Monday, June 10, 2013

English Research Proposal


Here's the first Research Proposal that I made by my own. Hopefully it can be an example and help you in making your own Research Proposal, especially for the students in English Dept Faculty of Teacher Training and Education. :)


IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL TO TENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMA N 1 TEMBUKU
IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013


BY
I DEWA AYU WIDARINI
NPM: 10.8.03.51.31.2.5.4074







ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
MAHASARASWATI DENPASAR UNIVERSITY
DENPASAR
2013







IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL TO TENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMA N 1 TEMBUKU
IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013


1.1 Background of the Study
Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving, and processing information. Speaking is important skill because it is one of the abilities to carry out conversation. Through speaking, people are able to communicate and deliver their message directly to the others. The use of English for speaking is not simple, especially for the EFL students, because the speaker should also master other important elements of English such as: pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.
Since the elements of the teaching speaking are various, many problems occur in the teaching learning process. The students are not enthusiastic and not courage enough to involve in the speaking learning process. They encounter the hesitance of practicing the material as well as the drilling conducted by the teacher in the teaching learning process. In the other words, the students are having the problem with their confidence. Furthermore, the students are coming from various backgrounds as well as different prior knowledge in English. Thus, it is not very easy to cope with the learning material.  In that case, teachers are supposed to be creative in developing their teaching learning process to create good classroom atmosphere in order to improve the student’s speaking skill.
There are many techniques in teaching English in order to motivate the students in learning speaking; one of them is Communicative Language Teaching. Communicative Language Teaching is a set of principles about the goals of language teaching, how students learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning, and the roles of teachers and students in the classroom.
Early views of language learning focused primarily on the mastery of grammatical competence. Language learning was viewed as a process of mechanical habit formation by having students produce correct sentences and not through making mistakes. Errors were to be avoided through controlled opportunities and by memorizing dialogs and performing drills, the chances of making mistakes were minimized. Learning was very much seen as under the control of the teacher.
Richards (2006) writes that through the implementation of Communicative Language Teaching, students will gain not only grammatical competence, but also communicative competence. By implementing Communicative Language Teaching, the students will be more active in teaching learning process toward the use of pair work activities, role plays, group work activities and project work. These activities give students greater opportunities to use the language and to develop fluency. Students will become comfortable with listening to their peers in group work or pair work tasks, rather than relying on the teacher for a model. They are expected to take on a greater degree of responsibility for their own learning while the teacher’s role in teaching and learning process is facilitator and monitor.
Most of the activities discussed above reflect an important aspect of classroom tasks in Communicative Language Teaching, namely that they are designed to be carried out in pairs or small groups.  Through completing activities in this way, students will obtain several benefits:
·         They can learn from hearing the language used by other members of the group.
·         They will produce a greater amount of language than they would use in teacher-fronted activities.
·         Their motivational level is likely to increase.
·         They will have the chance to develop fluency.
According to the facts above, the researcher is favorably motivated in investigating the improvement of students’ speaking skill through Communicative Language Teaching.

1.2 Statement of Research Question
Based on the background of the research, the research question can be formulated as follows: to what extent can the speaking skill of the tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku in the academic year 2012-2013 be improved through Communicative Language Teaching?

1.3  Objective of the Study
In accordance with the previous statement, and also the research question mentioned above, the researcher; consequently, is able to write the objective of the study intends to improve the speaking skill of tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku in academic year 2012/2013 through Communicative Language Teaching.

1.4 Limitations of the Study
In order to avoid the generalization of the topic, limitation is necessary in this present research. The researcher simply limits her research only on improving speaking skill through information–gap activities to the tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku in academic year 2012/2013.


1.5 Significance of the Study
            This research is concerned with teaching speaking skill using Communicative Language Teaching to improve the students’ speaking ability. The  type  of  classroom  activities  proposed  in  Communicative Language Teaching  also  implied  new  roles  in the  classroom  for  teacher  and  students. Students now have to participate in classroom activities that are based on a cooperative rather than individualistic approach to learning.  Students will become comfortable with listening to their peers in group work or pair work tasks, rather than relying on the teacher for a model. They are expected to take on a greater degree of responsibility for their own learning. The teacher now assumes the new role as facilitator and monitor. Rather than being a model for correct speech and writing and one with the primary responsibility of making students produce plenty of error-free sentences, the teacher have to develop a different view of students’ errors and of her/his own role in facilitating language learning.
Essentially, the practical consideration of the research is the significance of the expected research findings. Hence, the ultimate results of this study are expected to be advantageous both theoretical as well as practical, especially to the teachers and students in the context of English teaching and learning process. The findings of the present research are expected to indicate significant theoretical and practical information on the importance of implementing Communicative Language Teaching in teaching speaking described as follows:
Theoretically, Communicative Language Teaching can be used to improve students’ speaking skill. The findings are expected to be used as evidence that information-gap activity is an effective technique in teaching speaking.
Practically, the outcome of this research study will be able to give feedback to English language teachers, especially those who teach tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku.

1.6    Assumption
In this research, the researcher considers that it is compulsory to have several assumptions. These assumptions can be written down as follows:
(1)   all subjects under study are assumed to have learnt English for the same period of time,
(2)   all subjects under study are assumed to have similar learning motivation,
(3)   all subjects under study are assumed to have similar language experience and language exposure,
(4)   the instruments used for collecting the data are constructed in such a way that they are supposed to be valid and reliable.

1.7 Hypothesis
On attempting to give a tentative solution to the problem, the hypothesis will be stated as the following: the students’ speaking ability can be improved through Communicative Language Teaching.

1.8 Definition of the Key Terms
Key terms are several typical words used in a research. Here, the number of operational definitions are given in order to avoid misunderstanding to the readers and to give clear understanding of terms in this present study; the terms are Communicative Language Teaching, speaking, and SMA N 1 Tembuku.
Communicative Language Teaching is defined as a set of principles of teaching speaking to the tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku; including how students learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning, and the roles of teachers and students in the classroom. Teaching learning process is conducted toward the use of pair work activities, role plays, group work activities and project work. These activities give students greater opportunities to use the language and to develop fluency in speaking English.
Speaking is defined as an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving, and processing information of the tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku measured by administering reflection or post test by the end of each session.
Furthermore, SMAN 1 Tembuku is one of senior high schools in Bangli Regency which is located in Tembuku subdistrict, where the present research is going to be conducted.

1.9 Theoretical Framework
A scientific investigation is expected to contribute practical significance and should be conducted on the basis of some relevant theoretical constructs and empirical evidences. There are a number of theories in this present study which are going to be discussed thoroughly in Chapter II, that is, review of related literature, such as (1) the conception of speaking, (2) the importance of speaking, (3) components of speaking, (4) Techniques of teaching speaking, and (5) assessment of speaking skill.

1.10. Research Methodology.
1.10.1 Subject of the study
This study is conducted to the tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku. There are 5 (five) classes of the tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku with the total of the students are 154 students. The students of class X E are selected as the subjects of the study which consists of 30 students. The subject of the study which total of 30 students are considered to be representative enough for the purpose of this study. The students of class X E are selected as the subjects of the study because based on the preliminary study and the result of pre test or the initial reflection showed their ability in speaking is very poor, therefore immediate improvement is really needed.

1.10.2          Research Design
Classroom action research design will be used in this investigation. It makes use of a collection of pre-test post-test research design. Hence, this classroom action study is concerned with teaching speaking skill by using two kinds of tests, that is, initial refection or pre-test and reflection or post-test. Initial reflection (IR) is intended to evaluate the pre-existing speaking skill while reflection (R) which is administered at the end of each session, is meant to reveal the expected increase in the students’ speaking ability after they have been taught speaking  through Communicative Language Teaching.
In this classroom action study, the teaching and learning processes are divided into two cycles where each cycle consists of four sessions. Each session consists of four interconnected activities, namely: planning (P), action (A), observation (O), and reflection (R). It is necessary to note that IR is a term normally used in a classroom action study, which refers to a pre-test in speaking skill. The IR was administered to the tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku, in order to measure the real pre-existing speaking ability of the subjects. The mean scores of the IR was compared to the corresponding mean scores of the R administered at the end of each session for the sake of establishing the degree of the improvement of speaking ability of the subjects.
This classroom action investigation makes use of a collection of pre-test post-test research design. Hence, this classroom action study is concerned with teaching speaking skill by using two kinds of tests, that is, initial refection or pre-test and reflection or post-test. Initial reflection (IR) is intended to evaluate the pre-existing speaking skill ability while reflection (R) which is administered at the end of each session, is meant to reveal the expected increase in the students’ speaking skill achievement after they have been taught speaking  through Communicative Language Teaching.
In this classroom action study, the teaching and learning processes are divided into two cycles where each cycle consists of four sessions. Each session consists of four interconnected activities, namely: planning (P), action (A), observation (O), and reflection (R). It is necessary to note that IR is a term normally used in a classroom action study which refers to a pre-test in speaking skill. The IR was administered to class X E students of the tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku, in order to measure the real pre-existing speaking ability of the subjects. The mean scores of the IR was compared to the corresponding mean scores of the R administered at the end of each session for the sake of establishing the degree of the speaking ability of the subjects.

1.10.3 Research Instrument
The selection and construction of appropriate, valid and reliable research instrument are very essential step of a scientific investigation, this is on account of the fact merely valid and reliable research instruments can be used to collect the valid and reliable required data for the study being undertaken. The study deals with research question: to what extent is the effectiveness of Communicative Language Teaching in improving the speaking ability of the tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku. This research question logically suggests that there are three sets of data or raw scores, which are required for the study. They are pre-test, post-test and questionnaires.

1.10.4. Data Collection         
            There are three kinds of instruments used to gather the data of this classroom action study; they are pre-test, post-tests and questionnaires. Thus, the data required to answer the research question are gathered through administering pre-test, post-tests and questionnaires to the tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku. The pre-test of IR is administered to the subjects under study to obtain their pre-existing speaking ability. In pre-test the subjects were asked to act out a conversation based on the situations that the researcher had given. Post test or reflection is administered for eight times (four times in cycle I and four more times in cycle II).

1.10.5. Data Analysis
The most important data required to answer the research question under study was collected through administering IR and post-tests, some supporting additional data are gathered through administering questionnaires to the subjects under study, that is, the tenth grade students of SMA N 1 Tembuku. Thus, there are considerably three kinds of raw scores obtained for the present class action study, that is:
1)      scores indicating the subjects’ pre-existing speaking skill ability,
2)      scores showing the subjects’ progress achievement in speaking skill; and
3)      scores showing the subjects’ changing learning behaviours.
The data then are analyzed in percentage as follows:
  1. The average score of each student will be counted using this formula:

                                                Total of the right answers
                    Mean =          ____________________________ x 100 %
                                                Total of test items

The average score of the whole students will be counted using this formula:
                                                 The total score of all the test takers
                     Mean =         __________________      ___________       100 %
 Total of test takers

The students’ achievement will be calculated into the following criteria:
Excellent         : those students who are able to answer the test items between 80% - 100% correctly
Good               : those students who are able to answer the test items between 70% - 79% correctly
Fair                  : those students who are able to answer the test items between 60% - 69% correctly
Poor                 : those students who are able to answer the test items between 50% - 59% correctly
Failure             : those students who are able to answer the test items between 0% - 49% correctly




REFERENCES



Krashen, S.D. 1988. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language
Learning. New York: Prentice- Hall International, Inc.

Larsen-Freeman, Diane. 2000. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. New York: Oxford University Press

Tillitt, Bruce. 1995. Speaking Naturally. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, Jack C. 2006. Communicative Language Teaching Today. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

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