and portray the detailed description of a particular phenomenon. Besides, they also sought and monitored specific and defined behaviours; they were emotional, learning, and conduct behaviours that were relevant to the research development.

The third research instrument, which was an interview, was conducted after distributing the questionnaire and carrying out several observations. It aimed to explore in depth information from the selected research participants. Interviewees were interviewed with open-ended questions elaborating unanticipated circumstances in the classroom. The interview was conducted through prior appointment with the interviewees. The interview items were semi-structured and,

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subsequently, pre-determined based on the actually happening events in the classroom. The interview results captured direct quotations about learner’s experience, feelings, and personal perspective.

E. Data Gathering Technique

The data gathering process took place in the even semester of 2007/2008 academic year in which Extensive Reading II was carried out. Regarding the three distinct research instruments, the data gathering process also differed from one another in terms of time and settings. The first research instrument, which was a questionnaire, was distributed, collected, and assessed prior to the beginning of the Extensive Reading II course. After identifying the subjects’ divergent characteristics, classroom observations were then executed in order to gain factual data of each subject. Thirdly, the semi-structured interview was put into action with the purpose of obtaining further information for the sake of the research analysis clarity.

F. Data Analysis Technique

The researcher classified the findings into several constituents so that it was easier to compare the participants’ divergent characteristics. The researcher brought together the collected data and described the influence of components on students’ performance. Intrinsic motivation and learning styles were indefinable domains and, thus, they were not subject to direct observations but they were to be inferred from a number of indicators.

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One way to assess learners’ intrinsic motivation and learning styles was by employing multiple data sources; they are a questionnaire, observation sheets, and an interview. The questionnaire classified the students based on their learning styles and elicited surface information about both learners’ intrinsic motivation and learning styles. First of all, the grouping system was carried out by means of the questionnaire instrument. When research participants preferred to learn one topic for discussion at a time rather than learning two topics simultaneously, they were considered as analytic learners. On the contrary, if research participants preferred to learn two topics for discussion at a time rather than learning topics part by part, they were considered as wholistic learners. Another consideration was if research participants were interested in a hierarchical learning system in which all the materials were arranged in a way based on certain categories, they were considered as analytic learners. In contrast, if research participants were interested in a more flexible learning system in which the materials might expand into another topic, they were considered wholistic learners. At this point, the researcher could group the research participants into either wholistic or analytic learners and observe the typical characteristics of each group. The observations resulted on a number of divergent responses among research participants.

Then, observations were conducted to confirm the consistency of the data collected from the questionnaire. The observations recorded each learner’s emotional, conduct, and learning behaviours in considering the learner’s classroom performance. Emotional behaviour included self-assurance, self-confidence, cooperation with other pupils and nervousness. Conduct behaviour elicited

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distraction, interruption, physical aggression, and inattention. Learning behaviour covered personal interest in the lesson, effective communication, and perseverance. Both positive and negative behaviours on classroom performance is summarized in Table 3.2.

Table 3.2: Behaviours Rubric on Classroom Performance Classroom

Performance Positive Behaviours Negative Behaviours

Emotional Behaviour

•Steady state of self confidence.

•Not appearing overly anxious

and nervous.

•Dynamic participation in the

activities.

•Inconstant state of self confidence.

•Develop the sense of nervousness

in a particular circumstance. Conduct

Behaviour

•Carry out relevant activities to the lesson.

•Acceptable physical

movements.

•Improper verbal and nonverbal

distractions.

•Inappropriate physical aggression.

Learning Behaviour

•Exhibit interest in the lesson. •Lack of interest in the lesson.

Afterwards, the interview was carried out to verify unanticipated circumstances and gain deeper understanding on the research interest. In accordance with the first research question, the researcher analyzed the data by looking for similarities and differences among participants’ responses. These similarities and differences were concluded from the three research instruments. Besides, the research respondents’ progress throughout the course was also monitored. This process continued until the comparative analysis did not contribute something new anymore – commonly called data saturation. Hence, for the sake of research effectiveness, the researcher could omit parts that did not contribute new information any longer.

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Regarding the second research question, the researcher paid attention to respondents’ classroom behaviours by means of observation sheets and highlighted problems generally encountered by each respondent during performing and accomplishing the given tasks. The researcher could draw conclusions how research participants dealt with the problems they found during the lesson. The researcher progressively elaborated a general statement and conclusion well grounded on the data through induction. Obviously, a conceptual understanding on the topic that primarily referred to literature review had to be combined with the researcher’s arguments. Accordingly, the findings and conclusions of the research were considerably valid. Moreover, in order to provide research internal validity, the researcher employed the multiple data source strategy. A triangulation can be achieved by combining the analysis and interpretation of the data collected and the personal perspective of the researcher.

G. Research Procedures

Firstly, the researcher was aware that the research participants’ language skills performance could differ from one another. At this point, the researcher decided to look for the effects of internal factors on particular language skill. For the sake of efficiency and manageability, the researcher, therefore, specified the broad topic into a narrow one; the influence of internal factors on students’ reading performance. It was obvious that internal factor cannot be separated from external factor. However, external factor was not directly related to the operation of the internal factor even though they might have causal relationship.

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The topic concerned was, nevertheless, still too broad since there are many factors that might affect students’ performance. Consequently, the researcher determined to focus on one major scope, which was individual characteristics, and later on this major scope could be subcategorized into two minor constituents, which were intrinsic motivation and learning styles. The researcher referred to motivation and learning styles as the two minor constituents due to their correlation to students’ performance.

The essence was that it described how these components might influence students’ performance and which one played the major role in it. Later on the researcher outlined a qualitative research design due to several considerations. Next, the researcher adapted and designed three research instruments; they were a questionnaire, observation sheets, and a semi-structured interview.

After considering what information that was needed to complete this research and arranging it into part of the research instruments, data gathering process could be executed. The questionnaire was distributed, collected, and analyzed prior to the Extensive Reading II course initiation. The questionnaire was designed to seek for information about research participants’ characteristics. Afterwards, observations could be implemented along with the course progress. The observations monitored the three perceptible behaviours. The first one was emotional behaviour; it included self-assurance, self-confidence, cooperation with other pupils and nervousness. Secondly, it was conduct behaviour; it elicited distraction, interruption, physical aggression, and inattention. Thirdly, it was

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learning behaviour; it covered personal interest in the lesson, effective communication, and perseverance.

The descriptive analysis depicted a combination of the collected data and a presentation of the researcher’s arguments. The researcher brought together the collected data and described the influence of constituents on students’ performance. Finally, through induction the researcher progressively elaborated a general statement and conclusions well grounded in the data.

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33 CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

The chapter depicts the results, analysis, the researcher’s arguments, and discussions which were based on multiple data sources namely a questionnaire, observation sheets, and interview. The researcher divided chapter four into two major sections. The first section described the individual characteristics of each research participant and the influence of intrinsic motivation and learning styles on each learner’s classroom performance. The second section described the way how actually research participants overcame the drawbacks in performing the assigned Extensive Reading II tasks.

A. The Influence of Intrinsic Motivation and Learning Styles on Learners’ Classroom Performance

1. Individual Characteristics of the Research Participants

Learning process is not only determined by the teacher factor but there are also a number of factors which could influence the process of learning. For instance, peer group’s influence, learning environment, and home background. The locus of interest of the research was the factor within each learner. It was apparent that each research participant was equipped with varied and unique individual characteristics that greatly influenced his/her performance in learning process. One example of individual characteristic is intrinsic motivation. Research participants who were intrinsically motivated theoretically had goals that did not

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provide direct advantage as those of research participants who were extrinsically motivated. Intrinsically motivated research participants would establish long term goals which emphasize the process of learning rather than the results of learning.

Some learners had a tendency to exhibit risk-taking characteristic which enabled them to do trial and error whereas some others tend to play safe by avoiding risk-taking in accomplishing an assignment. In another circumstance, it turned out that some learners preferred to work in group frequently in order to obtain feedbacks from the peer group while some others preferred to work individually so that they could measure their true proficiency.

Another domain of individual characteristic is learning styles. Research participants were generally considered as either wholistic learners or analytic learners. The nature of learning styles preference represented the way research participants respond to particular stimuli in the learning environment. Wholistic and analytic research participants were different from one another in terms of responses when they encountered particular circumstances. A learning environment could provide the same stimuli for its pupils. However, these stimuli could obviously bring about different responses between wholistic and analytic learners. Learners could not easily switch it on and off since it represented the way they were. This is in line with Riding’s statement which exposed that learning styles are constant for the learners and is not something that appears to change from time to time (Riding, 2002: 22). Furthermore, when learners were aware of their learning styles, they could develop strategies to make use of their strengths more effectively and controlled the effect of their weaknesses.

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The existing diversities from individual characteristics were fairly beneficial as well as detrimental for the learners in experiencing meaningful learning under a particular learning environment. It was impossible to eliminate the detrimental effect of the individual characteristics. Nonetheless, teachers could attempt to facilitate the beneficial features and diminish the detrimental effects of the referred to characteristics. Therefore, each learner could be given equal opportunities which enable the learner to make use of the beneficial individual characteristics effectively.

a. Research Participants’ Intrinsic Motivation

The questionnaire results showed that each research participant was intrinsically motivated. It was significantly seen from their answer for the questionnaire item which required them to elicit their long term purpose in learning English language. It was worth noting that most of their answers consisted of “I want to enrich my knowledge about English language not only as user but also as teacher” or “I want to be able to use English language fluently” (see Appendix A). However, their intrinsic motivation functioned differently from one to another when it was related to their classroom performance and observed classroom behaviours during the course. The emerging differences were noticed when the researcher inquired about the research participants’ perception about the course. It was worth bearing in mind that the research participants were divided into two groups; they were group A, which consisted of research participants with GPA between 3.3 up to 4.0, and group B, which consisted of research participants

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with GPA between 2.75 up to 3.29. Some of these differences were presented in Table 4.1.

Further investigation through the interview turned out that the research participants’ answers had a common similarity; they intended to gain knowledge from the lesson and apply the obtained knowledge outside the classroom (see Appendix C). When the research participants were aware of the knowledge application outside the class, they were considered as intrinsically motivated learners. Nonetheless, the analysis and discussion were not merely based on this assumption. In order to arrive at a deeper level of discussion, the researcher made use of two other research instruments namely observations and interview to verify the findings.

Table 4.1: Research Participants’ Perception about the Course

Research Participants’ Perception Group A Group B

Felt confident with his/her ability to succeed in

accomplishing the course objectives. 75% 75%

Felt quite uncertain with his/her ability to succeed in

accomplishing the course objectives. 25% 25%

Perceived mistakes as encouragement to learn

something new. 75% 50%

Perceived mistakes as discouragement that hinder a

better learning experience. 25% 50%

Considered that some topics were not interesting. 25% 50%

Considered that some topics were not practical and

not directly related to his/her daily life. 50% 50%

Thought that classroom activities were boring. 25% 75%

Considered that the course assignments were

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discussion.

Emotional behaviour •Was sometimes more

dependent to the peers. Conduct behaviour •Verbally interfered other

pupils and apparently not serious in carrying out the classroom activities.

•Reviewed and evaluated the previous assignment with other pupils and gave feedback to one another.

Learning behaviour •Sometimes attending the

lesson seriously and some other times leaving out the course objectives by doing some irrelevant activities. •Engaged in classroom

activities partially serious.

Emotional behaviour •Not dependent to the

peers.

Conduct behaviour •Daydreamed at some

times during the lesson. Learning behaviour •Paid attention to the

lecturer’s explanation yet still daydreamed during the lesson.

•Took notes on the important points while listening to the lecturer’s instructions.

Emotional behaviour •Carried out the course

objectives independently. Conduct behaviour •Paid attention to the lesson

although occasionally performed misbehaviour such as daydreaming. •Evaluated and discussed the

previous assignment with the peers.

Learning behaviour •Kept focusing on the

lecturer’s instruction and accomplishing the classroom objectives. •Took notes after the

lecturer’s explanation.

Emotional behaviour •Was sometimes more

dependent to the peers. Conduct behaviour •Verbally distracted other

students by talking loudly. •Provided nonverbal

interference such as physical aggression for other students.

•Evaluated the previous assignment with other pupils and gave feedback to one another.

Learning behaviour Not available.

Emotional behaviour •Was sometimes more

dependent to the peers. •Hesitation and obvious long

Emotional behaviour •Handled questions after

the presentation in a systematic order.

Emotional behaviour •Carried out the course

objectives independently.

Emotional behaviour •Was sometimes more

dependent to the peers. ₁₀

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pauses occured during delivering the presentation.

Conduct behaviour •Provided verbal

interference to other pupils. •Did not appreciated other

pupils by not listening to their presentations.

Learning behaviour •Did not pay attention to the

lecturer’s directions by discussing irrelevant topics to the course with peers.

Conduct behaviour •Provided verbal

interference from time to time to other pupils. •Did not pay careful

attention to the lesson and appreciate other pupils’ presentation.

•Reviewed and evaluated the previous assignment with other pupils and gave feedback to one another.

Learning behaviour Not available.

Conduct behaviour •Appreciated other pupils by

seriously listening and responding to their presentations.

•Evaluated the previous work with the peers and gave feedback to one another.

Learning behaviour •Was attentive to the

lecturer’s instruction without taking notes. •Engaged actively in small

group discussion on the available topics.

Conduct behaviour •Provided minor verbal distraction to the peers. •Did not appreciate other

pupils by not listening and responding to their

presentations.

•Cooperated with other pupils and discussed the lecturer’s direction.

Learning behaviour •Attended the lecturer’s

explanations while taking notes.

Emotional behaviour •Was sometimes more

dependent to the peers. Conduct behaviour •Provided verbal

interference to other pupils. •Caught up daydreaming and

not focusing on the lesson. Learning behaviour

Emotional behaviour •Not dependent to the

peers.

Conduct behaviour •Provided verbal

distraction and physical aggression to other pupils.

Learning behaviour •Did not pay attention to

Emotional behaviour •Carried out the course

objectives independently. Conduct behaviour Not available.

Learning behaviour •Paid attention well on the

lecturer’s explanation and classroom objectives.

Emotional behaviour •Was sometimes more

dependent to the peers. Conduct behaviour •Provided verbal nuisance

for other students. Learning behaviour •Frequently left out the

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•More discussion on irrelevant topics to the course with the peers. •Kept busy doing irrelevant

activities to the course and leaving out the course objectives.

•Took notes on the lecturer’s instructions.

the lecture.

•Easily influenced by other things or activities

irrelevant to the course.

•Directly wrote down the important points to be accomplished during the lesson.

•Concentrated on classroom activities and listened to other pupils’ opinion. •Inquired the unclear section

by questioning it to the lecturer.

irrelevant activites to the course.

•More discussion on irrelevant topics to the course with the peers.

9 - - - absent - - -

Emotional behaviour •Not dependent to the

peers.

Conduct behaviour •Provided both verbal and

nonverbal distraction to other pupils.

•Discussed and evaluated the previous assignment with the peers and gave feedback to one another.

Learning behaviour •Became indifferent to the

lecturer’s explanations and examples.

Emotional behaviour •Carried out the course

objectives independently. Conduct behaviour •Evaluated the previous

assignment with the peers and gave feedback to one another.

Learning behaviour •Concentrated and listened

to the instruction and directly took notes of what was written on the board. •Tried to focus to the

lecturer’s explanation although sometimes did not well-attend the lecture.

Emotional behaviour •Influenced by the peers since she did not attend the lesson well but paid more attention to the peers.

Conduct behaviour Not available.

Learning behaviour •Took notes on the

assignment without listening to the lecturer’s explanations.

•Indifferent to the lecturer’s directions and

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Emotional behaviour •Was sometimes more

dependent to the peers. Conduct behaviour •Provided verbal distraction

to other pupils.

Learning behaviour •Individually reviewed and

evaluated the previous assignment.

•Did not pay attention to the lesson by doing irrelevant activities to the course. •Took notes on the

instructions for the final assignment.

Emotional behaviour •Not dependent to the

peers.

Conduct behaviour •Provided verbal as well as

nonverbal interference to other pupils.

•Discussed the previous assignment with other pupils.

Learning behaviour •Left out the course

objectives and did not engage in classroom activities.

Emotional behaviour •Carried out the course

objectives independently. Conduct behaviour •Nonverbally distracted by

other pupils.

Learning behaviour •Individually evaluated the

previous assignment. •Concentrated on the

lecturer’s instruction and classroom objectives. •Tried to catch up on the

lecture even though

sometimes was nonverbally distracted by other pupils. •Did irrelevant activities to

the course.

Emotional behaviour •Was sometimes more

dependent to the peers. •Evaluated the previous assignment with other pupils and gave feedback to one another.

Conduct behaviour Not available.

Learning behaviour •Listened carefully to the

lecturer’s explanations and directions.

•Took notes on the major points of the final assignment.

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Research Participant A1 1. What do you think about the course?

“I think the course is quite challenging because we are free to choose our own passages and then to express our personal opinion about it. But I think I have difficulty to finish the assignments in time because we only have three days to look for the passages and make the composition. Even though, I always submit my assignments in time.”

2. What makes it difficult for you to finish the assignments in time?

“The assignments are also quite challenging. I still can do it but it really needs extra energy. However, what burdens me much was that I sometimes don’t get any turns for consultation. I really need assistance in completing the tasks.”

3. How do you overcome this problem?

“Well, I sometimes work together with my friends and discuss the topics together. After that we can share suggestions to one another.”

4. Do you always work together with your friends?

“No, if possible I try to do the assignments myself. If I do not get a clear idea of what to do, I sometimes ask my lecturer. But sometimes I cannot see the lecturer so I ask my friends.”

5. Do you always take notes on every lecturer’s explanations?

“I usually do not write every instruction or explanation that is given by the lecturer. I usually listen to direction and explanation first and I write things that are important later on. If I think that there is nothing important to write or I can really understand the direction without writing it, I will continue listening to the lecturer’s explanation.”

6. Before the presentation, do you make any preparations such as outlines, texts, or anything else?

“I summarize the presentation into points only. I do not usually make speech texts for my presentation because I think it is not effective.”

7. In your opinion, what makes the class interesting?

“I like the presentations. Because we can share our ideas and our friends can give us good suggestions. Besides, we can also get some information from our friends’ presentations.”

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Research Participant B3 1. What do you think about the course?

“The course makes us think critically about something. We can share ideas or opinions about something. So, I think it is very interesting because we are free to choose our own topic.”

2. What difficulties do you find during the course?

“Maybe it is about the given time to finish the assignments. We only have maximum three days to finish the assignments. We have to look for the source that is suitable for our topic and then make a composition about it. So I think that is difficult.”

3. How do you overcome this situation?

“Usually I find some sources at one time, and then I can choose one source to be used for the first assignments. The other sources can be used for the next assignments so I can save my time. But sometimes I also feel confused about the assignments. So, I sometimes work with my friends.”

4. What do you usually do during the lecturer gives explanations about the assignments?

“I usually listen to the lecturer’s explanations and take notes on the explanations. If only I forget the instructions, I can just see my notes and try to remember it. But sometimes my notes are not complete so I also borrow my friends’ notes.”

5. Before the presentation, do you make any preparations such as outlines, texts, or anything else?

“Yes, I prepare the complete composition but usually it is only one page long and I also prepare the general outlines of my presentation. So, if I forget the content of my presentation, I just see the outlines and continue the presentation.”

6. In your opinion, what makes the class interesting?

“The presentations. I sometimes ask my friends about topics that are interesting. So, we can give suggestions and share ideas about something new. Besides, we can also get new information from the presentation.”

The influence of intrinsic motivation and learning styles on the classroom performance of extensive reading II students.

To my beloved family, I an, and friends

w ho make me learn

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The influence of intrinsic motivation and learning styles on the classroom performance of extensive reading II students - USD Repository

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The influence of intrinsic motivation and learning styles on the classroom performance of extensive reading II students.

To my beloved family, I an, and friends

w ho make me learn

Parts

Dokumen yang terkait

THE IDENTIFICATION OF STUDENTS’ LEARNING STYLES ON THEIR READING COMPREHENSION PERFORMANCE AT THE SECOND GRADE OF SMAN 1 TANJUNG BINTANG

THE EFFECT OF TEACHING STRATEGIES AND LEARNING STYLES ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN READING COMPREHENSION.

THE EFFECT OF TEACHING STRATEGIES AND LEARNING STYLES ON THE STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT IN READING COMPREHENSION.

THE EFFECT OF TEACHING METHODS AND LEARNING STYLES ON STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT IN READING COMPREHENSION.

THE EFFECT OF TEACHING READING METHODS AND LEARNING MOTIVATION ON THE STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT IN READING COMPREHENSION.

THE EFFECT OF TEACHING READING METHODS AND LEARNING MOTIVATION ON THE STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN READING COMPREHENSION.

Identifying students` learning styles and their implications using kolb`s learning style inventory in the learning process of extensive reading II class.

The influence of learning styles on reading achievement of engineering faculty students and economics faculty students of Surabaya University - Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya Repository

Influence of Motivation and Quality of Work Life on The Performance of Employees

The influence of intrinsic motivation and learning styles on the classroom performance of extensive reading II students - USD Repository

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