T1 112009030 Full text
THE USE OF INDONESIAN IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN SMK N 2
SALATIGA
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirement for Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Uswatun Khasanah
112009030
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2013
i
THE USE OF INDONESIAN IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN SMK N 2
SALATIGA
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirement for Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Uswatun Khasanah
112009030
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2013
ii
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PERPUSTAKAAN UNIvERSITAS
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-
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Jawa Tengah, lndonesia
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Hasil karya saya ini bukan saduran/ terjemahan melainkan merupakan gagasan, rumusan, dan hasil pelaksanaan
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PERPUSTAKAAN UNIVERSITAS
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UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WAGANA
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iii
PUBLICATION AGGREMENENT DECLARATION
As a member of Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU) academic community, I
verify that:
Name: Uswatun Khasanah
Student ID Number: 112009030
Study Program: PBI (Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris) English Department
Faculty: Language and Literature
Kind of Work: Undergraduate Thesis
In develop in my knowledge, I agree to provide SWCU with a non-exclusive royalty free
right for my intellectual property and the content therein entitled:
THE USE OF INDONESIAN IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN SMK N 2 SALATIGA
along with ant pertinent equipment.
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This declaration is made according to the best of my knowledge.
Made in : Salatiga
Date
:
Verified by signee,
Uswatun Khasanah
Approved by
Thesis Supervisor
Thesis Examiner
Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M. A.
Anita Kurniawati, M. Hum
iv
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or
accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my
knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any
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Copyright@2013.Uswatun Khasanah and Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M. A.
All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the
permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English Department, Faculty of
Language and Literature, Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga.
Uswatun Khasanah:
v
THE USE OF INDONESIAN IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN SMK N 2
SALATIGA
Uswatun Khasanah
Abstract
This study attempted to analyze the use of Indonesian in teaching English in SMK N 2
Salatiga. The participants of this study were two teachers who taught English in SMK N 2
Salatiga. The data used for this research were classroom observation and interview. The
observations were video recorded and mainly focused on the use of Indonesian in teaching
English. The finding of this study showed that the teacher used Indonesian for 5 different
purposes; aimed to ask questions, explain material, translate word, give instruction and
command students, and tell stories and make jokes.
Keywords
: Classroom observation, Teacher’s beliefs, First language use, English as an
L2
Introduction
Background of the study
Nowadays English is the most widely used as an international language. English has
gained the status as a major language in the world. The teaching and learning English has
increased throughout the world which produced a new cadre of professional, for example
teachers of English as Foreign Language (EFL). English as a Foreign Language is not the
language of communication in the society. EFL is taught in a country where English is not
the native language, for example teaching English in Indonesia.
In this study the term first language (L1) is used to refer to Bahasa Indonesia.
Teachers use first language quite frequently in their classrooms and that they do it for many
reasons and purposes. Language teachers think it’s important to use L1 in teaching English to
help the students to have better understanding about the materials. Usually the teachers use
L1 in explaining difficult materials, difficult words, and discussing the materials. But some
may believe that the teachers should avoid using L1 in teaching EFL. According to Cook and
Turnbull (2001) teaches have to use the target language without considering the students’
1
first language, a principle that the teachers’ use the target language acknowledges that L1 and
L2 can exist simultaneously (as cited in Beressa, 2003).
This study addressed the following research question, “what are the uses of first
language (Bahasa Indonesia) in teaching English in SMK N 2 Salatiga?” The purpose of this
research was to describe the use of Indonesian in teaching English. More specifically, this
study aimed to find for what purposes the teachers used Indonesian in teaching English.
Although there have been a number studies done on the use of L1 in teaching English
in many different countries, I believe that it was necessary to carry out an additional research
on the similar topic in Indonesian context. The result of this study could be useful for both of
teachers who are teaching English as a Foreign Language and also to the students in learning
English because other teachers would realize when they will use Indonesian in teaching
English to their students.
Literature review
This paper analyzes the use of first language (Indonesian) in teaching English. The
focus is on how the teachers conceptualize the use of Indonesian as teacher talk in their
classroom. Teacher talk has important impact in teaching and learning process. According to
Zsendroi (2010) teacher talk is the language typically used by teachers in the process of
teaching. Teacher talk is one of the communicative functions that the teachers usually use
during the process of teaching. According to Yung (2011) there are four types of teacher talk.
First is informative teacher talk, which means that the teachers deliver their opinion, fact as
well as some concept through word and students process the information. The second, is
directive teacher talk, which means that teacher talk is used to direct the activities running in
the classroom. The accurate application of directive language can make the teaching efficient
and effective. The third, is eliciting teacher talk, which aims to inspire students and further
2
obtains their answer in class. The forth, is feedback to the students’ answer, which refers to
the way of teachers to respond to the students’ answer.
When the teachers use teacher talk in explaining the materials, they are trying to
make themselves to be understood easily by the students. Though the teacher talk is
important in language teaching, it is not easy for the students to understand teacher talk
especially when English is mostly used. Sometimes teachers’ talk may involve more than one
language in order to help the learners to get better understanding about the teaching materials
or classroom instructions, for example, the use of first language (L1) in the English
classroom. According to Nunan (1991) teacher talk is very important, for both the
organization of the classroom and the processes of L2 acquisition. It is important for the
organization of the classroom because through teacher talk it can be seen that the teaching
plan is success or not. In terms of acquisition, teacher talk is important because it is the major
source of understanding the target language that received by the learner (as cited in Taneo,
2011). As English as a foreign language is not used in Indonesia, Indonesian as the mother
tongue may be used in teacher talk in order to speed up the processes of learning.
According Harrison (1973) acquiring a second or foreign language is a very different
thing from the acquisition of mother tongue. Teaching English should also consider the
language that is used by the society or mother tongue. Stern (1983) also argued that the first
language is maintained as the reference in the acquisition of the second language (as cited in
Zacharias, 2010). It means that through teacher talk, teachers should have as clear as possible
of what they want to deliver in their teaching process which may involve the first language in
order to make it easier in acquiring second language.
Teachers use first language quite frequently in their classrooms and that they do it for
many reasons and purposes. Language teachers think it’s important to use L1 in teaching
English to help the students to have better understanding about the material. Although the use
3
of L1 in foreign language learning is critical, research shows that the uses of L1 to certain
extends may have positive impact to the learners. For example, Macaro (1997) said that L1 is
the learners’ language of thought and the use of L1 at certain occasion may help improve the
learners’ comprehension (as cited in Chaniago, 2011).
In teaching and learning process, the use of Indonesian can be positive and negative
for the teacher and students’ development. The following study shows the positive and
negative impact of using L1 in English classroom. In their study, Campa & Nassaji (2009)
reported that the teachers used a noticeable amount of L1 in their classroom for different
purposes such as translation, administrative issue, and personal comment. The teachers used
L1 most often for creating the comfortable classroom atmosphere which they believe this was
the effective strategy to encourage the students to participate in the learning process. In other
words, the purposes were both pedagogical and social, and were intended not only to
facilitate L2 learning by helping the learners to get better understanding the L2 instruction,
but also to create a supportive and enjoyable environment for learning to take place.
Another positive impact of using L1 is that it can be used to reduce the students’
anxiety. By making jokes in the students’ first language, it can create a less threatening
atmosphere in the classroom. According to Hemminder (1987) the use of L1 can lower
students’ anxiety and enhances the positive affective environment for the students to make a
progress in their L2 learning (as cited in Taneo, 2011). Language anxiety comes around the
students when they learn a new language. Meyer (2010) also stated that language anxiety has
strong effective influence on second language acquisition (as cited in Widagdo, 2010).
The use of L1 in teaching and learning is aimed to make second language learning
more effective and efficient. In the English classroom, L1 has been used for various purposes.
Not only to help the students to get better understanding about what the teachers were going
to teach but also Grim (2010) found that the L1 could have strategic impact and be actually
4
considered as a profitable communicative and teaching strategy. Through planning for
comprehension breakdown, teachers can present form by giving learners the opportunity to
process, notice and perhaps acquire the new input. Because most of L2 teachers do not
practice an L2 teaching principle, and accepting L1 as potential successful instrument could
therefore help produce successful teaching strategy. Weihua (2009) also said that one of
teaching methodology which is grammar translation method that involve mother tongue in
the teaching and learning process may help the learner get the general idea what they are
going to learn a new language.
Some teachers believe that the use of first language (L1) in teaching English is useful
but some may believe that the teachers should avoid using it. Many teachers believe that the
second language should be used totally in teaching English. According to Duff and Polio
(1990) they have generally found that although instructors acknowledge the importance of
teaching in L2, most of them still use L1 to a certain degree in their classrooms (as cited in
Campa & Nassaji, 2009 ).
Related to that issue, there is a popular belief that the use of L1 has been considered
as bad character in the second language or foreign language leaning. There are many who
have argued that the use of first language should be limited in L2 teaching because the use of
L1 may have negative effect which can impede the learners’ L2 learning. Baw (2002) said
that the excessive use of L1 in learning L2 does not give the students any chance in to
practice the new learnt language (as cited in Raouf, 2010). In other word, the use of L1 in L2
classroom is the major cause of students’ problem in learning new language.
According to Cook and Turnbull (2001) teachers have to use the target language
without considering the students’ first language, a principle that the teachers’ use the target
language acknowledges that L1 and L2 can exist simultaneously. Some other researchers
have shown the negative impact of using L1 in L2 classroom was based on Polio (1994) and
5
Atkinson (1987) the use of L1 in the classroom can create laziness among students and
failure to maximize English (as cited in Miles, 2004). Cook (2001) also believes that the
successful of L2 acquisition depends on keeping the L2 separated from the L1 and see the L1
and L2 as separate entities (as cited in Beressa, 2003). It means that the interference of L1
can make the students depend on the teacher and make them lazy and fail to maximize the
use of the target language in the classroom.
The study
This research was a descriptive study to describe the use of Indonesian by teachers in
English classes and analyzed the teachers’ reason in using Indonesian in their teaching. This
research was conducted in SMK N 2 Salatiga., one of prominent senior high schools which
Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK) in Salatiga, Central Java. This school has competent
teachers of English.
Participant
In this research, I selected two teachers in one of senior high school in Salatiga as the
participants in this study. I used a purposive sampling technique to choose the teachers.
According to Zacharias (2011) purposive sampling is selecting group of people that can meet
certain criteria. The criteria were teachers who taught different classes in SMK N 2 Salatiga.
Research Instrument
This research used both observation checklists and stimulated recall interview
questions. I did the classroom observation and focused on the teachers’ talk during teaching
and learning. During the classroom observation, I used checklists to make notes about
purposes of the teachers to use Indonesian. Besides observation, this research also used
stimulated-recall interview in answering the research questions. According to Brown &
Rodgers (2002) and Nunan (1989) stimulated recall interview is a technique in which the
researcher records and transcribes part of a lesson and then gets the participant to comment
6
on what was happening at the time the activity took place (as cited in Zacharias, 2011). In
other words, simulated-recall interview gives access into teachers’ cognitive domain as they
teach. I used five questions to seek information on the use of Indonesian in teaching English.
And some questions based on the class observations to find for what purposes the teachers
used Indonesian in teaching English.
Data collection
I started this research by meeting with the headmaster to obtain permission for my
research. After that I met and spoke to the English teachers about my research and asked their
consent to be my participants. Then I made an appointment to do the observations and the
interview. I did the classroom observations ten times. It was shown in the following table,
No
Date
Class
Time
1.
Friday, February 1st 2013
X TGB A
2 x 30 minutes
2.
Friday, February 1st 2013
X TKK
2 x 30 minutes
3.
Tuesday, February 5th 2013
X TEI C
2 x 45 minutes
4.
Wednesday, February 6th 2013
X TKJ A
2 x 40 minutes
5.
Thursday, February 7th 2013
XI TMO C
2 x 45 minutes
6.
Friday, February 8th 2013
XI TAV
2 x 30 minutes
7.
Saturday, February 9th 2013
X TGB B
2 x 40 minutes
8.
Wednesday, February 12th 2013
XI TEIC
2 x 40 minutes
9.
Friday, February 15th 2013
X TAV
2 x 30 minutes
10.
Saturday, February 16th 2013
X TGB B
2 x 40 minutes
The observations focused on the use of Indonesian in the teachers’ talk during
teaching. I recorded the teachers’ talk using a video recorder. After the observation, I
transcribed the data for analysis. In order to get enough data, I interviewed the teachers using
7
stimulated recall interview by presenting the observations transcript to the participants. The
focuses of the interview were to find out to what extent, for what purposes and reasons why
the teachers used Indonesian in teaching English. After the interviews and classroom
observations, the data were compiled and analyzed qualitatively.
Data analysis procedure
The data were gathered from the classroom observations and stimulated-recall
interviews. For the analysis, the data were transcribed using a clean transcription method.
According to Zacharias (2011), a clean transcription of interview focuses on the content of
the interview. Then, the transcriptions were coded. Ideas that emerged from the interview
were divided into categories. The quoted examples from the data were used to support each
point in the analysis of the data. The data were analyzed descriptively, and some supporting
theories were used in the analysis.
Finding and discussion
This section discusses the use of Indonesian in teaching English in SMK N 2 Salatiga.
When I observed the teaching and learning process in class, both teachers used Indonesian in
teaching English. I divided the data into five big categories: asking questions, explaining
material, translating word, giving instruction and commanding students, and telling stories
and making jokes.
The first category of Indonesian use was in asking questions. In this class teacher A
taught about sentences in English and teacher B was about traffic light, as follows:
Teacher A
: Ya betul, kalimat itu ada subjeknya betul?
Students
: Yes
Teacher A
: What kind of subject that can be used in a sentence?
Students
: Things idea, and then place
8
From the conversation above, it can be seen that teacher A used Indonesian in asking
questions to the students. When he asked about sentences which consist of subject, it showed
clearly that he used Indonesian in asking questions.
It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below:
Teacher B
: Okay. Let’s say you make both of pictures, gini ya, this is
number one, number two, up to number six. You read the
first bold phrase, frase pertama. A sign with I saw was the
driver must wear a seatbelt. kira-kira cocok nomer yang
mana?
Students
: Enam, six.
Teacher B
: ya tinggal ditulis saja. The driver must wear a seatbelt. Is
that clear? Jelas?
Students
: jelas
From the conversation above, it can be seen that teacher B also used Indonesian in asking
questions to the students. He asked to the students in Indonesian which number that
appropriate with, kira-kira cocok nomer yang mana? In additon, he asked the students
whether they have already understood or not by using the word in Indonesian; jelas?. In the
interview, teacher A and B had same opinions about why they used Indonesian in asking
questions to the students. Based on the interview, teacher A said that,
Ya ini kan saya menjelaskan mengenai konsep, konsep subjek itu apa
kemudian konsep meja itu apa, meja itu fungsinya apa itu sebenarnya
sebagai konsep. Kalau meja bahasa inggrisnya sudah tau “table”. Tapi ini
karena saya ajak berfikir abstrak, berfikir yang agak tinggi begitu saya
change ke Indonesia. karena kalau pakai bahasa inggris dia tidak akan tau.
Similarly, teacher B said,
Jika dalam menterjemahkannya pertanyaan menurut saya hanyalah untuk
mempermudah mereka saja dalam memahami bahasa inggris pada kelaskelas tertentu. Bahkan ada beberapa kelas yang katakanlah kalau
menggunakan bahasa inggris secara full, mereka akan “pemalu”. Akan
menyulitkan bagi gurunya sendiri maupun kepada murid dalam mengajar
ataupun menerima pelajaran. Jadi memang keadaan setiap sekolah berbeda,
guru berbeda dan mungkin menurut saya hal tersebut adalah yang terbaik
atau yang saat ini yang digunakan rata-rata guru.
Teacher A said that he used Indonesian was because he wanted their students to understand
the material about concept. If the teacher used English instead of Indonesian, he would be
9
afraid that the students didn’t understand. Similarly, teacher B wanted their students easy to
understand the materials and also could make them confident in learning English. Based on
the interview, teacher B said that if he used English in asking questions to the students, he
thought that the students would be shy and tend to be silent. According to Hemminder (1987)
the use of L1 can lower students’ anxiety and enhance the positive affective environment for
the students to progress in their learning (as cited in Taneo, 2011). Meyer (2010) also argued
that language anxiety has strong effective influence on second language acquisition (as cited
in Widagdo, 2010). As an example, when I became a student-teacher in SMK N 2 Salatiga, I
experienced about the language anxiety. The students tended to be silent when they were
asked to speak in English, however when the students were asked by the teacher using their
mother tongue, they were able to share their opinions. It might happen because Indonesian
gives a freedom to them to express their opinions or ideas. In other word, L1 allowed students
to say what are thinking about. They also said that the student sometimes knew what they
would to say, but it was difficult to express in the target language. Thus, the use of
Indonesian in English classroom by the teachers was to encourage and help the students to
find out how to express their ideas with a great confidence, not only in Indonesian but also in
the target language.
The second category of Indonesian use was in explaining materials. Below are the
teachers’ explanations were Indonesian to the students:
Teacher A
: That’s why you swipe the floor in the clean way.right?
okay, Sekarang kalau subjeknya berupa benda, buat kalimat
dengan things? Subjeknya things, subjeknya ada berapa
macam? ada dua, kategorinya ada dua konkret and…?
Students
: Abstrak
Teacher A
: Bedanya kalo konkret things and abstrak things, kalau
konkret bisa di indera , how many senses do you have? Kamu
tau artinya indera bukan hanya penglihatan , there are 5
senses, right? Vision, auditoria, smell, touch, tastes. Sekarang
coba yang bisa kamu indera apa aja.
10
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher A used Indonesian in explaining
materials about sentences. When he explained about sentences, it clearly showed that he used
Indonesian subjeknya ada berapa macam? ada dua, kategorinya ada dua konkret and
abtract. He explained about two kinds of subject which concret and abstract.
It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below:
Teacher B
: Nomer 2 a school crossword. Let’s say you decide this is
the meaning of the phrases. Misalnya nomer satu ini. kalian
tinggal nulis huruf the crossword. bisa? Tidak perlu di sini
sudah ada semua . Is that clear?
Students
: yes.
From the conversation above, it clearly showed that teacher B also used Indonesian in
explaining materials. He gave an example of how to do the exercises in Indonesian Misalnya
nomer satu ini. kalian tinggal nulis huruf the crossword. bisa? Tidak perlu di sini sudah ada
semua . In the interview, teacher A and B had same opinions about why they used Indonesian
in explaining materials. Based on the interview, teacher A said,
Maka karena saya mengingat anak-anak saya levelnya masih seperti itu, jadi
kalau saya jelaskan menggunakan bahasa inggris takutnya nanti pesan saya
tidak akan sampai. Jadi mengapa saya pakai ini, supaya pesan-pesannya itu
bisa dipahami. Ya intinya lebih memahami konsepnya dulu.
Similarly, teacher B said,
Saya cenderung menggunakan bahasa Indonesia sebagai bahasa penjelas
agar mereka lebih mengerti. Biasanya kalau kelas ini mereka tergantung
yang kurang. Maka daripada akan lebih cepat untuk mereka dalam
memahami. Mungkin cukup untuk membantu saja, yang lain untuk
memudahkan murid dan juga guru dalam menjelaskan materi.
Teacher A explained that he used Indonesian in explaining materials was because he wanted
the messages that he deliver was easy to be understood by the students. Similarly, teacher B
also noticed that if he used English, he was afraid that the students would be difficult to
receive the materials. Both teachers used Indonesian in explaining materials; to make the
students easier to understand the materials. I thought that the teachers should use Indonesian
11
or not in explaining materials with the consideration of students’ level. Thus, by using
Indonesian as their L1, the students could receive the material easier in order to improve their
English. Weihua (2009) said that one of teaching methodology is grammar translation
method, it involves mother tongue in teaching and learning process and it may help the
learner get the general idea about what they are going to learn in a new language. Macaro
(1997) said that L1 was the learners’ language of thought and the use of L1 at certain
occasion may help improve the learners’ comprehension (as cited in Chaniago, 2011).
The third category of Indonesian use was in translating words. Below are the teachers’
translations were Indonesian to the students:
Teacher A
: Tables is use for.. Apa guna meja?
Students
: Meletakkan buku
Teacher A
: Meletakkan buku apa? Tables is used to take the book
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher A used Indonesian in translating
word. When he asked the English word for meletakkan buku, he could know that no body
knew the answer. Then, he explained to the whole class that they could say table is used to
take the book for the word meletakkan buku.
It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below:
Teacher B
: Now, Ada yang tau what is tunnel? Tunnel: a place where?
Tunnel means?
Student
: menara
Teacher
: No, this is terowongan, there was a sign of underpass ahead.
What is underpass? We will see it later itu ada di soalnya.
There I saw a group of the road sign.
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher B also used Indonesian in
translating word. When he asked the students about the meaning of tunnel, there was one
student who answered it into menara. Then he directly translated the correct meaning of
tunnel which means terowongan not menara. In the interview teacher A and B had different
12
opinions about the reasons why they used Indonesian in translating words. Based on the
interview, teacher A explained,
Tujuan ini saya ingin anak-anak acquire language. Jadi untuk bisa acquire
dan juga bisa tertanam dalam pikiran siswa, memang saya menggunakan
teknik translation. Translation itu memasukkan Bahasa Inggris lebih mudah
daripada tanpa translation. Jadi mereka tidak hanya mencerna tapi acquire
language, bisa masuk ke dalam memori-memori mereka.
On the contrary, teacher B explained,
Itu mungkin pertama-tama tujuannya sebetulnya adda beberapa hal, yang
pertama hal tersebut harusnya dihindari. Karena apa yang saya pelajari jika
langsung menterjemahkan murid tidak akan belajar apa-apa. Seharusnya
idealnya apa yang saya pelajari hal tersebut sebetulnya salah. Karena
seharusnya kita tidak harus serta merta menterjemahkan kedalam bahasa
Indonesia. kita harus menerangkan katakanlah what is tunnel? Tunnel is
kind of concret object which has narrow space inside of it, and things like
that. Jadi kita bisa katakanlah tidak harus leading. Kita tidak menyuapi tapi
kita membiarkan mereka agar berpikir dahulu. Tetapi secara idealnya apa
yang saya mengerti hal tersebut memang salah dan itu adalah opsi yang
terakhir apabila kita memang sudah tidak punya waktu. Akan tetapi idealnya
walaupun kita tidak menggunakan bahasa inggris tetapi kita harus tetap
untuk membiarkan mereka berfikir dahulu.
Both teachers had different opinions about the use of Indonesian in translating words.
Teacher A said that the use of Indonesian in translating words was to make the students easier
in acquiring English. He said that students not only understood the meaning of some words
but also they could acquire language in their memory. In line with teachers’ statements, Stern
(1983) stated that the first language is maintained as the reference system in the acquisition of
the second language (as cited in Zacharias, 2010). On the contrary, teacher B thought that the
use of Indonesian in translating words should be avoided. He thought that when he directly
translated some words to the students without giving them time to think. Therefore, it could
make the students couldn’t learn the material totally. The students just depended on the
teachers’ explanation and also it could make them lazy to think and also learn English. Based
on Polio (1994) and Atkinson (1987) the use of L1 in the classroom can create laziness
among students and failure to maximize English (as cited in Miles, 2004).
13
The forth category of Indonesian use was in commanding and giving instruction.
Below are the teachers’ commands and instructions were Indonesian to the students:
Teacher A
: Buat kalimat dengan Chair! ayo yang pojok. In the corner.
You are very very shy, what are you doing over there, kamu
sedang apa? Buat kalimat dengan chair!
Students
: Chair is for sitting down.
Teacher A
: Yes correct, Chair is for sitting down.
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher A used Indonesian in commanding
and giving instruction to the students. When he commanded students to make sentences using
the word chair , he used Indonesian buat Kalimat dengan chair.
It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below:
Teacher B
: Okay draw it first. You don’t have to make it as good as on
the book. Yang penting jelas. As long as it is clear and you
can understand the pictures. Tidak perlu bagus2 yang penting
jelas. This will appear on the test. Soalnya ada di tesnya.
Sudah selesai? Sepuluh saja.
Students
: Belum pak.
Teacher B
: Make it fast. cepat sedikit! Five more minutes. Yang kecil
saja tidak usah besar-besar yang penting jelas!.
Students
: Ya pak.
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher B also used Indonesian in
commanding and giving instruction to the students. When he asked the students to draw the
pictures of road sign, he said yang penting jelas, tidak perlu bagus yang penting jelas and
tidak usah besar-besar yang penting jelas. In other words, he asked the students to draw a
clear picture. He also commanded the students to make it fast using Indonesian cepat sedikit.
In the interview, both teachers had the same opinion about the reason why they used
Indonesian in commanding and giving instruction to the students. These opinions were
clearly stated by those teachers in the interview. Teacher A said,
14
Saya pakai Bahasa Indonesia karena instruksi saya agar bisa dimengerti.
Kalau saya pakai bahasa inggris, siswa saya suruh apa tidak tau. What can I
do sir? Aku mau apa? Ya dia tidak akan melakukan apa yang disuruh. Jadi
instruksi itu penting ya, bisa dilakukan itu memang harus dipahami apa
instruksinya.
Similarly, teacher B said,
Tentu saja yang pertama untuk memudahkan kami semua. Yang lainnya
adalah saya menginginkan agar semuanya berjalan dengan seperti apa yang
saya inginkan. Ini bertujuan agar anak-anak lebih jelas dan mengerjakannya
dengan tepat. Maka saya akan langsung menggunakan switch ke bahasa
Indonesia, sehingga mereka dapat memahami dan melakukan tugasnya
dengan baik.
In this case, both teachers had the same opinions about the use of Indonesian in commanding
and giving instruction to the students. Teacher A and B said that they used Indonesian to
make the instruction clear and easy to be understood by the students. Thus, the students could
do what they had to do in the classroom and it could make the teaching and learning process
efficient. According to Yung (2011) the use of L1 in giving instruction to the students will
make the accurate application of directive language which means it can make the teaching
efficient and effective.
The fifth category of Indonesian use was in telling stories and making jokes. Below
are the teachers’ examples of using Indonesian to the students:
Teacher A
: Nama dulu, please. Make a sentence ayo apa? Melakukan
sesuatu, is itu kan untuk present continous tense ya boleh tapi
harus yang bentuk –ing ya?
Students
: Bambang is sweeping
Teacher A
: Bambang is sweeping. Bambang sedang menyapu. Jadi
bambang ini termasuk orang yang rajin ya. biasanya cewek
yg nyapu. Dan cewek kalau nyapu ya harus bersih. Kalau ga
nanti dapat orang brewok. It’s true right? if you don’t sweep
the floor clearly, you will have a beard. Do you like beard
man?
Students
: No
From the conversation above, it could be seen that, teacher A used Indonesian in telling
stories and making jokes. As an example, Bambang sedang menyapu. Jadi bambang ini
15
termasuk orang yang rajin ya. biasanya cewek yg nyapu. Dan cewek kalau nyapu ya harus
bersih. Kalau ga nanti dapat orang brewok. He told the students whether sweeping usually
was done by woman not man. He said that if woman sweep should in clearly way, so that
they didn’t have beard man.
It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below:
Teacher
: Hari ini, today it means road sign sudah selesai?. Next week
we are going to continue the material. Masih ada satu materi
lagi.Kita review materi lagi setelah itu kita pulang. But for
next week we are going to have a test first. We are going to
review it a little bit for fifteen minutes. Masih ingat apa
masih lupa?
Students
: Lupa
Teacher
: Masih lupa? Okay jangan dihapus dulu. Present continuous
tense. Anyone of you still remember what is present
continuous tense? Masih lupa?
Students
: Masih lupa. I don’t know.
From the conversation above, it could be seen that, teacher B also used Indonesian in telling
stories and making jokes. He asked the students using Indonesian, Masih ingat apa masih
lupa?, masih lupa?. He asked whether the students still remember about the lesson or not.
But then the teacher asked by saying do you still forget? And it made the whole class noisy.
In the interview, both teachers gave same reasons why they used Indonesian in telling stories
and making jokes. Teacher A explained in the interview, as the following,
Ice-breaknya itu berupa joke, tell story. Kalau pakai bahasa Indonesia itu
lebih bagus, kan tujuannya supaya mereka rileks. Kalau pakai bahasa inggris
malah nanti mereka jadi tegang lagi. Ini mengapa sih? malah dia mikir lagi.
Panas lagi otaknya nanti bisa error itu. Makanya untuk ice-breaking, untuk
joke seperti itu pakai bahasa Indonesia tidak apa-apa. Dan juga membuat
atmosphere di kelas itu kondusif, buat Suasana tidak tegang.
Similarly, teacher B said,
Kalau menggunakan joke dengan bahasa inggris mereka juga tidak akan
mengerti. Dan juga membuat hubungan antara guru dengan murid menjadi
katakanlah agak renggang dan tidak bisa berjalan dengan baik. Dan juga
bisa membuat atmoshphere di kelas semakin baik. Tentu saja tergantung
juga dengan karakter gurunya apakah kaku atau tidak juga membedakan.
16
Both teachers had same opinion that the use of Indonesian in telling stories and making jokes
could be useful in teaching English. Teacher A said that the use of Indonesian in telling
stories and making jokes as an ice breaking could make the atmosphere in the classroom
relax. Similarly, teacher B said that if he used English in telling stories and making jokes, the
students would be confused and didn’t understand about what the teachers’ said. The
atmosphere in the classroom would be better and also could make the relationship between
teacher and students good. In this case, if the teachers could make the atmosphere in the
classroom more comfortable, it could encourage the students to participate in teaching and
learning process. In accordance with teachers’ statements, Campa and Nassaji (2009)
reported that the teacher use of different languages in the classroom is not only to facilitate
L2 learning by helping the learners to get better understanding the L2 instruction, but also to
create a supportive and enjoyable environment for learning to take place. In other words, by
telling stories and making jokes, it could create a less threatening atmosphere in the
classroom that could make students feel enjoy and also can encourage them to learn English.
Conclusion
In summary, this finding showed that the teachers in this study used Indonesian in
their English classes. The teachers used Indonesian for the purpose of asking questions,
explaining material, translating word, giving instruction and commanding students, and
telling story and making joke. Both teachers supported the use of Indonesian in teaching
English in SMK N 2 Salatiga.
Nonetheless, both teachers had the same ideas that they believed the use of Indonesian
was needed in teaching English. First, the teachers’ beliefs about the use of Indonesian in
their teaching were required to make the students easy to understand the material and make
them confident in learning English. Second, the students could receive the material that the
teachers want to explain by using Indonesian. Third, students could understand the meaning
17
of difficult words in order to improve their English. Forth, the use of Indonesian helped the
good organization in the classroom by making the teachers’ instruction clear and easy to
understand by the students. Thus, it could make the students improve their language
proficiency. As a conclusion, the use of Indonesian could help the students to acquire and
improve their language proficiency of English.
This study provided knowledge about the use of Indonesian in teaching English at
Senior High School especially in Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK). It was possible for the
Senior High School teachers in making their teaching become more efficient. In addition, the
description of the positive impact in using Indonesian may also be useful information for
teachers in Senior High School in preparing the students to improve their English proficiency.
There are two limitations in this study. The first one is this study is only focused on
teaching context in Senior High School in Salatiga, especially in Sekolah Menengah
Kejuruan (SMK). Second, this study involved a small number of participants which were two
teachers. Further research may include more partipants to reveal more issues on the use of
Indonesian in teaching English. I would suggest that the findings of this research could be
considered by the teachers in teaching English in which Indonesian needs to be used. Besides,
the use of Indonesian should be reduced bit by bit to make teaching and learning process
more efficient. It might be mixed between 40% using Indonesian and 60% using English. I
would also suggest that it needs to do further research that looks at what are the purposes of
using Indonesian by the teachers in teaching English to senior high schools’ students.
18
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This thesis would not have been finished without the support of many people. I wish
to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Bapak Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M.A., who
were abundantly helpful and patience in guiding me to finish this thesis in a limited time.
Deepest gratitude is also Ibu Anita Kurniawati, M. Hum., as my thesis examiner. Without
whose knowledge and assistance this study would not have been completed. I would like to
thank to the English Senior High school teachers in SMK N 2 Salatiga who were willing to
share all their thought, experiences and knowledge to support this thesis. I also wish to
express my love and gratitude to my beloved family who always supports me. Special thanks
also go to my husband, Bahtiar Adi Nugroho, who also supports me by his prayer. I also
thanks to my friends, Ica Frizka Shinta Rina Anita Titin and Lutfi, who always supports me
and help me in doing my thesis. All my best I give to Allah that I can finish this study in time
by His plan.
19
REFERENCES
Beressa, K. (2003). Using L1 in the EFL classroom: The case of the Oromo language with
particular reference to Adama teacher college. Published Master Thesis. Addis
Ababa University.11-37.
Campa, J. C. & Nassaji, H. (2009). The Amount, Purpose, And Reasons For Using L1 In L2
Classroom. Foreign Language Analysis Journal. 42(4) 742-759.
Chaniago, I. M. (2011). The Purposes of using L1 and L2 in the teacher talk. Unpublished
Sarjana Thesis. Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Salatiga.
Grim, F. (2010). L1 In The L2 Classroom At The Secondary And College Levels: A
Comparison Of Function Used By The Teacher. Electric Journal Of Foreign
Language Teaching. 7(2), 193-209.
Harison, B. (1973). The Mother Tongue And English. English as Second or Foreign
Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 19-28.
Miles, R. (2004). Evaluating the use of L1 in the English language classroom. Published
Master thesis. University of Birmingham. 3-12.
Murcia, M. C. (1991). Teaching Methodology: Teaching English As A Second Or Foreign
Language. Massachusetts: Heinle & Heinle Publisher. 3-46.
Nunan, D. (1991). Language teaching methodology: A textbook for teachers . Hemel,
Hemstead: Prentice Hall.
Raouf, A. A. (2010). Grammar Translation Method Still Alive In Arab TEFL Classroom.
TESOL Arabia Perspectifes. 17 (1), 13-18.
1
Widagdo, A. T. (2010). The use of first language in second language classes. Unpublished
Sarjana Thesis. Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Salatiga.
Taneo, S. (2011). The purpose of using different language in English classes . Unpublished
Sarjana Thesis. Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Salatiga.
Weihua, Y. (2009). Grammar Translation Method. Routledge Encyclopedia Of Language
Teaching And Learning. 250-252.
Yung, Q. (2011). The influence of communicative teacher talk on college students
interlanguage. Sino US English Teaching. 8 (9), 571-576.
Zacharias, N. T. (2011). Qualitative research methods for Second Language Education : A
Coursebook. 19-105.
Zsendroi, I. (2010). Teacher talk in the ESP classroom results of a pilot observation study
conducted in the tourism context. WoPalP Journal. 4, 39-58.
2
1
SALATIGA
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirement for Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Uswatun Khasanah
112009030
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2013
i
THE USE OF INDONESIAN IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN SMK N 2
SALATIGA
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirement for Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Uswatun Khasanah
112009030
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2013
ii
ffi
PERPUSTAKAAN UNIvERSITAS
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA
Jl. Diponegoo 52
-
5O Salatiga 5071
I
Jawa Tengah, lndonesia
32121 2,Fax. O298 321433
Telp. 0298 Email: library@adm.uksw.edu ; http:/,/library.uksw.edu
PERNYATAAN TIDAK PLAGIAT DAN PERSETUJUAN AKSES
Sebagai sivitas akademik Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, saya yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini:
, Usruatun Flrr.sonah
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ketentuan akses tugas akhir elektronik sebagai berikut (beri tanda pada kotak yang sesuai):
[l[
LJ
a.Saya meng'rjinkan karya tersebut diunggah ke dajam aplikasi Koleksi Digital Perpustakaan Universitas,
!
b.Saya tidak meng'rjinkan karya tercebut diunggah ke dalam aplikasi Koleksi Digital Perpustakaan Universitas,
dan/atau portal GARUDA.
dan/atau portal GARUDA. *
Dengan ini saya juga menyatakan bahwa:
t'
Hasil karya yang saya serahkan ini adalah asli dan belum pernah diajukan untuk mendapatkan gelar kesarjanaan baik di
Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana maupun di institusi pendidikan lainnya.
z.
Hasil karya saya ini bukan saduran/ terjemahan melainkan merupakan gagasan, rumusan, dan hasil pelaksanaan
penelitian/ implementasi saya sendiri, tanpa bantuan pihak lain, kecuali arahan pembimbing akademik dan
narasumber penelitian.
e.
Hasil karya saya
ini merupakan hasil revisi terakhir setelah diujikan yang telah diketahui dan disetujui oleh
pembimbing.
a.
Dalam karya saya ini tidak terdapat karya atau pendapat yang telah ditulis atau dipublikasikan orang lain, kecuali yang
digunakan sebagai acuan dalam naskah dengan menyebutkan nama pengarang dan dicantumkan dalam daftar
pustaka.
s.
-
Saya menyerahkan hak non-eksklusif kepada Perpustakaan Universitas
Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana untuk
menyimpan, mengatur akses serta melakukan pengelolaan terhadap karya saya ini dengan mengacu pada ketentuan
aksei tugas akhir elektronik di atas dan norma hukum yang berlaku.
Pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sesungguhnya. Apabila di kemudian hari terbukti ada penyimpangan dan ketidakbenaran
dalam pernyataan ini maka saya bersedia menerima sanksi akademik berupa pencabutan gelar yang telah diperoleh
yang berlaku di Univprsitpp Kristen Satya Wacana.
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PERPUSTAKAAN UNIVERSITAS
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UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WAGANA
ll
iii
PUBLICATION AGGREMENENT DECLARATION
As a member of Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU) academic community, I
verify that:
Name: Uswatun Khasanah
Student ID Number: 112009030
Study Program: PBI (Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris) English Department
Faculty: Language and Literature
Kind of Work: Undergraduate Thesis
In develop in my knowledge, I agree to provide SWCU with a non-exclusive royalty free
right for my intellectual property and the content therein entitled:
THE USE OF INDONESIAN IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN SMK N 2 SALATIGA
along with ant pertinent equipment.
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This declaration is made according to the best of my knowledge.
Made in : Salatiga
Date
:
Verified by signee,
Uswatun Khasanah
Approved by
Thesis Supervisor
Thesis Examiner
Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M. A.
Anita Kurniawati, M. Hum
iv
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or
accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my
knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any
other person except where due the reference is made in the text.
Copyright@2013.Uswatun Khasanah and Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M. A.
All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the
permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English Department, Faculty of
Language and Literature, Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga.
Uswatun Khasanah:
v
THE USE OF INDONESIAN IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN SMK N 2
SALATIGA
Uswatun Khasanah
Abstract
This study attempted to analyze the use of Indonesian in teaching English in SMK N 2
Salatiga. The participants of this study were two teachers who taught English in SMK N 2
Salatiga. The data used for this research were classroom observation and interview. The
observations were video recorded and mainly focused on the use of Indonesian in teaching
English. The finding of this study showed that the teacher used Indonesian for 5 different
purposes; aimed to ask questions, explain material, translate word, give instruction and
command students, and tell stories and make jokes.
Keywords
: Classroom observation, Teacher’s beliefs, First language use, English as an
L2
Introduction
Background of the study
Nowadays English is the most widely used as an international language. English has
gained the status as a major language in the world. The teaching and learning English has
increased throughout the world which produced a new cadre of professional, for example
teachers of English as Foreign Language (EFL). English as a Foreign Language is not the
language of communication in the society. EFL is taught in a country where English is not
the native language, for example teaching English in Indonesia.
In this study the term first language (L1) is used to refer to Bahasa Indonesia.
Teachers use first language quite frequently in their classrooms and that they do it for many
reasons and purposes. Language teachers think it’s important to use L1 in teaching English to
help the students to have better understanding about the materials. Usually the teachers use
L1 in explaining difficult materials, difficult words, and discussing the materials. But some
may believe that the teachers should avoid using L1 in teaching EFL. According to Cook and
Turnbull (2001) teaches have to use the target language without considering the students’
1
first language, a principle that the teachers’ use the target language acknowledges that L1 and
L2 can exist simultaneously (as cited in Beressa, 2003).
This study addressed the following research question, “what are the uses of first
language (Bahasa Indonesia) in teaching English in SMK N 2 Salatiga?” The purpose of this
research was to describe the use of Indonesian in teaching English. More specifically, this
study aimed to find for what purposes the teachers used Indonesian in teaching English.
Although there have been a number studies done on the use of L1 in teaching English
in many different countries, I believe that it was necessary to carry out an additional research
on the similar topic in Indonesian context. The result of this study could be useful for both of
teachers who are teaching English as a Foreign Language and also to the students in learning
English because other teachers would realize when they will use Indonesian in teaching
English to their students.
Literature review
This paper analyzes the use of first language (Indonesian) in teaching English. The
focus is on how the teachers conceptualize the use of Indonesian as teacher talk in their
classroom. Teacher talk has important impact in teaching and learning process. According to
Zsendroi (2010) teacher talk is the language typically used by teachers in the process of
teaching. Teacher talk is one of the communicative functions that the teachers usually use
during the process of teaching. According to Yung (2011) there are four types of teacher talk.
First is informative teacher talk, which means that the teachers deliver their opinion, fact as
well as some concept through word and students process the information. The second, is
directive teacher talk, which means that teacher talk is used to direct the activities running in
the classroom. The accurate application of directive language can make the teaching efficient
and effective. The third, is eliciting teacher talk, which aims to inspire students and further
2
obtains their answer in class. The forth, is feedback to the students’ answer, which refers to
the way of teachers to respond to the students’ answer.
When the teachers use teacher talk in explaining the materials, they are trying to
make themselves to be understood easily by the students. Though the teacher talk is
important in language teaching, it is not easy for the students to understand teacher talk
especially when English is mostly used. Sometimes teachers’ talk may involve more than one
language in order to help the learners to get better understanding about the teaching materials
or classroom instructions, for example, the use of first language (L1) in the English
classroom. According to Nunan (1991) teacher talk is very important, for both the
organization of the classroom and the processes of L2 acquisition. It is important for the
organization of the classroom because through teacher talk it can be seen that the teaching
plan is success or not. In terms of acquisition, teacher talk is important because it is the major
source of understanding the target language that received by the learner (as cited in Taneo,
2011). As English as a foreign language is not used in Indonesia, Indonesian as the mother
tongue may be used in teacher talk in order to speed up the processes of learning.
According Harrison (1973) acquiring a second or foreign language is a very different
thing from the acquisition of mother tongue. Teaching English should also consider the
language that is used by the society or mother tongue. Stern (1983) also argued that the first
language is maintained as the reference in the acquisition of the second language (as cited in
Zacharias, 2010). It means that through teacher talk, teachers should have as clear as possible
of what they want to deliver in their teaching process which may involve the first language in
order to make it easier in acquiring second language.
Teachers use first language quite frequently in their classrooms and that they do it for
many reasons and purposes. Language teachers think it’s important to use L1 in teaching
English to help the students to have better understanding about the material. Although the use
3
of L1 in foreign language learning is critical, research shows that the uses of L1 to certain
extends may have positive impact to the learners. For example, Macaro (1997) said that L1 is
the learners’ language of thought and the use of L1 at certain occasion may help improve the
learners’ comprehension (as cited in Chaniago, 2011).
In teaching and learning process, the use of Indonesian can be positive and negative
for the teacher and students’ development. The following study shows the positive and
negative impact of using L1 in English classroom. In their study, Campa & Nassaji (2009)
reported that the teachers used a noticeable amount of L1 in their classroom for different
purposes such as translation, administrative issue, and personal comment. The teachers used
L1 most often for creating the comfortable classroom atmosphere which they believe this was
the effective strategy to encourage the students to participate in the learning process. In other
words, the purposes were both pedagogical and social, and were intended not only to
facilitate L2 learning by helping the learners to get better understanding the L2 instruction,
but also to create a supportive and enjoyable environment for learning to take place.
Another positive impact of using L1 is that it can be used to reduce the students’
anxiety. By making jokes in the students’ first language, it can create a less threatening
atmosphere in the classroom. According to Hemminder (1987) the use of L1 can lower
students’ anxiety and enhances the positive affective environment for the students to make a
progress in their L2 learning (as cited in Taneo, 2011). Language anxiety comes around the
students when they learn a new language. Meyer (2010) also stated that language anxiety has
strong effective influence on second language acquisition (as cited in Widagdo, 2010).
The use of L1 in teaching and learning is aimed to make second language learning
more effective and efficient. In the English classroom, L1 has been used for various purposes.
Not only to help the students to get better understanding about what the teachers were going
to teach but also Grim (2010) found that the L1 could have strategic impact and be actually
4
considered as a profitable communicative and teaching strategy. Through planning for
comprehension breakdown, teachers can present form by giving learners the opportunity to
process, notice and perhaps acquire the new input. Because most of L2 teachers do not
practice an L2 teaching principle, and accepting L1 as potential successful instrument could
therefore help produce successful teaching strategy. Weihua (2009) also said that one of
teaching methodology which is grammar translation method that involve mother tongue in
the teaching and learning process may help the learner get the general idea what they are
going to learn a new language.
Some teachers believe that the use of first language (L1) in teaching English is useful
but some may believe that the teachers should avoid using it. Many teachers believe that the
second language should be used totally in teaching English. According to Duff and Polio
(1990) they have generally found that although instructors acknowledge the importance of
teaching in L2, most of them still use L1 to a certain degree in their classrooms (as cited in
Campa & Nassaji, 2009 ).
Related to that issue, there is a popular belief that the use of L1 has been considered
as bad character in the second language or foreign language leaning. There are many who
have argued that the use of first language should be limited in L2 teaching because the use of
L1 may have negative effect which can impede the learners’ L2 learning. Baw (2002) said
that the excessive use of L1 in learning L2 does not give the students any chance in to
practice the new learnt language (as cited in Raouf, 2010). In other word, the use of L1 in L2
classroom is the major cause of students’ problem in learning new language.
According to Cook and Turnbull (2001) teachers have to use the target language
without considering the students’ first language, a principle that the teachers’ use the target
language acknowledges that L1 and L2 can exist simultaneously. Some other researchers
have shown the negative impact of using L1 in L2 classroom was based on Polio (1994) and
5
Atkinson (1987) the use of L1 in the classroom can create laziness among students and
failure to maximize English (as cited in Miles, 2004). Cook (2001) also believes that the
successful of L2 acquisition depends on keeping the L2 separated from the L1 and see the L1
and L2 as separate entities (as cited in Beressa, 2003). It means that the interference of L1
can make the students depend on the teacher and make them lazy and fail to maximize the
use of the target language in the classroom.
The study
This research was a descriptive study to describe the use of Indonesian by teachers in
English classes and analyzed the teachers’ reason in using Indonesian in their teaching. This
research was conducted in SMK N 2 Salatiga., one of prominent senior high schools which
Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK) in Salatiga, Central Java. This school has competent
teachers of English.
Participant
In this research, I selected two teachers in one of senior high school in Salatiga as the
participants in this study. I used a purposive sampling technique to choose the teachers.
According to Zacharias (2011) purposive sampling is selecting group of people that can meet
certain criteria. The criteria were teachers who taught different classes in SMK N 2 Salatiga.
Research Instrument
This research used both observation checklists and stimulated recall interview
questions. I did the classroom observation and focused on the teachers’ talk during teaching
and learning. During the classroom observation, I used checklists to make notes about
purposes of the teachers to use Indonesian. Besides observation, this research also used
stimulated-recall interview in answering the research questions. According to Brown &
Rodgers (2002) and Nunan (1989) stimulated recall interview is a technique in which the
researcher records and transcribes part of a lesson and then gets the participant to comment
6
on what was happening at the time the activity took place (as cited in Zacharias, 2011). In
other words, simulated-recall interview gives access into teachers’ cognitive domain as they
teach. I used five questions to seek information on the use of Indonesian in teaching English.
And some questions based on the class observations to find for what purposes the teachers
used Indonesian in teaching English.
Data collection
I started this research by meeting with the headmaster to obtain permission for my
research. After that I met and spoke to the English teachers about my research and asked their
consent to be my participants. Then I made an appointment to do the observations and the
interview. I did the classroom observations ten times. It was shown in the following table,
No
Date
Class
Time
1.
Friday, February 1st 2013
X TGB A
2 x 30 minutes
2.
Friday, February 1st 2013
X TKK
2 x 30 minutes
3.
Tuesday, February 5th 2013
X TEI C
2 x 45 minutes
4.
Wednesday, February 6th 2013
X TKJ A
2 x 40 minutes
5.
Thursday, February 7th 2013
XI TMO C
2 x 45 minutes
6.
Friday, February 8th 2013
XI TAV
2 x 30 minutes
7.
Saturday, February 9th 2013
X TGB B
2 x 40 minutes
8.
Wednesday, February 12th 2013
XI TEIC
2 x 40 minutes
9.
Friday, February 15th 2013
X TAV
2 x 30 minutes
10.
Saturday, February 16th 2013
X TGB B
2 x 40 minutes
The observations focused on the use of Indonesian in the teachers’ talk during
teaching. I recorded the teachers’ talk using a video recorder. After the observation, I
transcribed the data for analysis. In order to get enough data, I interviewed the teachers using
7
stimulated recall interview by presenting the observations transcript to the participants. The
focuses of the interview were to find out to what extent, for what purposes and reasons why
the teachers used Indonesian in teaching English. After the interviews and classroom
observations, the data were compiled and analyzed qualitatively.
Data analysis procedure
The data were gathered from the classroom observations and stimulated-recall
interviews. For the analysis, the data were transcribed using a clean transcription method.
According to Zacharias (2011), a clean transcription of interview focuses on the content of
the interview. Then, the transcriptions were coded. Ideas that emerged from the interview
were divided into categories. The quoted examples from the data were used to support each
point in the analysis of the data. The data were analyzed descriptively, and some supporting
theories were used in the analysis.
Finding and discussion
This section discusses the use of Indonesian in teaching English in SMK N 2 Salatiga.
When I observed the teaching and learning process in class, both teachers used Indonesian in
teaching English. I divided the data into five big categories: asking questions, explaining
material, translating word, giving instruction and commanding students, and telling stories
and making jokes.
The first category of Indonesian use was in asking questions. In this class teacher A
taught about sentences in English and teacher B was about traffic light, as follows:
Teacher A
: Ya betul, kalimat itu ada subjeknya betul?
Students
: Yes
Teacher A
: What kind of subject that can be used in a sentence?
Students
: Things idea, and then place
8
From the conversation above, it can be seen that teacher A used Indonesian in asking
questions to the students. When he asked about sentences which consist of subject, it showed
clearly that he used Indonesian in asking questions.
It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below:
Teacher B
: Okay. Let’s say you make both of pictures, gini ya, this is
number one, number two, up to number six. You read the
first bold phrase, frase pertama. A sign with I saw was the
driver must wear a seatbelt. kira-kira cocok nomer yang
mana?
Students
: Enam, six.
Teacher B
: ya tinggal ditulis saja. The driver must wear a seatbelt. Is
that clear? Jelas?
Students
: jelas
From the conversation above, it can be seen that teacher B also used Indonesian in asking
questions to the students. He asked to the students in Indonesian which number that
appropriate with, kira-kira cocok nomer yang mana? In additon, he asked the students
whether they have already understood or not by using the word in Indonesian; jelas?. In the
interview, teacher A and B had same opinions about why they used Indonesian in asking
questions to the students. Based on the interview, teacher A said that,
Ya ini kan saya menjelaskan mengenai konsep, konsep subjek itu apa
kemudian konsep meja itu apa, meja itu fungsinya apa itu sebenarnya
sebagai konsep. Kalau meja bahasa inggrisnya sudah tau “table”. Tapi ini
karena saya ajak berfikir abstrak, berfikir yang agak tinggi begitu saya
change ke Indonesia. karena kalau pakai bahasa inggris dia tidak akan tau.
Similarly, teacher B said,
Jika dalam menterjemahkannya pertanyaan menurut saya hanyalah untuk
mempermudah mereka saja dalam memahami bahasa inggris pada kelaskelas tertentu. Bahkan ada beberapa kelas yang katakanlah kalau
menggunakan bahasa inggris secara full, mereka akan “pemalu”. Akan
menyulitkan bagi gurunya sendiri maupun kepada murid dalam mengajar
ataupun menerima pelajaran. Jadi memang keadaan setiap sekolah berbeda,
guru berbeda dan mungkin menurut saya hal tersebut adalah yang terbaik
atau yang saat ini yang digunakan rata-rata guru.
Teacher A said that he used Indonesian was because he wanted their students to understand
the material about concept. If the teacher used English instead of Indonesian, he would be
9
afraid that the students didn’t understand. Similarly, teacher B wanted their students easy to
understand the materials and also could make them confident in learning English. Based on
the interview, teacher B said that if he used English in asking questions to the students, he
thought that the students would be shy and tend to be silent. According to Hemminder (1987)
the use of L1 can lower students’ anxiety and enhance the positive affective environment for
the students to progress in their learning (as cited in Taneo, 2011). Meyer (2010) also argued
that language anxiety has strong effective influence on second language acquisition (as cited
in Widagdo, 2010). As an example, when I became a student-teacher in SMK N 2 Salatiga, I
experienced about the language anxiety. The students tended to be silent when they were
asked to speak in English, however when the students were asked by the teacher using their
mother tongue, they were able to share their opinions. It might happen because Indonesian
gives a freedom to them to express their opinions or ideas. In other word, L1 allowed students
to say what are thinking about. They also said that the student sometimes knew what they
would to say, but it was difficult to express in the target language. Thus, the use of
Indonesian in English classroom by the teachers was to encourage and help the students to
find out how to express their ideas with a great confidence, not only in Indonesian but also in
the target language.
The second category of Indonesian use was in explaining materials. Below are the
teachers’ explanations were Indonesian to the students:
Teacher A
: That’s why you swipe the floor in the clean way.right?
okay, Sekarang kalau subjeknya berupa benda, buat kalimat
dengan things? Subjeknya things, subjeknya ada berapa
macam? ada dua, kategorinya ada dua konkret and…?
Students
: Abstrak
Teacher A
: Bedanya kalo konkret things and abstrak things, kalau
konkret bisa di indera , how many senses do you have? Kamu
tau artinya indera bukan hanya penglihatan , there are 5
senses, right? Vision, auditoria, smell, touch, tastes. Sekarang
coba yang bisa kamu indera apa aja.
10
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher A used Indonesian in explaining
materials about sentences. When he explained about sentences, it clearly showed that he used
Indonesian subjeknya ada berapa macam? ada dua, kategorinya ada dua konkret and
abtract. He explained about two kinds of subject which concret and abstract.
It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below:
Teacher B
: Nomer 2 a school crossword. Let’s say you decide this is
the meaning of the phrases. Misalnya nomer satu ini. kalian
tinggal nulis huruf the crossword. bisa? Tidak perlu di sini
sudah ada semua . Is that clear?
Students
: yes.
From the conversation above, it clearly showed that teacher B also used Indonesian in
explaining materials. He gave an example of how to do the exercises in Indonesian Misalnya
nomer satu ini. kalian tinggal nulis huruf the crossword. bisa? Tidak perlu di sini sudah ada
semua . In the interview, teacher A and B had same opinions about why they used Indonesian
in explaining materials. Based on the interview, teacher A said,
Maka karena saya mengingat anak-anak saya levelnya masih seperti itu, jadi
kalau saya jelaskan menggunakan bahasa inggris takutnya nanti pesan saya
tidak akan sampai. Jadi mengapa saya pakai ini, supaya pesan-pesannya itu
bisa dipahami. Ya intinya lebih memahami konsepnya dulu.
Similarly, teacher B said,
Saya cenderung menggunakan bahasa Indonesia sebagai bahasa penjelas
agar mereka lebih mengerti. Biasanya kalau kelas ini mereka tergantung
yang kurang. Maka daripada akan lebih cepat untuk mereka dalam
memahami. Mungkin cukup untuk membantu saja, yang lain untuk
memudahkan murid dan juga guru dalam menjelaskan materi.
Teacher A explained that he used Indonesian in explaining materials was because he wanted
the messages that he deliver was easy to be understood by the students. Similarly, teacher B
also noticed that if he used English, he was afraid that the students would be difficult to
receive the materials. Both teachers used Indonesian in explaining materials; to make the
students easier to understand the materials. I thought that the teachers should use Indonesian
11
or not in explaining materials with the consideration of students’ level. Thus, by using
Indonesian as their L1, the students could receive the material easier in order to improve their
English. Weihua (2009) said that one of teaching methodology is grammar translation
method, it involves mother tongue in teaching and learning process and it may help the
learner get the general idea about what they are going to learn in a new language. Macaro
(1997) said that L1 was the learners’ language of thought and the use of L1 at certain
occasion may help improve the learners’ comprehension (as cited in Chaniago, 2011).
The third category of Indonesian use was in translating words. Below are the teachers’
translations were Indonesian to the students:
Teacher A
: Tables is use for.. Apa guna meja?
Students
: Meletakkan buku
Teacher A
: Meletakkan buku apa? Tables is used to take the book
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher A used Indonesian in translating
word. When he asked the English word for meletakkan buku, he could know that no body
knew the answer. Then, he explained to the whole class that they could say table is used to
take the book for the word meletakkan buku.
It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below:
Teacher B
: Now, Ada yang tau what is tunnel? Tunnel: a place where?
Tunnel means?
Student
: menara
Teacher
: No, this is terowongan, there was a sign of underpass ahead.
What is underpass? We will see it later itu ada di soalnya.
There I saw a group of the road sign.
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher B also used Indonesian in
translating word. When he asked the students about the meaning of tunnel, there was one
student who answered it into menara. Then he directly translated the correct meaning of
tunnel which means terowongan not menara. In the interview teacher A and B had different
12
opinions about the reasons why they used Indonesian in translating words. Based on the
interview, teacher A explained,
Tujuan ini saya ingin anak-anak acquire language. Jadi untuk bisa acquire
dan juga bisa tertanam dalam pikiran siswa, memang saya menggunakan
teknik translation. Translation itu memasukkan Bahasa Inggris lebih mudah
daripada tanpa translation. Jadi mereka tidak hanya mencerna tapi acquire
language, bisa masuk ke dalam memori-memori mereka.
On the contrary, teacher B explained,
Itu mungkin pertama-tama tujuannya sebetulnya adda beberapa hal, yang
pertama hal tersebut harusnya dihindari. Karena apa yang saya pelajari jika
langsung menterjemahkan murid tidak akan belajar apa-apa. Seharusnya
idealnya apa yang saya pelajari hal tersebut sebetulnya salah. Karena
seharusnya kita tidak harus serta merta menterjemahkan kedalam bahasa
Indonesia. kita harus menerangkan katakanlah what is tunnel? Tunnel is
kind of concret object which has narrow space inside of it, and things like
that. Jadi kita bisa katakanlah tidak harus leading. Kita tidak menyuapi tapi
kita membiarkan mereka agar berpikir dahulu. Tetapi secara idealnya apa
yang saya mengerti hal tersebut memang salah dan itu adalah opsi yang
terakhir apabila kita memang sudah tidak punya waktu. Akan tetapi idealnya
walaupun kita tidak menggunakan bahasa inggris tetapi kita harus tetap
untuk membiarkan mereka berfikir dahulu.
Both teachers had different opinions about the use of Indonesian in translating words.
Teacher A said that the use of Indonesian in translating words was to make the students easier
in acquiring English. He said that students not only understood the meaning of some words
but also they could acquire language in their memory. In line with teachers’ statements, Stern
(1983) stated that the first language is maintained as the reference system in the acquisition of
the second language (as cited in Zacharias, 2010). On the contrary, teacher B thought that the
use of Indonesian in translating words should be avoided. He thought that when he directly
translated some words to the students without giving them time to think. Therefore, it could
make the students couldn’t learn the material totally. The students just depended on the
teachers’ explanation and also it could make them lazy to think and also learn English. Based
on Polio (1994) and Atkinson (1987) the use of L1 in the classroom can create laziness
among students and failure to maximize English (as cited in Miles, 2004).
13
The forth category of Indonesian use was in commanding and giving instruction.
Below are the teachers’ commands and instructions were Indonesian to the students:
Teacher A
: Buat kalimat dengan Chair! ayo yang pojok. In the corner.
You are very very shy, what are you doing over there, kamu
sedang apa? Buat kalimat dengan chair!
Students
: Chair is for sitting down.
Teacher A
: Yes correct, Chair is for sitting down.
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher A used Indonesian in commanding
and giving instruction to the students. When he commanded students to make sentences using
the word chair , he used Indonesian buat Kalimat dengan chair.
It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below:
Teacher B
: Okay draw it first. You don’t have to make it as good as on
the book. Yang penting jelas. As long as it is clear and you
can understand the pictures. Tidak perlu bagus2 yang penting
jelas. This will appear on the test. Soalnya ada di tesnya.
Sudah selesai? Sepuluh saja.
Students
: Belum pak.
Teacher B
: Make it fast. cepat sedikit! Five more minutes. Yang kecil
saja tidak usah besar-besar yang penting jelas!.
Students
: Ya pak.
From the conversation above, it can be seen that, teacher B also used Indonesian in
commanding and giving instruction to the students. When he asked the students to draw the
pictures of road sign, he said yang penting jelas, tidak perlu bagus yang penting jelas and
tidak usah besar-besar yang penting jelas. In other words, he asked the students to draw a
clear picture. He also commanded the students to make it fast using Indonesian cepat sedikit.
In the interview, both teachers had the same opinion about the reason why they used
Indonesian in commanding and giving instruction to the students. These opinions were
clearly stated by those teachers in the interview. Teacher A said,
14
Saya pakai Bahasa Indonesia karena instruksi saya agar bisa dimengerti.
Kalau saya pakai bahasa inggris, siswa saya suruh apa tidak tau. What can I
do sir? Aku mau apa? Ya dia tidak akan melakukan apa yang disuruh. Jadi
instruksi itu penting ya, bisa dilakukan itu memang harus dipahami apa
instruksinya.
Similarly, teacher B said,
Tentu saja yang pertama untuk memudahkan kami semua. Yang lainnya
adalah saya menginginkan agar semuanya berjalan dengan seperti apa yang
saya inginkan. Ini bertujuan agar anak-anak lebih jelas dan mengerjakannya
dengan tepat. Maka saya akan langsung menggunakan switch ke bahasa
Indonesia, sehingga mereka dapat memahami dan melakukan tugasnya
dengan baik.
In this case, both teachers had the same opinions about the use of Indonesian in commanding
and giving instruction to the students. Teacher A and B said that they used Indonesian to
make the instruction clear and easy to be understood by the students. Thus, the students could
do what they had to do in the classroom and it could make the teaching and learning process
efficient. According to Yung (2011) the use of L1 in giving instruction to the students will
make the accurate application of directive language which means it can make the teaching
efficient and effective.
The fifth category of Indonesian use was in telling stories and making jokes. Below
are the teachers’ examples of using Indonesian to the students:
Teacher A
: Nama dulu, please. Make a sentence ayo apa? Melakukan
sesuatu, is itu kan untuk present continous tense ya boleh tapi
harus yang bentuk –ing ya?
Students
: Bambang is sweeping
Teacher A
: Bambang is sweeping. Bambang sedang menyapu. Jadi
bambang ini termasuk orang yang rajin ya. biasanya cewek
yg nyapu. Dan cewek kalau nyapu ya harus bersih. Kalau ga
nanti dapat orang brewok. It’s true right? if you don’t sweep
the floor clearly, you will have a beard. Do you like beard
man?
Students
: No
From the conversation above, it could be seen that, teacher A used Indonesian in telling
stories and making jokes. As an example, Bambang sedang menyapu. Jadi bambang ini
15
termasuk orang yang rajin ya. biasanya cewek yg nyapu. Dan cewek kalau nyapu ya harus
bersih. Kalau ga nanti dapat orang brewok. He told the students whether sweeping usually
was done by woman not man. He said that if woman sweep should in clearly way, so that
they didn’t have beard man.
It was also presented by teacher B, as seen below:
Teacher
: Hari ini, today it means road sign sudah selesai?. Next week
we are going to continue the material. Masih ada satu materi
lagi.Kita review materi lagi setelah itu kita pulang. But for
next week we are going to have a test first. We are going to
review it a little bit for fifteen minutes. Masih ingat apa
masih lupa?
Students
: Lupa
Teacher
: Masih lupa? Okay jangan dihapus dulu. Present continuous
tense. Anyone of you still remember what is present
continuous tense? Masih lupa?
Students
: Masih lupa. I don’t know.
From the conversation above, it could be seen that, teacher B also used Indonesian in telling
stories and making jokes. He asked the students using Indonesian, Masih ingat apa masih
lupa?, masih lupa?. He asked whether the students still remember about the lesson or not.
But then the teacher asked by saying do you still forget? And it made the whole class noisy.
In the interview, both teachers gave same reasons why they used Indonesian in telling stories
and making jokes. Teacher A explained in the interview, as the following,
Ice-breaknya itu berupa joke, tell story. Kalau pakai bahasa Indonesia itu
lebih bagus, kan tujuannya supaya mereka rileks. Kalau pakai bahasa inggris
malah nanti mereka jadi tegang lagi. Ini mengapa sih? malah dia mikir lagi.
Panas lagi otaknya nanti bisa error itu. Makanya untuk ice-breaking, untuk
joke seperti itu pakai bahasa Indonesia tidak apa-apa. Dan juga membuat
atmosphere di kelas itu kondusif, buat Suasana tidak tegang.
Similarly, teacher B said,
Kalau menggunakan joke dengan bahasa inggris mereka juga tidak akan
mengerti. Dan juga membuat hubungan antara guru dengan murid menjadi
katakanlah agak renggang dan tidak bisa berjalan dengan baik. Dan juga
bisa membuat atmoshphere di kelas semakin baik. Tentu saja tergantung
juga dengan karakter gurunya apakah kaku atau tidak juga membedakan.
16
Both teachers had same opinion that the use of Indonesian in telling stories and making jokes
could be useful in teaching English. Teacher A said that the use of Indonesian in telling
stories and making jokes as an ice breaking could make the atmosphere in the classroom
relax. Similarly, teacher B said that if he used English in telling stories and making jokes, the
students would be confused and didn’t understand about what the teachers’ said. The
atmosphere in the classroom would be better and also could make the relationship between
teacher and students good. In this case, if the teachers could make the atmosphere in the
classroom more comfortable, it could encourage the students to participate in teaching and
learning process. In accordance with teachers’ statements, Campa and Nassaji (2009)
reported that the teacher use of different languages in the classroom is not only to facilitate
L2 learning by helping the learners to get better understanding the L2 instruction, but also to
create a supportive and enjoyable environment for learning to take place. In other words, by
telling stories and making jokes, it could create a less threatening atmosphere in the
classroom that could make students feel enjoy and also can encourage them to learn English.
Conclusion
In summary, this finding showed that the teachers in this study used Indonesian in
their English classes. The teachers used Indonesian for the purpose of asking questions,
explaining material, translating word, giving instruction and commanding students, and
telling story and making joke. Both teachers supported the use of Indonesian in teaching
English in SMK N 2 Salatiga.
Nonetheless, both teachers had the same ideas that they believed the use of Indonesian
was needed in teaching English. First, the teachers’ beliefs about the use of Indonesian in
their teaching were required to make the students easy to understand the material and make
them confident in learning English. Second, the students could receive the material that the
teachers want to explain by using Indonesian. Third, students could understand the meaning
17
of difficult words in order to improve their English. Forth, the use of Indonesian helped the
good organization in the classroom by making the teachers’ instruction clear and easy to
understand by the students. Thus, it could make the students improve their language
proficiency. As a conclusion, the use of Indonesian could help the students to acquire and
improve their language proficiency of English.
This study provided knowledge about the use of Indonesian in teaching English at
Senior High School especially in Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK). It was possible for the
Senior High School teachers in making their teaching become more efficient. In addition, the
description of the positive impact in using Indonesian may also be useful information for
teachers in Senior High School in preparing the students to improve their English proficiency.
There are two limitations in this study. The first one is this study is only focused on
teaching context in Senior High School in Salatiga, especially in Sekolah Menengah
Kejuruan (SMK). Second, this study involved a small number of participants which were two
teachers. Further research may include more partipants to reveal more issues on the use of
Indonesian in teaching English. I would suggest that the findings of this research could be
considered by the teachers in teaching English in which Indonesian needs to be used. Besides,
the use of Indonesian should be reduced bit by bit to make teaching and learning process
more efficient. It might be mixed between 40% using Indonesian and 60% using English. I
would also suggest that it needs to do further research that looks at what are the purposes of
using Indonesian by the teachers in teaching English to senior high schools’ students.
18
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This thesis would not have been finished without the support of many people. I wish
to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Bapak Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M.A., who
were abundantly helpful and patience in guiding me to finish this thesis in a limited time.
Deepest gratitude is also Ibu Anita Kurniawati, M. Hum., as my thesis examiner. Without
whose knowledge and assistance this study would not have been completed. I would like to
thank to the English Senior High school teachers in SMK N 2 Salatiga who were willing to
share all their thought, experiences and knowledge to support this thesis. I also wish to
express my love and gratitude to my beloved family who always supports me. Special thanks
also go to my husband, Bahtiar Adi Nugroho, who also supports me by his prayer. I also
thanks to my friends, Ica Frizka Shinta Rina Anita Titin and Lutfi, who always supports me
and help me in doing my thesis. All my best I give to Allah that I can finish this study in time
by His plan.
19
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Campa, J. C. & Nassaji, H. (2009). The Amount, Purpose, And Reasons For Using L1 In L2
Classroom. Foreign Language Analysis Journal. 42(4) 742-759.
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