PBI STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE STUDY OF LITERATURE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

  PBI STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE STUDY OF LITERATURE

IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

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

  By Dian Natalia Wigatiningrum

  Student Number: 051214111

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2010

  PBI STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE STUDY OF LITERATURE

IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

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

  By Dian Natalia Wigatiningrum

  Student Number: 051214111

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2010

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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY

  I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and references, as a scientific paper should.

  Yogyakarta, 13 January 2010 The Writer

  Dian Natalia W 051214111

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

  Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma : Nama : Dian Natalia Wigatiningrum Nomor Mahasiswa : 051214111

  Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :

  PBI STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE STUDY OF LITERATURE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, me- ngalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

  Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal : 13 Februari 2010 Yang menyatakan (Dian Natalia Wigatiningrum)

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  So do not fear, for I am with you; Do not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you;

  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

  (Isaiah 41:10) He has made everything beautiful in its time

  (Ecclesiastes 3:11) I dedicate this thesis to

  My Heavenly Father, My lovely parents and brother,

  All family, Partners and friend

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ABSTRACT

Natalia, Dian. 2010. PBI Students’ Perceptions on the Study of Literature in

English Language Teaching. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study

Program, Sanata Dharma University.

  Literature Courses in English Department are important since it helps the students to increase their English language skill, to optimize the functions of the brain of the right hemisphere and the left hemispere, to extend the mastery of vocabulary and idiom. Students’ perceptions on English teaching-learning activities are important since the students’ perceptions influence students’ motivation to learn English and behavior or attitudes in English learning activities. It plays an important role in education process since it helps the teachers or the lecturers to plan the appropriate teaching – learning activities when they know their students’ perceptions. Based on that fact, the researcher conducted this research.

  Trying to analyze PBI students’ perceptions on the study of literature in English Language Teaching, there are two problems formulated in this thesis. First, this study is aimed to find out PBI students’ perceptions on the study of literature in ELT. Second, this study attempts to know the contribution of literature in ELT.

  This study employs qualitative survey in order to complete the analysis. Therefore, this research gathered non – numerical data about the PBI students’ perceptions on the study of literature. Dealing with the study, the researcher uses questionnaires and verifying interview as a tool to analyze the study.

  The data of the first question revealed that the learners had positive perceptions on the study of literature in English Language Teaching. The positive perceptions were shaped because they are interested in learning literature and obtain a lot benefits. Although, according to some students, the teaching activities are not always fun and interesting. Even, they feel that they are not motivated to be active in class.

  The last research question aimed to find out the contributions of the study of literature in English Language Teaching. There are four contributions on the study of literature in ELT: 1. to understand humans’ character., 2. to develop English skills., 3. to balance the right and left hemisphere of brain., 4. to understand other culture.

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ABSTRAK

Natalia, Dian. 2010. The PBI Students’ Perceptions on the Study of literature

in English Language Teaching. Yogyakarta: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris,

Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Kelompok mata kuliah literature di Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris sangat penting karena dapat membantu mahasiswa untuk meningkatkan kemampuan bahasa Inggris, mengoptimalkan fungsi otak kanan dan kiri, dan meningkatkan kemampuan penguasaan kosakata dan idiom. Persepsi para siswa terhadap aktivitas belajar mengajar Bahasa inggris penting karena persepsi tersebut mempengaruhi motivasi para siswa untuk belajar Bahasa Inggris dan juga mempengaruhi perilaku atau sikap siswa dalam aktivitas belajar mengajar Bahasa Inggris. Study tentang persepsi mempunyai peran yang penting untuk proses pendidikan karena dapat membantu para guru atau dosen untuk merencanakan kegiatan belajar mengajar yang sesuai, ketika para pendidik tersebut mengetahui persepsi murid mengenai hal tersebut. Untuk itulah peneliti melakukan penelitian ini.

  Mencoba mengalisis persepsi para mahasiswa PBI dalam pembelajaran literature di pengajaran bahasa Inggris, skripsi ini merumuskan dua permasalahan. Pertama, skripsi ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui persepsi para mahasiswa PBI dalam pembelajaran literature di pengajaran bahasa Inggris. Kedua, skripsi ini mencari tahu kontribusi pembelajaran literature di pengajaran bahasa Inggris.

  Studi ini menerapkan peninjauan kualitatif untuk menyempurnakan analisa skripsi ini. Dengan demikian, data yang dikumpulkan dalam bentuk bukan angka mengenai persepsi para mahasiswa PBI dalam pembelajaran literature. Dalam studi ini, peneliti menggunakan kuesioner dan wawancara pembuktian sebagai sarana untuk mengalinis permasalahan.

  Data dari pertanyaan pertama mengungkapkan bahwa para mahasiswa mempunyai persepsi positif dalam pembelajaran literature di pengajaran Bahasa Inggris. Persepsi positif tersebut terbentuk karena para siswa sangat berminat dan mendapat banyak manfaat dalam pembelajaran literature. Meskipun untuk beberapa mahasiswa, kegiatan belajar mengajar tidak selalu menyenangkan dan menarik. Bahkan para siswa tersebut kurang termotivasi untuk lebih aktif di kelas.  

  Pertanyaan terakhir bertujuan untuk menemukan kontribusi pembelajaran literature di pengajaran Bahasa Inggris. Ada empat kontribusi dalam pembelajaran yaitu: 1. untuk memahami karakter manusia., 2. untuk mengembangkan kemampuan Inggris., 3 untuk menyeimbangkan otak kanan dan otak kiri., 4. Untuk memahami budaya yang lain.

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ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS

  Finally, I could arrive at this great opportunity, writing special gratitude to everyone helping me completing this thesis, since I could not do this alone. First of all, I would like to present my greatest gratitude to Jesus Christ who grants me endless assistance in blessing and encouraging me to complete this thesis. His strength and love lead me to believe that He knows the best for me and has a great and a perfect plan.

  My deepest gratitude goes to my lovely parents, Yohanes Sukamdi and

  

Sumaryati, who always support and encourage me to do the best in my life. Their

  endless prayer and patience inspire me to do my best in every single life. I also thank Didik Andi Purnomo, the only brother that I have. I truly thank him for his support and love he sincerely gives to me. I also thank bulek Darmi, ohm Ami, grandmother, and all of my family.

  I thank Mrs. C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd. very much for being my sponsor who helps me a lot during the process of writing this thesis. I really thank her for the guidance, patience, and support to complete this thesis. Her contributions in spending her valuable time to correct my thesis means a lot to me. I would also express my gratitude to Mrs. Laurentia Sumarnie, S.Pd., my Academic Advisors. I would also thank to L.Romo Harjiyanto, S.J who was willing to read my thesis.

  I do present my deep appreciation to all PBI lecturers for such worthy knowledge, experiences and skill that they have shared during my periods of study. I also thank Mbak Dani, Mbak Tari and all PBI staffs who gave me a lot of contributions throughout these 4,5 years.

  I would also express my gratitude to my beloved sisters and brother ever after, especially Nita, Patrice, Lia and Michael RAN. I am thankful for the laughter and tears we have shared together. Their support, care, love and prayer encourage me in passing through this life. What a beautiful friendship it is.

  Moreover, I could finish this thesis due to the support and prayer from all of my friends. I’m so thankful to the family of Tim Pembimbing Siswa

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Yogyakarta, especially Cik Nia, Mima, Verdi, Cik Vany, Mbak Ida, Pepep and

  many others whom I cannot mention one by one. I also thank Dani and Kak Prast, the family of Team Pelayanan Bantul, who encourage and support me to finish this thesis. Their prayer and care give me strength to finish this thesis.

  I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my sister in Jesus Christ:

  

Kak Fona, Elisabeth, Riris, Ida, Bekti, Danis, Uca, Dera and Mayang, for the

  great vission and moments both joy and sorrow, laughter and tears we have shared. I thank them for their support, care, endless love and prayer to face this cruel world. I also thank the big family of Komisi Pemuda GKJ Sidomulyo and Efata Fellowship who also support me and pray for me.

  My gratitude also goes to all members of PBI 2005 for the unforgettable journey we have shared. Special thanks for the PPL SMA N 9 (Siska, Patrice and Verdi), “Geisha” crew, “Spring” member, and KKN 37 Gunting.

  Last but not least, I also thank everyone who supports me but I cannot mention one by one on this page.

  With love Dian Natalia Wigatiningrum

  051214111

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Page TITLE PAGE ……………………………………………………........... i APPROVAL PAGES …………………………………………….......... ii STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY …………………… iv DEDICATION PAGE …………………………………………… v ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………….. vi

  ABSTRAK ……………………………………………………………….. vii

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………… viii TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………… x LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................. xiii LIST OF APPENDICES .......................................................................... xiv

  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION …………………………………… 1 A. Research Background …………………………………………… 1 B. Problem Formulation …………………………………………… 3 C. Research Objectives …………………………………………… 4 D. Problem Limitation …………………………………………… 4 E. Research Benefits …………………………………………………… 4 F. Clarification of Terms …………………………………………… 5 CHAPTER II : LITERATURE REVIEW ………………………….... 8 A. Theoretical Description …………………………………………… 8

  1. Perception …………………………………………………………… 8

  a. Definition of Perception …………………………………… 8

  b. Perceptual Process …………….................................... 10

  c. Component of perception ........................................................ 11

  d. Factors that Affect Someone’s Perception …………………… 12 2. Literature ……………………………............

  16

  a. The Nature of Literature …………………………................ 16

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  b. The Form of Literature ……………………........................ 18

  c. The Importance of Literature in ELT ............................................... 20 3. Motivation ……………………........................

  21 B. Theoretical Framework …………………………………………… 23

  CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY …………………………… 26 A. Research Method …………………………………………………… 26 B. Research Participants …………………………………………… 27 C. Research Instruments …………………………………………… 28 D. Data Gathering Techniques …………………………………… 30 E. Data Analysis Techniques …………………………………………… 31 F. Research Procedures …………………………………………… 32

CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION……. 33

A. Data Presentations and Analysis …………………………………… 33

  1. The Students’ Perception on the Study of Literature ..………...... 33

  a. Response of the statement based on the importance of literature courses................................................................................

  34

  b. Response of the statement based on the students’point……………… 43

  c. The analysis of the students’responses on the classification of perceptions based on the questionnaire ……………………………

  54

  2. The students’ opinion on the contribution of literature courses in English Language Teaching...............................................................

  55 B. Discussion ……………………………………………………………. 57

  1. PBI students’ perceptions on the study of literature in English Language Teaching…………………………………….

  57 2. The Contribution of Literature in ELT………………................

  61

  3. Other findings ……………………………………………………. 63

  PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ……

  65 A. Conclusions ……………………………………………………. 65

  1. PBI Students’perception on the study of literature in ELT ……………………………………………………………. 65

  2. The contribution of literature study in ELT ……………………. 66

  B. Suggestions ……………………………………………………. 67

  1. Suggestions ……………………………………........................ 67

  2. The implication of the study ………………………………........ 68 REFERENCES …………………………………………………….

  69 APPENDICES ……………………………………………………. 72

  APPENDIX A: Questionnaire.................................................................... 73 APPENDIX B : Students’ responses on the questionnaire….................... 75 APPENDIX C: Interview I ....................................................................... 82 APPENDIX D: Interview II ..................................................................... 83 APPENDIX E: Permission letter for the Library of the Graduate Program USD …………………………………………..

  84

  

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LIST OF FIGURES

  Figure 1. The perceptual process (Altman et al, 1985)…………………… 10 Figure 2. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 1 ……. 32 Figure 3.Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 2 ……… 33 Figure 4.Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 3 ……… 34 Figure 5. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 4 ……. 35 Figure 6. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 5 ……. 36 Figure 7. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 6 ……. 37 Figure 8. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 7 ……. 38 Figure 9. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 8 ……. 39 Figure 10. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 9 ……. 41 Figure 11. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 10........ 42 Figure 12. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 11 ....... 43 Figure 13. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 12 ....... 44 Figure 14. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 13 ....... 45 Figure 15. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 14 ....... 46 Figure 16. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 15 ....... 47 Figure 17. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 16 ....... 48 Figure 18. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 17 ....... 49 Figure 19. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 18 ....... 50 Figure 20. Finding of respondents’ responses on the statement no 19 ....... 51

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LIST OF APPENDICES

  Page

Appendix A Questionnaire ……………………………............................. 73

Appendix B Students’ Responses on the Questionnaire …......................... 75

Appendix C Interview I ………………………………….……………… 82

Appendix D Interview II …………………………………………............ 83

Appendix E Permission letter for the Library of the Graduate

  Program USD………………………………………............... 84

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INTRODUCTION

  This chapter presents the introduction of this study. This chapter is divided into seven sections, namely background of the study, problem formulation, research objectives, research limitation, research benefits and definition of terms. The background of the study describes the explanation about the topic of the study. The problem formulation consists of two questions, which generally describes the problem that will be analyzed. The research objectives mainly deal with the main purpose of the researcher’s writing in this thesis. Next is the research limitation, which limits the scope and focus of the research. The research benefits describe the explanation of who can obtain the benefits of the study. The last part is the definition of terms, which deals with some terms used in this research.

A. Background of the Study

  English Education Study Program is one of the programs in the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education. This study program is meant to prepare its students to become English teacher for Senior High School and Junior High School. To fulfill the demand of this competencies (the teacher’s candidate competence), the curriculum has been designed based on the institution guideline.

  All of the courses are designed to help the students to master English skill and knowledge. There are also general courses which support the achievement of

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  2 related to linguistic and research. One of the group courses of language teaching is literature. As a part of learning, literature courses give many contributions in English Language Teaching, such as to optimize the functions of the brain, the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere, to extend the mastery of vocabulary and idioms, to increase English language skill (Rees, 1973). As a part of activity, literature can be one of the subjects. In most ELT (English Language Teaching) classes, literature is perceived as an integrated learning which combines four basic language skills; listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

  Literature courses in English Study Program Sanata Dharma University consist of Introduction to Literature, Poetry, Prose I, Prose II and Prose 3 for supplementary materials, Drama, and Play Performance. All courses, except Play Performance which has 3 credits, have 2 credits and 2 contact hours.

  Nevertheless, based on the interviewed conducted on August 2007, some of the fifth ( 2007 students) and the last semester students (2005 students) of PBI Study Program Sanata Dharma University perceived that the study of literature was not important and quite difficult since they mainly learned language teaching.

  They thought that there was no relation between language teaching and literature. Having much concern to the fact stated above, the researcher tries to find out the students’ perception on the study of literature in English Language Teaching.

  Perception is one of the factors in the success of learning English. Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment (Robbins, 1997).

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  3 someone’s behavior or attitudes and motivation to learn (Szylagyi and Wallace, 1980). Moreover, people’s behavior is influenced their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself so that they perceive something based on their perceptions.

  Mostly, it will not be objective as they judge something based on their perceptions.

  Since perception refers to the acquisition of specific knowledge about objects or events at any particular moment, it occurs whenever stimuli activate the senses. If someone believes that stimuli will bring his needs, it will cause him to have positive perception toward the stimuli. This positive perception also occurs when someone has a big expectation toward the stimuli. The differences in someone’s needs and expectation when experiencing something cause the differences of perceptions from one person to another (Bootzin, 1983).

  Student’s perception on teaching learning activities is important as it influences students’ motivation to learn English, which also influences their attitude and behavior. Moreover, students’ perceptions also influence further teaching-learning strategies (Wenden, 1987). Knowing students’ perception on teaching learning will help teacher to plan appropriate strategies, methods, and activities. It will also encourage students to enjoy the teaching – learning activities on the study of literature. Therefore, the students will have good perfomance to be active in class. They have better understanding of the topic which is discussed and their score will be increase.

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  4 Problem Formulation Based on the background explained above, the problems of the research are formulated as follows:

  1. What is the PBI students’ perception on the study of literature in English Language Teaching?

  2. What is the contribution on the study of literature in English Language Teaching? C.

   Research Objectives

  This research attempts to find out the following:

  1. The PBI students’ perception on the study of literature in English Language Teaching at Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta.

  2. The contribution of the literature courses in English Language Teaching.

  Furthermore, it is also to explore the negative and positive implications of the literary forms and its role on students’ learning success.

D. Research Limitation

  This research is limited to the discussion of PBI students’ perception on the study of literature in English Language Teaching and its contribution for the students in learning success. This research is done through questionnaire and verifying interview in Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, August 2009.

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  5 Research Benefits Considering all of the explanations above, the research contributions are thus:

  1. For English lecturers The lecturers will know the students’ perceptions on their literature class so that they can reflect the result to their teaching. Therefore, the lecturers will know the best suited method for teaching literature courses in English Language Teaching. They can improve their teaching to be more effective after knowing the students’ perceptions on the English class and several factors related to it.

  Besides, they will also know in – depth the contribution of literature courses in English Language Teaching.

  2. For the students The students can share their perceptions on the contribution of literature in ELT. Furthermore, the students would know what implications they might gain by studying literature in ELT classes, either consciously or unconsciously. Hopefully, by knowing its perception the students will enjoy literature class.

  3. Other researchers who are interested in this field Other researchers who are interested to conduct similar research can use this research as a reference.

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  6 Definition of Terms In this section, the researcher tries to clarify some terms in order to make the readers better understand the content of the study and to avoid any misconception due to it. Some of those terms are:

  1. Perception Perception is defined as an individual’s process of organizing and interpreting impressions of the environment so that the impressions will be meaningful (Robbins, 1997). Gibson (1997) defines perception as a mental activity of organizing information from environment so that it makes sense.

  Moreover, Altman and Hodgetts (1985) define perception as a person’s way of selecting and grouping stimuli, so that the stimuli can be interpreted meaningfully. Perception is also defined as a conscious mental and cognitive process that enables people to interpret and understand their surrounding (Kreitner and Kinicki, 1992). In this study, perception refers to the students’ process of organizing and interpreting impressions of information on the study of literature so that they students perceive the study of literature objectively.

  2. Literature Literature is a performance in words which offers truth and gives beneficial effects on the reader (M.I. Indriani, 1990: 1). According to Hall (1961), like any form of art, literature involves communication of some type of meaning through a particular medium. Medium here might refer to novel, short stories,

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  7 literature has an essential relationship with life and derives some of its basic characteristics from language. In this study, it refers to the group of courses in PBI which deal with literary works, such as poetry, drama, prose, play performance.

  3. English Language Teaching In order to understand the term English Language Teaching, it seems better to firstly break down the phrase and get the meaning of each word. The term teaching is used to refer to the activities carried out by materials developers or teachers to facilitate the learning of the language (Tomlinson, 1998). Hornby as stated in Oxford Sixth Advanced Learners’ Dictionary of Current English defines language as the system of communication in speech and writing that is used by people of a particular country. The term English Language Teaching refers to the system which has the correlation of education world in learning.

  4. PBI (English Education Study Program) PBI is one of the programs in English Faculty of Teacher Training and

  Education in Sanata Dharma University. It is located in Mrican, Tromol Pos 29 Yogyakarta 55002.

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  In this chapter, the researcher will explain some theories which are related to this study. This chapter is divided into two parts, namely the theoretical description and theoretical framework. The first one is the theoretical review, which is used to support the analysis, including theory of perceptions, literature and motivation. Those theories’ functions are thus covered in the theoretical framework.

A. Theoretical Description

  The theoretical description includes discussion of three parts: (1) Perceptions, (2) Literature, and (3) Motivation.

1. Perception

  This part presents theory of perception, including definition of perception, perceptual process, component of perception, and the factors that affect someone’s perception.

a. Definition of Perception

  According to Altman et al. (1985), perception is defined as the way how people select and group the stimuli so that they can interpret the stimuli meaningfully. Following to Borger and Seaborne (1996), perception is an

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  9 sensory data in certain way to arrive at useful impression of this surrounding.

  Moreover, Kreitner and Kinicki (1992) add that perception is a mental and cognitive process that enables people to interpret and understand the surroundings.

  Perception is also defined as a process of interpreting messages of our senses to provide order and meaning to the environment (Johns, 1996).

  Another definition, as proposed by Hornby (1995), perception is a way of seeing, understanding, or interpreting something. According to Warga (1983), perception is a meaningful translation from physical energy that we feel or sense. Based on their definitions, it can be concluded that perception is the way how people seeing, interpreting, and understanding something. The same object / event could be perceived differently by different person, which leads to different responses. Related to this study, perception is the way how the students feel, think about something, in this case is the study of literature in English education.

  Perception is considered as the process in which the existence of objects and phenomena is reflected in a person’s awareness and consciousness, as stated by Leontiev (1981). It means that person perceives objects, events, surroundings consciously by the help of sensory organs, such as eyes, tongue, ears, nose and skin.

  In order to form a perception, there are three steps needed in the process of perception, those are: 1) awareness, or attention to the incoming stimulus, 2) recognition and interpretation of incoming stimuli into some messages, and 3) translating or deciding on the appropriate action or behavior in response to the

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  10 environment.

b. Perceptual Process

  The diagram below shows how the perceptual process happens:

  organizing observation of Stimuli the stimuli the stimuli interpreting a response the stimuli behavior and attitude formed.

  Figure 1 Altman et al. (1985) From the perceptual process shown in Figure 1, it is seen that perception comes from the stimuli. Stimuli are forms of physical energy, such as light, heat, sound, and movement which strikes sensory receptors. Sensory receptor is the sensory organs such as eyes, ears, tongue, nose and skin which convey the message to the brain. The stimuli then are selected in the brain. The selected stimuli will result in the form of information. The information will be organized and interpreted by the brain. After interpreting the information, the brain then translates the information into meaning. The result of the meaningful information of the translation is then called perception. Then, behavioral responses toward exist. In other words, behavior comes from a process, and perception is one factor that affects the process. If someone has a good perception of something, he will create behavior toward that thing.

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  11 Component of Perception Biggs as cited by Astuningsih (2006) states that perception on learning deals with belief about knowledge which influences students’ approaches to learning. It means that perception on learning deals with concept, as stimulus which comes from environment; therefore, there is a system that relates the concept with the environment, which is called interactive system (Biggs as cited by Astuningsih, 2006). This system has three components, namely presage, process, and product (learning outcome).

  Presage is a factor that includes students’ belief about knowledge and learning conception. Presage also includes learning context, such as teachers and school attributes. The examples of presage, according to Biggs (1989) and Dart & Clarke (1991), are educational practices, students’ preparations, approaches to learning, and changes to assessment product.

  Process is a factor that includes students’ perceptions of a given learning situation and specific learning strategies that they, consequently, adopt for learning tasks. Learning strategies are factors that influence the process of learning. An example of process is how students learn the materials during English teaching-learning activities.

  Product or learning outcome is influenced by the learning strategies used. Students’ perceptions on English learning are influenced by the implementation of English teaching-learning activities (Perry, 1981).

  More specifically, these three components are spelled out in five elements of language teaching-learning activities implementation that build students’

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  12 students, (2) what the teacher wants the students to learn, (3) how the students learn in class, (4) what the students learn, and (5) what the purposes of learning the language are.

d. Factors that Affect Someone’s Perception

  According to Gibson et al. (1985), in organizations theory there are six factors influencing someone’s perception. They are stereotyping, selectivity, self- concept, situation, needs, and emotions.

  1) Stereotype

  The first factor is stereotyping. Stereotype is a set of beliefs about the characteristics of people in a particular group that is generalized to all members of the group (Gibson et al., 1985). It indicates that the judgment for someone or something is related to his/her ethnic group membership. For example, women stereotype as meek, gentle whereas men stereotype as strong, powerful. Most of the stereotypes are the wrong perceptions because it is formed not because of the fact that happens in our environment. It is supported by Gibson (1985), who says that stereotyping can result in implementing improper programs.

  2) Selectivity

  The second factor is selectivity. It is impossible that we can receive all the data or information. Only information which makes someone comfortable they

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  13 based on something that we want to choose. It is supported by Gibson (1985) that people tend to ignore information that might make them feel uncomfortable. People will take the stimuli that they want, but most of the stimuli that they take are positive for them. In English teaching-learning activity, people will regard it important and give good perception on it if those people select the stimuli (teaching-learning activities in literature study) because they have any interest on it. Everyone selects certain stimuli and the stimuli can be different from everyone.

  There are six factors which influence people select the stimuli (Warga, 1983):

  a. Size The first factor is size. According to Warga (1983), size is a factor influencing stimuli and it will grab someone‘s attention. For example, if we get an opportunity to read some literary works, we will choose to read the written work printed in big size first then the small letters.

  b. Change Changes always grab our attention. For example, if there is something new in the way we usually pass, we tend to give our attention on it.

  c. Repetition By repeating the same stimulus, someone will be forced to pay attention. For example, a person calls his friend who is sleeping. Because of tight sleep, he ignores his friend’s voice. After such repeated call for many times, he will awake.

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  14 Saying something with loud voice will make people pay more attention on it because it is more clearly. It is also stated by Warga (1983) that the intensity of the stimulus – your voice – makes it stand out above other stimuli, so that the listeners are forced to pay attention to you.

  e. Movement Moving things are more interesting than unmoving things. For example, people will notice or pay attention to a bird which is moving when other birds do not move. This is clear that movement will suddenly attract our attention.

  f. Set It is defined as an emotional disposition that influences perception. The set causes someone to interpret sensation into meaning which is based on what he / she expects to perceive.

3) Self-Concept

  The third factor is self-concept. The way we see ourselves in the form of self-concept will affect our perception about something in our environment. We only perceive those things which are consistent with our motives and goals, and interpret our experiences to make them compatible with our present self-concept.

  For example, someone who always sees something optimistically will also see everything around her optimistically.

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  15 The press of time will literally force the manager to overlook some details, to rush certain activities and to ignore certain stimuli such as request from other managers or from superiors (Gibson et al., 1985). People tend to work quickly when they do not have much time. Because of the limitation of time, people pay less attention to the factor(s), which might affect the work outcomes. People become careless in doing their activities. They make certain decision about certain thing without further understanding or their perceptions toward the problem. In teaching-learning activities of the study of literature, the students will make perception on it with further understanding about the meaning of this activity because they observe and do this activity deeply in a certain situation.

  5) Needs

  Perceptions are significantly influenced by needs and desires (Gibson et al., 1985). People will eat what they want to eat, they will see what they want to see, and they will do everything they want to do. Students also have certain needs in learning literature. Needs here refers to the students’ wants, desires, demands, expectation, motivation, and requirements.

  6) Emotion

  Emotion can influence someone in forming perception. Gibson (1985) supports this through his statement that strong emotions often distort perceptions.

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  16 perception, which will be formed in the future.

2. Attitude

  An attitude is considered a determining factor to know whether or not people like something. By knowing one’s attitude, we can perceive whether people have positive / negative perceptions towards thing (As Jum C: 1964). Attitudes are involved in the relationship between a person and the external object / event. Mann in Azwar (1988) stated that attitude has 3 components.