Handling My Difficulty in Motivating A 4th Grader Child to Learn English at Aces.

ABSTRACT
Tugas akhir ini berisi pembahasan masalah tentang bagaimana
memotivasi anak kelas 4 SD untuk belajar bahasa Inggris. Saya
melakukan magang di tempat les bahasa Inggris ACES pada tanggal
1 Juli 2013 sampai dengan 2 Agustus 2013, posisi saya selama
magang adalah sebagai asisten guru.
Terdapat dua penyebab dari masalah yang saya hadapi selama
saya melakukan magang di ACES. Pertama, saya tidak mempunyai
pengalaman dalam mengajar anak-anak. Kedua, saya tidak
mengetahui gaya belajar yang tepat untuk anak kelas 4 tersebut.
Disamping penyebab juga terdapat dua akibat dari masalah yang saya
hadapi. Pertama, saya hampir tidak dapat mengendalikan emosi saya
setiap kali saya mengajar. Kedua, anak menolak untuk belajar bahasa
Inggris. Setiap masalah pasti memiliki solusi. Begitu pun dengan
masalah yang saya hadapi, saya mempunyai beberapa solusi dari
masalah yang saya hadapi. Pertama, saya akan memberikan
tantangan yang adil bagi anak agar sang anak terhibur dan termotivasi
di kelas. Kedua, saya akan memberikan hadiah bagi si anak bila dia
mau belajar dengan serius. Ketiga, saya akan menerapkan cara
pembelajaran yang tepat untuk anak kelas 4 agar si anak dapat belajar
dengan lebih efektif.

Dari ketiga solusi yang saya temukan untuk mengatasi masalah
yang saya hadapi, saya akan menggunakan ketiga solusi tersebut
secara bersamaan. Menurut saya, menggunakan semua ketiga solusi
tersebut merupakan solusi terbaik. Karena ketiga solusi tersebut saling
mendukung satu dengan yang lainnya.

i

Maranatha Christian University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………i
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY………………………………………..ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………..……...Iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………iv
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………1
A.
B.
C.

D.
E.
F.
G.

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

CHAPTER II. PROBLEM ANALYSIS……………………………………..5
CHAPTER III. POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS………………………………...8
CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION……………………………………………12
BIBLOGRAPHY
APPENDICES: FLOWCHART, interview transcript

Maranatha Christian University

ii

FLOWCHART
CAUSES

PROBLEM

1. I did not have any
experience in teaching
English to children
2. I did not know the type
of learning styles I
should use for the 4th
grader

I

Potential Positive Effect

POTENTIAL SOLUTION 1

1. The child will feel
entertained and will pay
attention to the lesson.

I will give fair challenge to
the child

EFFECT
had difficulties in
motivating a 4th
grader child to learn
English during my
internship in ACES
(From the beginning
of July till the end of
July)

POTENTIAL SOLUTION 2

Potential Positive Effect
1. The child will do the
exercise and learn more
seriously.
2. The child will perform
better in learning English

Potential Positive Effect
1. The child can learn
English more
effectively

I will give the child a
reward if she did well in
study

POTENTIAL
SOLUTION 3
I

will use the
teaching style
that is suitable
with the child’s

1. The child did not want
to learn English
2. I tended to lose my
temper during
teaching English

Potential
Effect

Negative

1. The child will not
have any respect
toward the
teacher

Potential
Negative
Effects
1. The child might
become
dependent on
the reward.
2. The child might
not like the
reward, and will
end up
Potential Negative Effect
1. The child will lose
her interest in
learning English.

THE CHOSEN SOLUTIONS
iii
Potential Solution 1 , 2, 3

Maranatha Christian University

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study
In order to be able to learn effectively, children must have
motivation to learn. Koontz stated that motivation is the driving force
and effort to satisfy a want or goal (qtd. in Moekijat, 5). From this
statement it is clearly seen that children need motivation to have good
achievement in learning. However, motivating children to learn is not
an easy job. As what is stated by Carol Bainbridge in “Top 10 Ways to
Motivate Gifted Children”, that motivating children can be difficult (par.
1). And this is what I experienced during my internship in Active
Communicatice English Study, henceforth it is called ACES.

When I did my internship at ACES as an assistant teacher, I
taught a young 4th grader child. At that time, I was teaching English
grammar and the topic was about Past Tense, the child did not want to
1

Maranatha Christian University

learn and this made me almost lost my temper. She did not want to
memorize the irregular verbs and I did not know how to motivate her.
For this reason I chose to analyze the problem to find the causes and
the effects and the solutions to solve the problem I faced.

B. Identification of the Problem
In identifying the problem, three major questions will be used.
They are :
1. Why could not I motivate a 4th grade child to learn English?
2. How did I and the child react to the problem?
3. How is it to make the child feel motivated to learn English?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study
The objectives of the study are first, to help the writer to study the
problem and to find the solutions to the problem. Second, the study will
also help the readers especially the teachers in general to know the
solutions of how to motivate the unmotivated child in learning English.

Finally for ACES, the study will help the teachers in ACES to motivate
unmotivated children to learn English.

D. Description of Institution

2

Maranatha Christian University

Based on my interview I did with Mrs. Rhilmelda, ACE kids was
founded on 1st March 2002 and located at Pajajaran street no. 87. At
first Mrs. Rhimelda cooperated with Mrs. Leoni, and they used the
name Ace Kids because basically they only taught children around
primary school to senior high school to learn English.
On 1st January 2006 Ace Kids moved to Jalan Astina no.62D
because of the increasing number of students who registered to Ace
Kids. On 1st January 2013 Ace Kids moved again to Jalan Pandu no.
6a and Mrs. Rhilmeda changed the name Ace Kids into Active
Communicative English Study, henceforce it is called ACES, because
the students are no longer from primary-high school but also college

students and grown ups.
At present, ACES has already stands on its own and is handled
by Mrs. Rhimelda without the help from Mrs. Leoni (Anthony,
Rhimelda).

E. Method of Study
The analysis is done based on interview, library research, and
browsing on the Internet. For the interview, I interviewed some
experienced teachers at ACES to find information about how to handle
unmotivated children. For more information, I did library research and
browsed on the Internet. The data is used for writing my term paper
3

Maranatha Christian University

and also as a reseach data in this term paper for D3 English
programme.

F. Limitation of Study
The study is based on my internship that took place in ACES from
1st July to 2nd August 2013. The subject of the study is a 4th grader in
ACES and I myself, was as an assistant teacher.

G. Organization of Term Paper
This Term paper starts with the Abstract, Declaration of
Originality, and Table of Contents. Then it is divided into four chapters:
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, and Chapter 4. In Chapter One,
there are Background of the Study, Identification of the Problem,
Objectives and Benefits of the Study, Description of the Institution,
Method of the Study, Limitation of the Study, and Organization of the
Term Paper. Chapter Two analyzes the causes and effects of the
problem. Chapter Three describes three potential solutions to solve the
problem, with the positive and the negative effects of each solution.
Lastly, Chapter Four is the Conclusion, which discusses the best
solution to my problem. For the last part, there is a list of the sources
of all the supporting theories and interview data in the Bibliography,
and also Appendices which iclude flowchart and interview transcript.
4

Maranatha Christian University

CHAPTER III
POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
In this chapter, I would like describe some potensial solutions based on
my research to solve my problem in handling my difficulties in motivating a 4th
grader child to learn English based on my research. There are three potential
solutions with their positive and negative effects.
The first potential solution is I will give a fair challenge to the child. In
Ron Clark Story Reflection Paper, it is said that by giving a fair challenge to
children, the children would actually pay attention and learn (par. 2).
Therefore, I will give a fair challenge. For example if the child can memorize
at least 15 words of irregular verbs, I will do 10 push ups, but if she cannot
memorize the words well then she has to do 10 squats and the child will be
motivated.
The first solution has a potential positive and a potential negative effect.
The potential positive effect is the child will feel entertained and will pay
attention to the lesson. In Ron Clark Story Reflection Paper, it is stated that if
the teacher gives a fair challenge to the children keeps the class entertained

8

Maranatha Christian University

and they will pay attention to what the teacher is teaching (par. 2). From this
point, I see that this solution can motivate children to learn and also make
them entertained.

The potential negative effect of this solution is the child might not have
any respect toward the teacher. Turley said that humiliating will make others
disrespect us (par. 6). This will happen if the child keeps failing and has to do
the penalty again and again and she will feel this as humiliation. If the child
feels humiliated, she will not respect the teacher

The second potential solution is I will give the child a reward if she does
well in studying. The reward can be : playing games, or something verbal. As
it is stated by Wright that using rewards can motivate students (9). If the child
is rewarded for her good achievement, she will feel that her hard work is paid
off and therefore she will be motivated to learn.
The first potential positive effect of using this solution is the child will do
the exercise and learn more seriously and therefore will be more motivated.
Druger shares his experiences that if the teacher gives the student reward for
her good work, she will be encouraged to learn and become motivated (3).
Therefore if I use this solution, the child will be more eager to learn and
motivated.
The second potential positive effect of this solution is the child will
perform better in learning. Be given a reward, the child will perform better in

9

Maranatha Christian University

learning since she is motivated. Harms in his article stated that ”Students who
were given money or a trophy to look at while they tested performed better”
(par. 5). By giving a reward to the child, according to Harms, may make the
child motivated and will perform better in learning.
This second potential has some potential negative effects. First, the
child might become dependent on the reward. Linsin states that by offering
rewards “the students will demands higher and more frequent rewards” (par.
15). Therefore, by giving the child rewards, she may always expect for a
reward and refuse to learn if there is no reward.
The second potential negative effect is the child might not like the
rewards and will end up unmotivated. Linsin stated that reward weakens over
time and teachers have to increase the payment to keep the student
motivated (par. 15). In some ways rewards in a long run is ineffective, and I
have to increase the rewards to keep the child motivated.
The last potential solution is I will use the teaching style that is suitable
with the child’s learning style. According to Griswald, “identifying learning
styles and adapting lessons can motivate students” (par. 2). If I can identify
the child’s learning style and uses the suitable teaching style to teach him or
her by using some test or questioners, it will help the teacher to motivate the
child to learn. However, there are positive and negative effects of this
potential solution.

10

Maranatha Christian University

The positive effect is the child can learn English more effectively. Baker
states that “When teachers know their students' best way to learn, they can
help their students learn more effectively” ( par. 2). When I know the child’s
learning style and use the suitable teaching style, the child will be more
enthusiastic in learning and learning will become more effective as they learn.
The potential negative effect of this potential solution is, the child will
lose her interest in learning English. Weimer said that if a learner has already
been used to learning with his or her own learning style for example using
visual aids, and the teacher tries to use another learning style which she or
he thinks is more suitable for the child, the child may not be motivated to learn
(par. 5). Therefore if I teach the child using a different learning style that is
suitable for her, she may lose her interest, for example, if the child is used to
learning with kinesthetic learning style and at the moment the teaching
materials need to use visual learning styles she will not be motivated or eager
to learn.

11

Maranatha Christian University

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Printed Sources
Moekijat, Drs. Dasar-Dasar Motivasi. Bandung : Pionir Jaya, 2002.
Electronic Sources

Bainbridge, Carol. “Top 10 Ways to Motivate Gifted Children.” About.com
2013. 15 September 2013.
Baker, Fiona. “Learning Styles in Children.” Kidspot 2013. 23 September
2013.
Clark, Su. ”Temper the Reply.” Tesconnect 20 October 2000. 11 May 2008.
.
Doganay, Ahmet, and Ayse Ozturk. “An Investigation of Experienced and
Inexperienced Primary School Teachers Teaching Process in Science
and Technology Classes in Terms of Metacognitive Strategies.”

Maranatha Christian University

Academia. 2013. 23 September 2013.

Druger, Marvin. “Motivating The Unmotivated.”15 March 2012. 27 September
2013.

Graham, Donna. “What is the Meaning of Motivation?” Ezine Articles 19 may
2010. 15 November 2013.
Griswold, June. “Children’s Learning Styles.” Parent to Parent 15 September
2013.
Harms, William. “Immediate rewards for good scores can boost student
performance.” UchicagoNews 26 June 2012. 13 December 2013.

Linsin, Michael. “Why You Shouldn’t Reward Students With Good Behavior.”
Smart Classroom Management 5 March 2011. 13 October 2013.

Maranatha Christian University


“Ron Clark Story Reflection Paper.” StudyMode. 15 September 2013.

Sasson, Dorit. “How to Plan Lesson Using Learning Styles.” Ezine Articles 23
October 2008.16 September 2013.

Turley, Allen. “Moments that Matter – Dealing with Disrespect (Part 2)
Expressions of Disrespect.” Connections 2 May 2013. 15 October 2013.
http://connections.teenchallengeusa.com/training/moments-that-matterdealing-with-disrespect-part-2-expressions-of-disrespect

Sasson, Dorit. “How to Plan Lesson Using Learning Styles.” Ezine Articles 23
October 2008. 28 September 2013.
Weimer, Marvellen, PhD. “Challenging the Notion of Learning Styles.” Faculty
Focus 13 March 2012. 6 November 2013.


Maranatha Christian University

Wright, Jim “Six Reasons Why Students are Unmotivated (and What
Teachers Can Do).” Intervention Central 15 march 2012. 10 October
2013.

Interview
Anthony, Rhimelda. Personal interview. 5 August 2013.

Maranatha Christian University