THE MEANING OF TEACHING ENGLISH LARGE CLASSES TO A NOVICE TEACHER A THESIS
THE MEANING OF TEACHING ENGLISH LARGE CLASSES
TO A NOVICE TEACHER A THESIS Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M.Hum) Degree in English Language Studiesby
IRMA WINDY ASTUTI Student Number : 056332008 THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2010 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, thanks to Allah S.W.T for all His guidance and blessing through all the hardship encountered whilst completing this thesis .
I am heartily thankful to my supervisor, Dr. J. Bismoko, to whom I owe a great intellectual debt and whose valuable assistance has enabled me to develop a sound understanding of the subject for the completion of this thesis.
I am also indebted to all my lecturers in the Graduate Program of English Language Studies of Sanata Dharma University for the insights, aspirations and wisdoms they have shared.
I would also like to thank my beloved family: My father Hari Sisworo, my mother Ibu Winarsih, my Grandfather Soenaryo, my sister Fitria Indri Astuti and my brother Dhymas Arie Wibowo for their unfailing love, support and prayers for me during my study and as I hurdle all the obstacles in the completion of this research work.
I would also like to express my most sincere gratitude to all my colleagues in English Study Program Diploma III of Faculty of Psychology and Socio-cultural Sciences of Islamic University of Indonesia (UII), the former dean and all the faculty members for their steadfast understanding and encouragement.
To all my wonderful classmates: Ista, Yanti, Slash, Jeannette, Dyah, Anis and others, I am much touched by your earnest and lasting friendship and I truly treasure every moment we have spent and shared together especially during our study.
Last but not least, my immense appreciation also goes to Ms. Martha, my research participant, for her helpful assistance and to all of those who supported me in any respect during the completion of my study and this research project.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
11 A. THEORETICAL REVIEW ......................................................................
17 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
15 d. Roles of Teacher ............................................................................
13 c. Teaching Foreign Language .........................................................
12 b. Teaching ........................................................................................
12 a. Experience .....................................................................................
11 1. Language Teaching Experience .........................................................
8 CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................
TITLE PAGE .................................................................................................. i APPROVAL PAGE ........................................................................................ ii DEFENSE APPROVAL PAGE ..................................................................... iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ................................................................ iv LEMBAR PERNYATAAN…………………………………………………. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................ vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................ xii LIST OF PICTURE ........................................................................................ xiii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... xiv ABSTRAK ...................................................................................................... xvi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .....................................................................
8 F. RESEARH BENEFITS .............................................................................
7 E. RESEARCH GOALS ...............................................................................
6 D. RESEARCH QUESTION .........................................................................
5 C. PROBLEM LIMITATION .......................................................................
1 B. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION ...............................................................
1 A. BACKGROUND ......................................................................................
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI a.
19 Characteristics of Novice Teacher ................................................
b.
20 Knowledge and Skill Base of Novice Teacher .............................
3.
22 Large Class ..........................................................................................
a.
22 Characteristics of Large Classes ...................................................
b.
24 Problems and Potentials of large Classes ......................................
c.
26 Learner-centered Instruction ..........................................................
B.
27 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .............................................................
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..........................................
31 A.
31 RESEARCH DESIGN ..............................................................................
B.
36 SETTING ..................................................................................................
C.
37 RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS ................................................................
D.
39 TYPES OF DATA AND DATA SOURCE ..............................................
E.
41 DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUE .....................................................
F.
48 TECHNIQUE OF DATA ANALYSIS .....................................................
G.
50 TRUSTWORTHINESS ………………………………………………… CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ...........................................................................
52 A.
53 DATA PRESENTATION ..........................................................................
1.
52 Preliminary Interview ………………………………………………..
2.
54 In-depth Interview …………………………………………………… a.
55 Unstructured Interview …………………………………………… b.
57 Structured Interview ……………………………………………… 3.
58 Observation ………………………………………….……………….
4.
63 Documents …………………………………………………………… 5.
64 Coding and Thematizing ……………………………………………..
B.
70 INTERPRETATION..................................................................................
1.
70 Pre-figured Themes .............................................................................
a.
70 Problems of Large Classes .............................................................. 1)
71 Problems of Classroom Management .......................................
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2)
73 Problems of Learner .................................................................. 3)
74 Problems of Material ................................................................
b.
75 Potentials of Large Classes ............................................................. 1)
75 Potentials of Classroom Management ...................................... 2)
77 Potentials of Learner ................................................................. 3)
78 Potentials of Material ................................................................
c.
79 Learner-Centered Instruction .......................................................... 1)
80 Learner’s Account ..................................................................... 2)
81 Positive Learning Environment ................................................
d.
82 Teacher’s Roles ............................................................................... 1)
82 Teacher as Facilitator of Learning and Classroom Manager .... 2)
84 Teacher with Special Roles .......................................................
e.
85 Pedagogical Skills (Theory – Practice Mismatch) ..........................
f.
87 Psychological/ Affective Factor ...................................................... 1)
87 Teaching Conduct ..................................................................... 2)
88 Teaching-related Conduct .........................................................
2.
89 Emergent Themes ...............................................................................
a.
89 Teacher’s Roles ............................................................................... 1)
89 Teacher as Negotiator ............................................................... 2)
91 Teacher as Peer .........................................................................
b. ...................................................................................
91 Self 1)
91 Personal Maxim ........................................................................ 2)
93 Reflective Teaching .................................................................. 3)
93 Decision Making ....................................................................... 4)
94 Autonomy/ Empowerment ........................................................ 5)
95 Problem Solving ........................................................................ 6)
96 Motivation ................................................................................. SUMMARY ....................................................................................................
97 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION AND RECOMMENDATION ..........................................................
99
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................
99 IMPLICATION ............................................................................................... 101 RECOMMENDATION .................................................................................. 102 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................... 103 APPENDICES ................................................................................................ 106 Appendix A Interview Question Blueprint .................................................. 106 Appendix B Interview Protocol ................................................................... 114 Appendix C Preliminary Interview .............................................................. 115 Appendix D Interview Transcription ........................................................... 117 1.
Unstructured Interview ................................................................................
117 2. Structured Interview ....................................................................................
130 Appendix E Class Observation ................................................................... 149 Appendix F Teacher’s Documents ..............................................................
153 1. Sample of Subject/ Course Outline ............................................................
153 2. Information of English Class Remedy ......................................................
157 3. Sample of Class Syllabus ……………………………………………….
158
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Research Construct Mapping……………………………………. 29
Table 3.1 Research Participant……………………………………………. 38 Table 3.2
Data Collection Types and Source of Data ........…………………. 40
Table 4.1 Data Presentation Sample of Unstructured Interview with Ms. Devi 55Table 4.2 Data Presentation Sample of Struc tured Interview with Ms.Devi… 57Table 4.3 Data Observa tion Sample …………………………………………. 59Table 4.4 Illustrated Lists of Codes ………………………………………….. 65
Table 4.5 Illustrated List of EmergentThemes …………………………….. 67
Table 4.6 Illustration of Further Coding…………………………………… 69 Table 4.7
Excerpt of researcher’s field-work report/ observation ………..... 72
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3.1 Data Collection Procedures……………………………………. 47
Figure 3.2 Data A nalysis ……………………………………………………. 51Figure 4.1 Aspects of Novice Teaching in Large Class…………………… 54
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI LIST OF PICTURES
Picture 4.1 Information of English Subject Remedy……………………………… 64
Picture 4.2 Sample of Classroom Assessment Activity…………………………… 84
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ABSTRACT
Irma Windy Astuti. 2010. The Meaning of Teaching English Large Classes to a Novice
Teacher : Narrative Research. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
The challenges that teachers of English as a World Language encountered in their profession are unquestionably numerous. One of the most challenging teaching situations is the one involving novice or beginning English teachers teaching in a challenging classroom environment such as those of large classes. I intend to explore and discuss teaching English large classes to a novice teacher. I particularly aim at investigating what the teacher thinks about teaching English large classes, how she gives meaning to it, how she conducts and approaches her teaching, how she experiences success and failure, what she learns from it to become more empowered and self-fulfilling
This research is progressive qualitative research. The data, in a form of texts, were presented and analyzed based on the narratives of the research participant. The use of narrative research inquiry is intended to seek insightful meanings and understandings of the individual
’s perceptions and meaningful experience on teaching English large classes. Accordingly, real stories, rich experiences, multiple perceptions, and multifaceted interpretation of the participant’s teaching experience would be altogether used to construct meanings in order to better understand the essence and the reality of their teaching enterprise.
The participant was a novice teacher in her second year of teaching English in a private secondary/ senior high school whose classes are identified as large. The texts were taken from in-depth interviews (un-structured and structured interviews) with the participant, class observations and document collection. Some of the texts were recorded, video-taped, transcribed, photocopied and scanned. They were analyzed through recurring process of reading, transcribing, coding, and categorizing involving careful selection and reduction. Consequently, the pre-figured themes of problems of large class, potentials of large class, learner- centered instruction, teacher’s role, pedagogical mismatch and psychological/ affective factors were presented, discussed, analyzed and interpreted along with the emergent categories.
The findings which I expect from this study are hoped to be build a better understanding of teaching English large classes to a novice teacher which in turn is also likely benefit her in improving and developing herself professionally. The implications of the findings is likely to suggest thoughtful, reflective and accommodating teaching practice with regards to facilitating effective learning and providing positive learning environment for learners of English large classes. Another implication would address the importance of considering the link and match between pedagogical or EFL theories and a real-teaching practice undergone by novice teachers.
I wish this study will particularly benefit novice teachers of English large classes and English teachers in general. The result of this study may also be further taken as a recommendation for teacher education or preparation program to establish a more- balanced training and education for future English teachers. In addition, the school authority and administrator are also expected to benefit from the study in identifying with the novice teachers’ administrative responsibilities. Altogether, it is expected to endorse
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
and enable novice English teachers to become more self-sufficient in her teaching profession.
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
ABSTRAK Irma Windy Astuti. 2010. The Meaning of Teaching English Large Classes to a Novice
Teacher : Narrative Research. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Terdapat banyak kesulitan yang dihadapi oleh guru bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa international dalam profesi mengajar mereka. Salah satu dari kesulitan yang paling besar adalah yang berkaitan dengan pengalaman mengajar guru baru atau novice teacher yang mengajar di kelas besar. Saya bermaksud untuk menggali dan mendiskusikan makna dari mengajar kelas besar terhadap guru baru. Saya secara khusus tertarik untuk mengetahui lebih jauh apa yang dipikirkan oleh guru baru mengenai mengajar bahasa Inggris di kelas besar; bagaimana ia memberikan makna terhadap proses mengajar tersebut; bagaimana ia melakukan proses mengajar; bagaimana ia mengalami kesuksesan dan kegagalan dalam mengajar; dan apa yang ia pelajari dari itu semua untuk bisa menjadikannya lebih mandiri dan berkembang.
Penelitian ini adalah penelitian progresif kualitatif. Data yang diperoleh berupa atau dalam bentuk teks yang disajikan dan dianalisa berdasarkan narasi dari partisipan penelitian. Disain penelitian dengan menggunakan strategi pendekatan naratif (narrative
research inquiry ) yang digunakan untuk mencari tahu makna terdalam dan pemahaman
dari persepsi seseorang dan pengalaman yang memberikan arti penting bagi dirinya berkaitan dengan pengajaran bahasa Inggris di kelas besar. Berkaitan dengan hal tersebut, kisah nyata, pengalaman hidup yang kaya dan interpretasi yang berlapis dari pengalaman mengajar partisipan penelitian yang secara keseluruhan akan digunakan untuk membangun makna dalam rangka memahami inti dan realita mengajar yang mereka alami secara lebih mendalam.
Partisipan penelitian adalah seorang guru baru yang mempunyai pengalaman mengajar selama 3 tahun di salah satu sekolah swasta menengah atas yang memiliki kelas besar bahasa Inggris. Data teks diperoleh dari in-depth interviews (tidak terstruktur dan terstruktur) yang melibatkan partisipan, pengamatan kelas dan pengumpulan serta analisis dokumen. Teks-teks tersebut direkam, ditranskripsi, difotocopi dan dipindai (scanned). Teks-teks tersebut dianalisa melalui proses pembacaan, transkripsi, pengkodean dan pengklasifikasian secara berulang-ulang yang juga melibatkan proses pemilihan dan pengurangan data. Dengan demikian, tema-tema yang diperkirakan pada awal penelitian yang meliputi problematika kelas besar, potensi kelas besar, pengajaran berbasis siswa, peran guru, ketidaksesuaian pengetahuan pedagogik dengan kenyataan di lapangan serta faktor psikologis guru disajikan, dibahas, dianalisis dan diinterpretasikan bersama dengan tema-tema baru yang mengikutinya.
Saya berharap hasil dari penelitian ini mampu membangun kesadaran dan pemahaman mengenai mengajar bahasa Inggris dikelas besar yang dialami oleh guru baru yang selanjutnya akan mampu memberikan keuntungan bagi individu yang bersangkutan untuk mengembangkan diri secara lebih professional. Implikasi dari hasil penelitian ini berupa masukan/ saran bagi pengembangan pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa Inggris yang lebih reflektif dan akomodatif yang utamanya untuk memfasilitasi terjadinya proses pembelajaran yang lebih efektif serta terciptanya lingkungan belajar yang kondusif bagi siswa-siswa di kelas besar bahasa Inggris. Implikasi lainnya adalah harapan akan
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
pentingnya memperhatikan kesesuaian antara pengetahuan pedagogik dengan kenyataan belajar yang sebenarnya yang dihadapi oleh para guru baru di lapangan.
Saya berharap penelitian ini secara lebih khusus akan memberikan manfaat kepada guru baru yang mengajar kelas besar bahasa Inggris dan guru bahasa Inggris pada umumnya. Harapan lebih jauh terhadap hasil dari penelitian ini adalah keberadaannya yang bisa menjadi bahan masukan bagi program pelatihan atau pendidikan guru untuk menyediakan dan mengembangkan program pendidikan atau pelatihan yang lebih berimbang bagi guru-guru bahasa Inggris dimasa yang akan datang. Selain itu, pimpinan sekolah juga diharapkan mampu mendapatkan keuntungan dari hasil penelitian ini berkaitan dengan tugas dan kewajiban guru baru disekolahnya masing-masing. Secara keseluruhan, hal- hal tersebut diharapkan mampu mendukung keberadaan guru baru bahasa Inggris untuk menjadi lebih mandiri dalam profesi mengajarnya.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJICHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION My research aim is to investigate teaching English large classes to a novice teacher. It
seeks to reveal the participant’s understandings of her own lived-experience in teaching English large classes and how she gives meaning to it.
This chapter is organized as follows. Sections A and B discuss the research background and problem identification, respectively. While section C illustrates problem limitation, section D provides my research questions. Subsequently, sections E and F outline my research goals as well as my research benefits.
A. BACKGROUND
Teaching English as foreign language is a long-standing profession which only sees itself as being in more and more demand throughout the world. With English language being more commonly used in many parts of the world, the demand for English teachers has progressively increased. Many native speakers of English have traveled abroad to get employment as English teachers regardless their teaching qualification. Likewise, many non-native English speakers pursue English education program to become English teachers at primary, secondary and even tertiary level in their respective countries.
Equally, the high demand for English language teachers in Indonesia, both in formal and informal sectors, has provided fresh graduates of English education or department with an experience of early employment as English teachers. As a result, there are quite many novice English teachers in Indonesia embarking on their first year of teaching English as foreign language at primary and secondary levels.
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Being new in a profession is not always an easy take. The same is true for novice English teachers, including those in Indonesia. It is since novice teachers are still pretty much considered as in-experienced for they have only limited experience in handling the classroom and its learning dynamic. Bartel mentions that the early years of teaching are often characterized by a “sink-or-swim” or “survival” mentality because we have often failed to provide for careful support and thoughtful development of teaching expertise over time. He further asserts that another challenge faced by beginning teachers is since they are also traditionally expected to assume all the same responsibilities as the more experienced teachers (2004:3). According to Moran (1996), another difficulty that novice teachers have to manage is seemingly due to the countless diversity of knowledge and skills that must be gained to deal with actual classroom settings in order to survive their first year teaching.
Yet, in dealing with English language teaching, particularly teaching English as foreign language, one of the challenges that novice teachers may encounter is teaching English in large class setting. Given their limitation, novice teachers may see the prospects of teaching English in large classes as something intimidating, if not frustrating. The challenges presented to teachers, especially the new ones, in teaching large class have much to do with its laden characteristics. It is since the bigger the class or the more students it has, the more heterogeneous it is. It is as Ur (1999: 304) exemplifies below:
“Some differences among learners in class are in terms: language-learning ability, language knowledge, cultural background, learning style, attitude to language, mother tongue, intelligence, world knowledge, learning experience, knowledge of other language, age or maturity, gender, personality, confidence, motivation, interest, independence, self-discipline, educational level.
” This vast array that characterizes English large class can therefore overwhelm teachers and require them to do more work and to reflect on what will work in such class.
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
The success of teaching large class itself is seemingly not often heard. This is due to the problematic nature of large class. In fact, large class has so far become an entity constantly scrutinized by language teachers, educators and researchers around the world in order to come up with more effective teaching and learning for such challenging setting. As it is reported by Marcus (1997), there have been numerous studies trying to tackle the issue involving large class size (Edmondson and Mulder, 1924; Home, 1970; Peterson and Baird, 1978; Glass and Smith, 1979; McKeachie, 1980; Lewis and Woodward, 1988; Odden 1990; Pete-Bain, et.al. 1992; LoCastro 1992) and still many others.
In the mean time, it may seem to be unfeasible to expect, especially in this case, novice teachers to be able to successfully manage such challenging class without ever falling short. This is again due to their immature and inadequate teaching experience especially related to the actual classroom practice despite the knowledge they have gained in their teachers’ preparation or education program. Johnson (1996) as cited in Akbulut (2003) describes it as a mismatch between the new teachers’ vision of teaching and their actual classroom application which is often far from ideal.
For that reason, I am interested in investigating the novice teacher’s experience of teaching English as foreign language in large class setting. I choose to look into their experience particularly in teaching secondary level (senior high-school) whose students are categorized as teen-learners or young adults. I assume that the beginning teacher would face various problems due to her insufficient teaching experience, especially in dealing with immense and challenging variables of teaching and learning in a large class.
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
My interest in conducting this study on language teaching experience of novice teachers is partly driven by my own personal experience some few years ago as a novice teacher myself. I started teaching English as foreign language in 2002 and understood the feelings and the troubles of venturing the first year of my teaching career. However, I was quite fortunate that I began by teaching English informally in some language courses which had realistic number of students and ideal classroom environment. Even then, I found my initial years of teaching as something quite testing. In view of that, I am interested in knowing, understanding and learning from the experience of novice teachers and how they see their business of teaching English large classes make them the teachers they are today.
In this study, I will then, discuss the meaning of teaching English large classes to a novice teacher. How the participant thinks about teaching English large classes given his or her circumstances as novice teacher, how she or he understands and figures out what strategies or principles need to be employed in teaching English large classes, how she manages the classroom, deals with different kind of learners and opts for appropriate materials and activities as well as how she sees her roles in the dynamic of large class teaching and learning
The result of my study is expected to provide better understanding of teaching English in large classes as experienced by novice teacher.
Additionally, the participant’s perception and my own interpretation of her lived-experience will be put together and jointly constructed to form a comprehensive description and interpretation of the meaning of teaching English large classes to a novice teacher.
As far as my research is concerned, there has been well reported studies in the literature about the teacher’s experience in their initial years; however, less documented in second and
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI foreign language teaching literature (Almarza, 1996; Johnson, 1998; Richards, 1998).Furthermore, to the best of my knowledge, there may not be previous studies on novice English teachers whose focus is on investigating the meaning of their teaching experience under the context of large classes.
B. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Research on EFL teaching certainly have covered various aspects such as investigation on the language acquisitions, the teachers, the learners, the materials and medias, the classroom and the use of approaches, methodologies, and strategies.
While studies on large class may have dealt with the comparative studies of large and small class, the exploration for effective strategies and techniques, the implications of large class teaching in learning outcome, the students’ motivation as well as the perceptions of teachers on large class teaching.
As for studies investigating novice teachers have among others covered about the challenges faced by novice teachers, their belief on initial years of teaching, their take on the use of pedagogies and their early professional development.
Among those topics under investigation, the study on the lived-experience of novice teachers teaching English large classes is of a particular interest. It is since there are two entities, namely novice teacher and teaching English large class that can be an interesting and prolific point of discussion. In addition, it would be enriching to know their understanding of the meaningful experience in teaching English large classes which is considered challenging. In accordance to that, the methodology used in this study is also quite different from other studies.
While some studies employ quantitative analysis or mixed-method research, this study will be using qualitative analysis which applies interpretive approach to answer the research question
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJIthrough the narrative of the research participants on her or his experience of teaching English large classes.
C. PROBLEM LIMITATION
Considering the time constraint, accessibility, and availability of the data as well my limited knowledge and experience in research, particularly a qualitative one, I may need to spend extensive time to finish my study. Yet, due to the above limitations, I am convinced that I may be able to get sufficient data and adequate evidences to conduct deep investigation on answering my research question given the qualitative paradigm that this study takes on. For it is not merely the length of time and the numerous number of novice teachers as my research participants from whom I could gain access to that really count , yet it is the coverage, the depth and the breadth of the data that matter more (Holliday, 2002)
Accordingly, my study will involve a novice teacher teaching English large classes. The investigation and discussion will emphasize among others on the novice teacher ’s understanding of her or his roles as teacher and the preferred principles that they employ to teach and manage
English large classes. In addition, the novice teachers understanding of their choice of materials to be used in large class setting will also be investigated. In relation to the above aspects, this study will consequently also try to explore the participant
’s understanding on how much her or his knowledge and skills (pedagogical and technical) as a novice teacher are supportive of her or his classroom practice.
My study will therefore elaborate on how the participant sees her or his experience of teaching English large classes is like: what English teaching large classes means to her or him, how she or he feels about it, what she or he does about it and why she or he does what she/ he
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJIdoes, how she or he successfully and unsuccessfully manages certain aspects of large class teaching, what failures she or he has gone through and how she or he deals with such failures and why. All of the above aspects will be investigated and expected to result in a better understanding of the novice language teaching experience in English large class and wh at’s more is that the teacher can better understand her/ himself in order to become more autonomous, empowered and reflective about her or his teaching in English large classes.
In the mean time, it is possible that this research may yield different findings and results from the previous studies taking on similar topic. This is due to the qualitative method employed in this study which is mainly interpretive and in itself is not aiming at generalizing thing or proving something to be right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable. Accordingly, the study will involve a teacher participant who typifies and holds the characteristics of a novice teacher who is largely dealing with large class teaching. Hence, given a representative participant and relevant setting, this research may produce consistent patterns and norms in its results and findings compared to other studies taking on similar topics and employing the same research method.
D. RESEARCH QUESTION
Teaching and learning English as foreign language in large classes is a reality for English teachers and learners for so many years and it seemingly will continue to be so. Therefore, it is still important and probable research coverage to this date.
Teaching English large classes that involve novice teachers which are also quite a common practice in many classrooms is even more crucial to be addressed. This is due to the limitation of novice or beginning teachers in tackling their new teaching job, let alone teaching
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJIlarge class which are considered quite challenging. Hence, I will specifically aim at investigating and finding answers to the following question: How does a novice teacher give meaning to his or her teaching English large classes? E.
RESEARCH GOALS
My goal in this study is to get a description and interpretation of the novice teacher involved in teaching English large classes. Her/ his descriptions along with my interpretation are aimed at understanding her/ his lived-experiences of teaching English large classes. It is also expected that the narrative elicited from the participant will comprises descriptions of her/ his feelings and reflections on her/ his classroom practice as a beginning teacher which is further hoped to bring in and clarify her/ his accounts for success and failure in teaching in order to help her/ him better understand her/ his teaching practice.
F. RESEARCH BENEFITS
The end result of my research is the descriptive model of novice teacher ’s narrative on her/ his understanding of her/ his lived-experience on teaching English large classes which may serve as feedback for beginning teachers involved in teaching English large classes. The feedback provided by my study is thus expected to help novice teachers in general to reflect on and improve their teaching or classroom practice. Moreover, I also expect to give contribution to the body of knowledge of English language pedagogy especially related with teaching English as a World language.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJIMore specifically, my research is expected to benefit: 1.
Novice Teachers of English Large Classes Through my study, I try to present novice teacher’s immediate understanding and insights on her/ his lived-experience of teaching English large classes which comprises his/ her accounts of the failures, obstacles, constraints, difficulties, solutions, successes, and opportunities of teaching such classes which are expected to lead her/ him on reflecting and understanding her/ his classroom practice that eventually make her/ him more aware of her/ his needs for necessary improvement in teaching English large classes.
2. The School/ Educational Institution I may also expect that the findings of my study can be useful to inform the school management about the reality of English teaching in large classes faced by English teachers, especially the new ones. The information that I provide through this study is expected to encourage the school management to provide necessary aids and assistance for novice teachers teaching English large classes. The kind of assistance may take the form of induction program, assistance/ mentoring program from more experienced teachers as well as the reasonable distribution of teaching hours.
3. The Teacher Education Program I too hope to share some findings related to the knowledge and competency profile of novice EFL teachers. Thus, it is expected that the teacher education program could identify the extent to which the knowledge and skills they have introduced in the program aid the beginning teachers in becoming effective teachers
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 4.
Researchers and further Studies Due to the limitation of my research, further comprehensive study on similar topic, under the same context, is expected to strengthen, sharpen up, and supplement the theoretical foundations of my research and can further yield more inclusive insights and findings. Some of the potential investigations that may be suggested: a.
To develop a scheme or design to orient novice teachers of their future employment and responsibilities.
b.
To propose viable plan and format of English teaching preparatory program that could bridge the gap of student teachers pedagogical knowledge and its application in actual classroom practice.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter has three objectives (i) to clarify the concepts used in this study (ii) to help
construct the framework of thinking, and (iii) to ensure the significance of my research on the meaning of language teaching experience of novice English teacher in English large classes within the current English language teaching-learning science and technology. A number of related literatures will also be presented and reviewed in order to set the stance for this study among the existing and related studies and literatures on similar topic. Most importantly, the presentation, review and synthesis of the related literature here are to provide a strong theoretical basis for the argument and analysis of this research.