,03529,17+(678'(176¶5$00$50$67(5< THROUGH EGRA …...note, questionnaire, pho tographs and test. The tests included pre -test and post -test. The researcher analyzed the quantitative

perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id

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IMPROVING THE STUDENTS’ GRAMMAR MASTERY

THROUGH EGRA TECHNIQUE

(A Classroom Action Research at the class VIII E of SMP N

01 Jaten Karanganyar in the Academic Year of 2011/2012)

A THESIS

By:

Fia Renny Syahara

X2210013

Submitted to Teacher Training and Education Faculty Sebelas Maret

University as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Undergraduate

Degree of Education.

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY

SURAKARTA

2012


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ABSTRACT

Fia Renny Syahara. X2210013. IMPROVING THE STUDENTS’ GRAMMAR

MASTERY THROUGH EGRA TECHNIQUE (A Classroom Action Research

at the class VIII E of SMP N 01 Jaten Karanganyar in the Academic Year of

2011/2012). Thesis, Surakarta: Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sebelas

Maret University, July 2012.

This research aims to find out whether EGRA technique can effectively

improve the students’ grammar mastery and the strengths and weaknesses of EGRA

technique to improve the students’ grammar mastery to the class VIII E of students

of SMP N 1 Jaten Karanganyar in the academic year 2011-2012.

Classroom action research was used in the research. The action research

was conducted in two cycles. Each cycle consisted of six steps namely identifying

the problem, gathering data, interpreting data, acting on evidence, evaluating result

and next step. To collect the data, the researcher used interview, observation, field

note, questionnaire, photographs and test. The tests included pre-test and post-test.

The researcher analyzed the quantitative data by analyzing the mean score of the

tests. While, the qualitative data was analyzed by interactive approach. Both of the

quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to answer the problem statement

mentioned above.

The result of the research shows that EGRA technique can effectively

improve the students’ grammar mastery and it has the strengths and weaknesses. The

improvement of the students’ grammar mastery can be seen from the test scores. The

mean score of the test result is 56.7 for pre-test, 68.8 for the post-test 1 and 91,8 for

the post-test 2. The researcher also identifies some strengths of using EGRA in

teaching grammar. They are (1) EGRA can enhance the students’ grammar concept,

(2) Generalization stage in EGRA steps can pump up the students’ discovery in

learning structures of a sentence and (3) EGRA technique can be a tool of motivator

to build the students’ awareness in learning grammar. However, she also finds the

weaknesses of the technique such as it requires much time allotment in

generalization stage and the students sometimes bored in meeting with structures

many times.


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MOTTO

Allah did not promise that the way would be easy but He did

promise that He will always be with you as long as

you want Him too.

Knowledge and skill are tools, the workman is character.

A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much

knowledge that is idle.


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DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to:

My beloved mother and father

My brother and sister, far apart

My big family

My ikhwah in the struggle path


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, I give thank to the only one God, Allah SWT for his blessing

given to His creation every time. Doing this thesis is one of His great blessings given

to the writer. Sholawat and salam to the last prophet, Muhammad SAW, whom we

wait for his syafa’at in the judgment day.

This thesis could be finished with some people’ helps. Therefore, the writer

would like to express her gratitude to:

1. Prof. Dr. H. Muhammad Furqon Hidayatullah, M. Pd, the dean of Teacher

Training and Education Faculty, Sebelas Maret University.

2. Endang Setyaningsih, S. Pd, M. Hum, the Head of English Department, Teacher

Training and Education Faculty, Sebelas Maret University. Thank you for your

guidance.

3. Drs. A Dahlan Rais, M. Hum and Dewi Sri Wahyuni, S. Pd, M. Pd. My sincere

thanks to both of you who constantly support and assist, to search knowledge and

to succeed. I will be grateful for all of your insightful comments I received during

my study.

4. Dr. Ngadiso, M. Pd, my academic supervisor. Thank you for your guidance,

advices and kindness during my study.

5. All of the lecturers in the English Department of Teacher Training and Education

Faculty. Thank you for the knowledge, sincerity and motivation during my study

in English Department.

6. Drs. Suriyanto, M.Pd, the headmaster of SMP N 1 Jaten Karanganyar. Great

appreciation for permitting me to do the research in the SMP N 1 Jaten

Karanganyar.

7. My appreciation to Endang Sapta Wijayanti, S.Pd and F. Boedhi Harjono, S, Pd

as the English teacher of SMP N 1 Jaten Karanganyar. Thank you for being my

supervisor, advisor and motivator during my researh.

8. The students of class VIII E SMP N 1 Jaten Karanganyar in the academic year of

2011/2012. Thanks for the cooperation and keep studying hard!


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9. My beloved family especially my parents. Words can not figure out my feeling

on you. Thank you for supporting me both mental and material.

10. All of the students of English extension program. Thanks for being my friends

and giving me lots of motivation and inspiration.

11. All persons whom I cannot mention one by one. Thanks for everything.

Finally, I hope this thesis will be useful to the readers.

Surakarta, July 2012

Fia Renny Syahara


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE .............................................................................................................. i

APPROVAL OF CONSULTANT ................................................................... ii

LEGITIMATION ............................................................................................ iii

ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... iv

MOTTO .......................................................................................................... v

DEDICATION ................................................................................................ vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................ ix

LIST OF TABLE ............................................................................................. xi

LIST OF APPENDICES .................................................................................. xii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1

A. Background of the Study ........................................................ 1

B. Problem Statement ................................................................ 4

C. Objectives of the Research ..................................................... 5

D. The Benefits of the Study ....................................................... 5

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ............................... 6

A. Grammar ............................................................................. 6

1. Definition of Grammar .................................................... 6

2. The Scope of Grammar .................................................... 6

3. The Teaching Grammar in English Language Teaching . 10

4. Grammar Mastery ............................................................ 12

B. EGRA Technique ................................................................. 13

1. Meaning of EGRA ........................................................... 13

2. Steps of Teaching ............................................................ 14

C. Rationale ............................................................................. 17

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METODOLOGY .............................................. 20

A. Research Setting ................................................................ 20

1. The Place of the Research ............................................. 20

2. The Time of the Research ............................................. 20


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B. Method of the Research .................................................... 21

1. Definition of Action Research ....................................... 21

2. Characteristics of Action Research ............................... 21

3. The Advantages of Action Research ............................. 22

4. Types of Action Research ............................................. 23

5. The Procedures of Action Research .............................. 25

6. Technique of Collecting Data ........................................ 28

7. Technique of Analyzing Data ........................................ 29

CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION ........................ 32

A. Research Findings ............................................................. 32

1. Introduction ................................................................... 32

2. Research Implementation .............................................. 32

3. Findings ......................................................................... 47

B. Discussion ......................................................................... 48

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION AND SUGGESTION ........ 52

A. Conclusion ........................................................................... 52

B. Implication ........................................................................... 53

C. Suggestion ............................................................................ 53

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................ 55

APPENDICES ................................................................................................. 61


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LIST OF TABLE

Table 3.1. The schedule of research ................................................................. 20

Table 3.2. The types of action research............................................................ 24

Table 4.1. The increase of each indicator in cycle I......................................... 41

Table 4.2. The increase of each indicator in cycle II ....................................... 46

Table 4.3. The scores of the students during the research ............................... 48

Table 4.4. The scores of the students in cycle 1............................................... 49

Table 4.5. The scores of the students in cycle 2 .............................................. 49


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LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Teacher’s Interview Script in Pre-Research ............................... 62

Appendix 2: Catatan Lapangan Pre Observasi ................................................ 64

Appendix 3: Questioner Awal Siswa ............................................................... 66

Appendix 4: Students’ Interview Script before Research ................................ 68

Appendix 5: Lesson Plan ................................................................................. 70

Appendix 6: Field notes ................................................................................... 83

Appendix 7: Sample of Students’ Pre-Test ...................................................... 99

Appendix 8: Sample of Students’ Post-Test 1 ................................................. 101

Appendix 9: Sample of Students’ Post-Test 2 ................................................. 103

Appendix 10: Teacher’s Interview Script in Pre-Research .............................. 105

Appendix 11: Questioner Akhir Siswa ............................................................ 106

Appendix 12: Data Analysis of Students’ Survey Questionnaire .................... 108

Appendix 13: Students’ Interview Script after Research ................................. 111

Appendix 14: List of Students’ Score .............................................................. 114

Appendix 15: The Photographs of the Teaching Learning Process ................. 115

Appendix 16: Blueprint of grammar test ......................................................... 116

Appendix 17: Legalization ............................................................................... 119


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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the study

It is no doubt that English language plays an important role in world wide

life including Indonesia. English is applied in almost all aspects of life. It is needed

for international transaction, looking for a job, going abroad and so on. Furthermore,

the language is used to transfer knowledge in many schools such as RSBI and SBI

School. In this era, English mastery is one of the indicators of qualified person. So, it

can be said that English is necessary for everyone.

In Indonesia, there are not many students who are interested in improving

their English communication skill. Therefore, the country stresses on the use of

English in school education in order to equip its students with the proficiency of

English communication both in spoken and written form. The communicative

competence covers four competences namely grammatical, sociolinguistics,

discourse and strategic (Savignon, 1997: 40).

Grammar is one of the essential skill should be mastered by students. The

skill deals with knowing how to form sentences and use it in appropriate way. Lock

(1997: 1) argues that grammar is a set of rules which specify all the possible

grammatical structures of the language including two aspects. They are the

arrangement of words and the internal structure of word. In line with Lock, Brown

(1994: 347) states that grammar is a system of rules governing the conventional

arrangement and relationship of words in a sentence. Savignon (1997: 40) says that

person demonstrates grammatical competence not by stating the rules, but by using

rules. According to her, grammatical competence is mastery of linguistics codes, the

ability to recognize the lexical, morphological, syntactic and phonological feature of

a language and to manipulate these features to form words and sentences. It involves

the ability to apply the grammatical rules in order to form grammatically correct

sentences.

Students need to have a good grammar foundation to communicate

effectively in English (McKay, 1987). Ur (1988) states that a person who knows


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grammar is one who can express himself or herself in what would be considered as

acceptable language forms. In KTSP (School Based Curriculum of Indonesia),

grammar is one of essential language elements taught to support the mastery of four

skills namely listening, reading, speaking and writing. Besides, to achieve the

standard and basic competence, the students need to understand grammar,

vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation.

Grammar plays an important role in genre based teaching and learning.

Now, text-based approach is applied in Indonesia Education System. Since junior

high school, students are introduced to some genre of texts such as description,

recount, narrative, notice, announcement and news item. As linguistics competence,

grammar is definitely included in the texts. Without having good understanding in

grammar, students will be difficult to understand some texts or dialogue. Therefore,

grammar mastery is very necessary to achieve language competence.

In fact, the students still find many problems with grammar. Based on the

pre-test result done by the students of class VIII E SMP N 1 Jaten, the students were

still looked confused in identifying tenses rules and its application in a text. It was

reflected from their score which was low, 56.7 in class average. Whereas in KTSP

(School Based Curriculum of Indonesia), the KKM (Passing Grade) of English

subject for class VIII in SMP N 1 Jaten is 73.

Meanwhile, from the result of questionnaire, 54.5 percent or 18 students

from the total of 33 students felt difficult to recognize the change of V1 to V2 and V3.

Then, 51.5 percent or 17 students of 33 students said that they were difficult to

differentiate subject, verb, and object in a English sentence. As the result, 48.5

percent or 16 students of 33 students said that they were so difficult to form past

tense sentences.

The condition of students’ grammar mastery was supported by the teacher

statement, she said, “Kemampuan siswa pada grammar masih sangat kurang.

Mereka saja masih bingung untuk membedakan perubahan kata kerja dari V1 ke V2

dan V3 apalagi menulis kalimat. Siswa itu juga belum semuanya memperhatikan saat

guru menerangkan grammar. Hanya anak-anak yang pintar saja yang

memperhatikan dan anak-anak yang masih kurang malah disambi main.


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From the researcher’s observation, the students were not interested and

looked bored in English class. Some of them laid their heads on the table and did

another activity rather than paid attention to the teacher. Besides, the students were

also passively involved in teaching and learning process. When the teacher gave

questions to them, they were dominantly silent and looked at the book.

In learning tenses, the students often misuse, misunderstand and misapply

the tenses. Aitken (1992: 5) stated that:

Some of this mislearning is probably inevitable. Students of a foreign

language have a great many things to remember at once, and mistake are

almost bound to occur, especially where the mother tongue leads the learner

to expect something else. Some of the mistakes, however, are undoubtedly

caused by the teacher, sometimes by his failure to understand fully the

nature of the tense he is teaching, where the pitfalls are, how it differs from

the mother tongue, why an English speaker selects one tense rather than

another and how to choose examples and illustrations which help rather than

hinder understanding.

From the argument above, it can be said that the factors that influence the students’

grammar mastery are the teacher and the students.

It is supported by the researcher’s observation. The researcher found that the

causes of the students’ lack in grammar skill and motivation were seen from three

factors. They were the teacher, the students and the teaching and learning activity.

Firstly, some of the students said to the researcher that the teacher was too fast in

explaining the materials. The consequence was the students did not get the point of

the teacher’s explanation. Besides, the researcher observed that the teacher used most

of the time to discuss about text and exercise.

Secondly, the students had low motivation in learning English. Some of

them thought that they were not necessary to learn English well because they were

Javanese people. It means that they did not realize the importance of English.

Thirdly, most of the students were bored with the monotonous teaching and learning

activity. The variation of teaching and learning activities was rarely done in the class.

Teaching grammar needs to have an appropriate technique since grammar is

sometimes neglected by students because of its boring activity. Memorizing the rules

with a serious condition is often occurred in a class. The students may be easy to


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remember but it is easy to forget also. It is the teacher’s responsibility to create an

interesting activity in grammar class. Yet, the teacher sometimes ignores it. Adenan

(2002: 25) suggested that teachers should manage learning strategies suitable for

students of a particular level in order to enhance language learning.

There are so many techniques to teach grammar, one of them is EGRA.

EGRA stands for Experience/Exposure, Generalization, Reinforcement and

Application. By using this technique, the students are given opportunity to find out

the form and function of the sentence by themselves. Brown (1994: 351) says that it

is built more intrinsic motivation by allowing the students to discover rules rather

that being told them.

EGRA’s steps have each objective. Experience is aimed to exposure a

particular structure item in use. The objective of generalization is that learners better

remember conclusion about form and function, they make by themselves.

Reinforcement helps the students to check or revise their generalization and

Application is to apply the structure items learned in the previous stage to

communicate information or massages (Adrian, 1998).

Based on the finding, the writer concludes that the students’ grammar

mastery of class VIII E of SMP N 1 Jaten Karanganyar needs to be improved

because it is still low. Therefore, the writer is interested to conduct a classroom

action research through EGRA technique to improve the students’ grammar mastery

of class VIII E of SMP N 1 Jaten Karanganyar.

B. Problem Statement

Based on the description in the background of the study above, the problems

of the research can be formulated as follows:

1. Does EGRA technique improve the students’ grammar mastery to the class VIII E

of students of SMP N 1 Jaten Karanganyar in the academic year 2011-2012?

2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of using EGRA technique to improve the

students’ grammar mastery to the class VIII E of students of SMP N 1 Jaten

Karanganyar in the academic year 2011-2012?


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C. Objectives of the Research

According to problem statement, the main objective of this research is to

improve students’ grammar mastery through EGRA technique.

Particularly, the research is to find out:

1. whether EGRA technique can effectively improve the students’ grammar mastery

to the class VIII E of students of SMP N 1 Jaten Karanganyar in the academic

year 2011-2012.

2. the strengths and weaknesses of EGRA technique to improve the students’

grammar mastery to the class VIII E of students of SMP N 1 Jaten Karanganyar

in the academic year 2011-2012.

D. The Benefits of the Study

The research is expected to give contribution to:

1. English Teacher.

Hopefully, it will make the teacher:

a. know the importance of grammar in language competence.

b. know the using of EGRA technique to improve the students’ grammar mastery

including its strengths and weaknesses.

c. try to apply EGRA technique in teaching grammar.

2. Students.

It is expected that this study can pump up the students’ motivation to study

grammar, make them loving to learn knowledge by themselves and improve their

grammar mastery.


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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A. Grammar

1. Definition of Grammar

In etymology, the word grammar is derived from Greek which means “art of

letters”, from γράμμα (gramma), "letter", itself from γράφειν (graphein), "to draw, to

write" (Harper, 2010). Ur (1988: 1) argues that grammar may be roughly defined as

the way a language manipulates and combines words (a bit of words) in order to

form longer units of meaning. Brown in Sidik (2011: 9) states that grammar is a system of

rules governing the conventional arrangement and relationship of words in a sentence

According to Lock (1997: 4) grammar can be defined as the study of the

syntax-how the words are combined to form meaningful sentences, and morphology-

the system of rules that cover the formation of words. Besides, Huddleston in Rohani

(2007: 18) sees grammar as consisting of morphology and syntax. Morphology deals

with forms of words while syntax deals with the ordering of the words to form

sentences.

Cobbett in Rohani (2007: 18) regards grammar as constituting rules and

principles that help a person to make use of words or manipulate and combine words

to give meaning in a proper manner. It concerns with form and structure of words

and their relationships in sentences. Cambridge Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary

defines grammar is the study or use of the rules about how words change their form

and combine with other words to make sentences.

Based on those definitions above, it can be concluded that grammar is the

study of rules and principles that cover the arrangement and combination of words to

form grammatically correct and meaningful sentences.

2. The Scope of Grammar

Lock (1997: 4) defines grammar as the study of the syntax-how the words

are combined to form meaningful sentences, and morphology- the system of rules

that cover the formation of words. It can be said that Lock points out that grammar


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covers two main aspects, they are morphology and syntax. Lock argument is

supported by the argument from Carter and McCarthy (2006). They state that

grammar is concerned with how sentences and utterances are formed. In a typical

English sentence, we can see the two most basic principles of grammar, the

arrangement of items (syntax) and the structure of items (morphology). Huddleston

in Rohani (2007: 18) sees grammar as consisting of morphology and syntax.

Morphology deals with forms of words while syntax deals with the ordering of the

words to form sentences.

Different with Lock, Larsen-Freeman (1991, 279:283) argues that in dealing

with the complexity of grammar there are three dimensions of language that must be

dealt with: the form or structures themselves, their semantics or meaning, and the

pragmatic conditions governing their use. According to this theory, grammar covers

the use of structure accurately, meaningfully and appropriately. The relationship

between the three dimensions can be seen in the figure below.

A Three-Dimensional Grammar Framework (Larsen-Freeman, 1991: 280)


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In her study, the writer prefers to discuss the scope of grammar involving

morphology and syntax. Morphology and syntax can be considered as the two most

basic elements of the language.

a. Morphology

In Etymology, the word “morphology” is derived from the Greek which

means "shape, form". It refers to the study of the form of words. In linguistics, the

term 'morphology' means the study of the internal structure of words, and of the

systematic form-meaning correspondences between words.

Morphology in English means devising ways of describing the properties of

such disparate items (Crystal, 2003). It studies about how to differentiate the words

a, cat, ran, unbelievable, and washing machine. The field of morphology can be

grouped into two domains:

1) Lexical or derivational morphology. It discusses about the arrangement of new

items of vocabulary from the combinations of elements. For example:

unbelievable is the combination of elements un-believe-able.

2) Inflectional morphology. It studies about the change of the words in which the

new form of the words will influence its meaning. For example: the word cat

changing into cats brings the change of the meaning. A cat indicates singular and

cats indicate plural.

Huddleston and Pullum (2002) argue that morphology consists of two

branches namely inflectional morphology and lexical word-formation. Inflectional

morphology studies about the change of the form of a word which shows a change in

the way it is used in sentences. For instance: the word „finds and found’ are inflected

forms of word „find‟. Lexical word-formation is related to the dictionary. It is a list of

words used in a particular language. It explains about the process of creating a new

lexicon. Usually, the new lexicon is composed from more than one morphological

element.

b. Syntax

In Etymology, the word “syntax” is derived from the Greek which means

"arrange together". Chomsky defines syntax as the study of the principles and


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processes by which sentences are constructed in particular languages. Syntactic

investigation of a given language has as its goal the construction of a grammar that

can be viewed as a device of some sort for producing the sentences of the language

under analysis (Chomsky, 1971).

Crystal in Sidik (2011: 13) infers that syntax is the way in which words are

arranged to show relationship of meaning within (and sometimes between) sentences.

According to him most syntactic studied have focused on sentence structure, for this

is where the most important grammatical relationship are expressed. A sentence itself

is defined as the largest unit to which syntactic rules apply. Then, he suggests three

aspects of sentence syntax including clauses, phrases and coordination vs.

subordination. The following is the brief explanation of each.

1) Clauses

Altenberg and Robert M. Vago (2010: 207) defines clause as a free-standing

sentence or a sentence within a sentence; a clause or sentence contains at least a

subject and a main verb. For example:

The little boy laughed. ( S + V)

The clause consists of S and V but it can be wider such as:

She bought a dress. (S + V + N)

Nina studied hard. ( S + V + Adv.)

I will put the paper away. (S + V + N + Adv.)

2) Phrases

Funk in Sidik (2011: 14) argues that a phrase is group of related words that

does not contain a predication. The underlined portions of the sentences below are all

noun phrases and anyone of them can replace the little boy in the sentence.

The little boy laughed.

1. Audiences laughed.

2. Younger audiences laughed.

3. The girl laughed.

4. The little girl laughed.

5. The cute little girl laughed.

6. John laughed.

In sentences 1 - 6, the noun phrases all have something in common: each

consists of at least a noun. You can also see, in sentences 2-5, that a noun phrase can

have other words in addition to just a noun. Those other words can be:


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From explanation above can conclude that a noun phrase can consist of:

1. A noun alone, for example, audiences, John.

2. A determiner, one or more adjectives, and a noun. The determiner and

adjective(s) are optional. For example: cold water (adjective + noun), a

teacher (determiner + noun), a smart teacher (determiner + adjective(s) +

noun.

3. A noun phrase can consist of just a pronoun, for example she, he or them.

3) Coordination vs. subordination

Coordination is one of two main ways of making sentence more complex;

the other is known as subordination or „embedding‟. The essential difference is that

in the former the clauses that are linked are of equal grammatical status, whereas in

the later, one clause functions as part of another (the „main‟ clause). For example:

Coordinate clause:

My father worked on Monday and my mother worked on Friday.

Subordinate clause:

My father worked on Monday when I studied.

The phrase on Monday is part of the clause, giving the time when the action took

place. Similarly, the unit when I studied is also part of the clause, for the same

reason. But when I studied is additionally a clause in its own right.

3. The Teaching Grammar in English Language Teaching

The success of learning English results the ability to communicate both in a

written and spoken form. These language skills include receptive skills (listening and

reading) and productive skills (speaking and writing). However, the success in

younger audiences : adjective + noun

the girl : determiner + noun

the little girl : determiner + adjective + noun

the cute little girl : determiner + adjectives + noun


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acquiring those skills is essentially dependent upon some language elements, such as

grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Among these three language elements,

grammar is considered the most important one. Analoging language learning as the

building of a house, grammar serves to be the foundation of the house. Once it is

strongly built, it could be used as a basis for the development of other parts of the

house (Weissberg, 1974).

Previously, grammar teaching formed such an essential part of language

instruction that other aspects of language learning were ignored (Richards and

Renandya, 2002). Grammar as the essential subject to teach and learn became the

main indicator of the mastering language. If we mastered the grammatical rules of

language, you were able to use the language in communication. Besides, Saukah

(2006) writes that the role of grammar was determined as just one of the language

components, besides vocabulary and spelling/pronunciation, to support the mastery of

the four language skills. Recently, since the implementation of the 2004 curriculum,

which is essentially a text-based one, the role of grammar appears to be essential.

However, the curriculum does not explicitly indicate which grammar items to teach.

Teachers have to decide which grammar items to teach related to each genre of the

text.

Harmer (1997: 3) divides the role of grammar into two concepts.

a. Covert

Covert grammar teaching is where grammatical facts are hidden from the

students – even though they are learning the language. The students are introduced

about a particular structure of grammar through activity or text implicitly. They focus

on the activity or task given by the teachers rather than pay attention to the grammar

used. With covert grammar, teachers only act as facilitator to the students in

acquiring the language. The students are not conscious to learn about grammar

structure though the teachers lead them trough task.

b. Overt

Overt grammar teaching means that the teacher actually provides the

students with grammatical rules and explanations – the information is openly

presented. The teachers take time to explain about a particular of grammar structure.


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It can be said that the students are conscious to learn about grammar structure. With

overt grammar, the teachers teach grammar explicitly and clearly. Tasks are provided

to get the students understand deeper about grammar structure.

4. Grammar Mastery

Kilfoil and Walt (1997: 13) define the grammatical competence as correct

application of rules of grammar but not explicit knowledge of grammatical rules.

According to them it is also referred to as linguistic competence. Savignon (1997:

40) in Sidik (2011: 18) says that person demonstrates grammatical competence not

by stating the rules, but by using rules. It involves the ability to apply grammatical

rules to form grammatically correct sentences. Furthermore, Richards and Schmidt

(1983: 7) who say that such competence focuses directly on the knowledge and skill

required to understand and express accurately the literal meaning of utterances. For

them, the grammatical competence is concerned with features and rules of language

such as vocabulary, word formation, sentence formation, pronunciation, spelling and

linguistic semantics.

According to syllabus used by the English teacher of SMP N 1 Jaten

Karanganyar, language features for narrative and recount text are included in

materials should be taught in class VIII. Dykes (2007: 10-11) states that certain

principles govern the use of every language and relate to such things as word

meaning (and accuracy), the arrangement of words or word groups in a sentence

(syntax), stress given to certain parts of a word and, in most languages, the use of

punctuation. Most modern languages have systems that indicate number (singular or

plural) and tense (when something takes place, i.e. in the present, past or future).

Thus, from the theories above, it can be concluded that the indicators of

grammar mastery include three points. They are:

1. The ability to choose accurate word (word meaning).

2. The ability to match the number (singular or plural) and the tense.

3. The ability to arrange words in order to form grammatically correct and

meaningful sentences.


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B. EGRA Technique

1. Meaning of EGRA

Tomlinson (1990) states that EGRA is one of the classroom methodology

used by high school teachers of English participating in the PKG (Permantapan Kerja

Guru: Strengthening of the Work of Teachers) Project in Indonesia. It has been

experimenting with a student active discovery approach which has become known as

EGRA, where the letters stand for Exposure, Generalization, Reinforcement, and

Application.

Tomlinson (1990) argues that EGRA arises behind the perception that

giving model of the structure use through reading or another activity will help the

students to acquire the language. Besides, grammar is best taught in communicative

context. Providing text to read and understand is the simple task but meaningful

activity to do. As we know that the purpose of language teaching is the pupil can use

the language to communicate both in written and spoken. The others are that the

attention of the students to the grammar used will develop their communicative

competence, the discovery activity done will build critical thinking of the students

and application is the way to apply structure rules they learn before.

According to Widiati and Cahyono (2006: 77-101), EGRA was an example

of grammar presentation technique which was once popular in the 1980s. It suggests

a sequence of instruction, moving from giving Example, drawing Generalization,

providing Reinforcement, and assigning tasks to students for Application. Such

information is frequently obtained more from interaction and activities with teachers

in various occasions than from the literature.

In another definition, EGRA is a technique of teaching English firstly

introduced in teachers training program (PKG) for teachers of English in Indonesia.

It is developed from communicative approach. This technique consists of four steps

such as experience, generalization, reinforcement and application. Through this

technique students are engaged to practice their ability to communicate more

meaningful and naturally.


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Based on those definitions above, EGRA can be defined as an example of

grammar presentation technique which was once popular in the 1980s that suggests a

sequence of instruction, moving from giving Example, drawing Generalization,

providing Reinforcement, and assigning tasks to students for Application which focus on

a student active discovery approach.

2. Steps of Teaching

EGRA is a technique developed from communicative approach which views

language as a mean of communication and the activities of language learning have to

guide student to communicate. It refers to Experience, Generalization,

Reinforcement and Application. It is actually the steps of the technique itself. The

detail explanations of the steps are as follows:

a. Experience

Experience is a learning stage where students are subconsciously expose to

the meaningful use of particular structure item. The students are not aware that they

are led to find a particular grammar structure. The students are provided by activity

that explores their knowledge. Here, the learning experience will be the main gate for

the students‟ understanding about correct grammar structure. Wernon (1980) argues

that activity involving direct experience is highly inquiry oriented. The student here

acts as an active participant in the class.

In this step, the teacher can also give leading question related to the

material will be taught to the students. The activity of this step can be conducted in:

1. Showing picture.

2. Giving key word.

3. Giving brain storming.

4. Drilling.

5. Reading sentence or text.


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b. Generalization

In this phase, the students are led through tasks to discover form, meaning

and function of a structure they have been exposed to. The learner will get

experience about the structure rules by themselves. It means that they can get the

pattern of sentence by themselves and it will effect on their understanding about it.

Harmer (1991: 113) states that the best way to ensure learning was for the students to

work out the rule himself. Ramirez (1995: 22) says that this stage focus on

grammatical items themselves. Here, the students will focus on the rules of the

structure rather than concentrate the language context.

Besides, the teacher will not tell the students directly about the form,

meaning and function of the sentence. They are given chance to explore their

knowledge and find the pattern of the structure by themselves. Learning is facilitated

if the learners discovers or creates rather than remember and repeats what is to be

learned (Krashen, 1987: 62). Rivers (1968: 77) states that generalization become

more comprehensive as the students advanced in knowledge of language and is able

to recognize characteristics feature of the language structure.

The activities which can be done in this step are:

1. The teacher asks the students to make groups consists of 4/5 person.

2. The teacher gives tasks like questions, quiz which is aimed at leading the students

to find the functions and forms of sentence structure will be taught.

3. The teacher asks the students to discuss the answers in groups.

4. The students discuss the answers in class guided by the teacher.

5. The teacher writes the answers of the students on the whiteboard.

6. The teacher gives praise to the students for their hard work in answering

questions.

7. The teacher gives examples of the correct pronunciation of the students' answers

on the whiteboard.


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c. Reinforcement

Reinforcement is a phase where the students are provided with correct and

conscious knowledge of the form and functions of the structure item that they have

been exposed to. It is aimed at helping the learners to check or revise their

generalization. The students have right to know the right form and function of a

certain structure rules. At this phase, the teacher explains again what the students

have discovered. The teacher gives feedback to the students‟ work so that they get

reinforcement.

Alexander (1980: XXI) says that the aim behind all explanation should be

reinforced theoretically what the students has already practiced. After the students

get understand about a particular structure rules, the teachers provides tasks again to

make them fully understand about the form and function of a certain structure rules.

The teacher should give lots of task as long as the process of students‟ understanding

about the structure rules. In other words, reinforcement sharpens the individual‟s

attention or concentration for the second task (Thomas, 1984: 81). Furthermore,

Kenneth (1976, 82) argues that reinforcement occupies a central and crucial role in

behaviorist learning strategy.

As stated above, the real form or example of this reinforcement stage is that

the researcher gives more tasks to the students so that what they have learned before

can be sharpened. This can make them better understand in material. The other

activities at this phase are:

1. The teacher discusses again the students‟ answers on the whiteboard.

2. The teacher provides an explanation as reinforcing the function and form of

language structure they had before.

3. The teacher gives some examples of sentences as the model.

4. The teacher repeats about the pronunciation of sentences correctly.

5. The teacher asks the students to work in pairs.

6. The teacher asks the students to discuss the answers with their partner.

7. The students discuss their answers classically led by the teacher.


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d. Application

Application is the learning stage when students are given opportunities to

use or apply the structure item that they have learned in communication either

receptively or productively. Kenneth (1976: 83) states that the objective of the

application is to determine whether the students know how to apply grammatical

forms that have previously been presented.

Rivers (1968: 376) argues that a period for the practical application of what

has been learnt may involve reading a passage for which previous has prepared the

class. It may be a necessity for some forms of writing exercises or it may take the

form of a dramatization in front of the class. The students will apply the structure

rules that they had into the context of the language. It is the time for the students to

understand comprehensively about the use of grammar rules in the text.

From the statement above, it is clear that language which has been taught

must be applied in its situation. This step also shows about the importance of the

application in learning and teaching process especially in teaching English structure.

This is the proper time when the students can compose sentence or text by

themselves well. The activities that can be done are:

1. The students are asked to work individually.

2. The teacher gives the students the task card that contains the Situation / Case.

3. The students are required to make their own answers to respond the situations /

cases provided.

4. The teacher gives the students homework to discuss in the future learning.

C. Rationale

Grammar plays an important role in effective language learning. It must be

learned by the students since grammar is applied in communication both spoken and

written. As the language competence, grammar as well as vocabulary and

pronunciation should be mastered in order to communicate effectively. Ur (1988)

states that a person who knows grammar is one who can express himself or herself in


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what would be considered as acceptable language forms. Thus, grammar can be

considered as the fifth main skill of language.

Nowadays, grammar must not be taught formally by the teacher. It is only

the additional knowledge taught in the class. As the consequence, the students should

learn grammar actively by themselves. Whereas, the awareness of the students to

study is usually low. The lack of grammar competence results the less understanding

in learning language. The students are reluctant to write since they do not understand

how to produce a correct sentence. It is supported by the teacher statement, she says,

“Kemampuan siswa pada grammar masih sangat kurang. Mereka saja masih

bingung untuk membedakan perubahan kata kerja dari V1 ke V2 dan V3 apalagi

menulis kalimat. Siswa itu juga belum semuanya memperhatikan saat guru

menerangkan grammar. Hanya anak-anak yang pintar saja yang memperhatikan

dan anak-anak yang masih kurang malah disambi main.

Meanwhile, the students also have problems with the grammar itself. They

said that they are still confused in some grammar points especially tense. As what

has been said by some students, “Saya masih bingung miss di past tense yang

perubahan V1 ke bentuk V2 dan V3, apalagi yang irregular verb, bentuknya kan gak

tentu.” The other students say,” Aku bingung grammar itu kalau nentuin subjek,

predikat, gitu-gitu miss, sama penempatannya dikalimat.”

Recently, the effective way to teach grammar is still becoming a major issue

in education. The most cases we find that the students do not easily understand and

remember what the structure of language transferred by the teacher. Inquiry activity

for the students has been proven to be a good way in learning language. The students

will be better in their study performance because they tend to be active participant in

the class.

EGRA is the technique appropriate in creating a sense of discovery and

application in learning grammar. EGRA stands for Exposure, Generalization,

Reinforcement and Application. The technique provides a central principle that

pupils find the grammar structure by themselves so it builds independence learning

for them. They know because they discover and grasp it by themselves. It will be

better to remember and understand rather than getting information from the teacher.


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By considering the reason above, it can be concluded that EGRA technique

can improve the students‟ grammar mastery.


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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METODOLOGY

A. Research Setting

1. The Place of the Research

The research was conducted in SMP N 01 Jaten, Karanganyar in the

academic year 2011/2012. The school is located in Jl. Raya Lawu – Jaten Km. 7,

Jaten, Karanganyar. There are three grades in this school, grade VII, VIII and IX. The

total of the students here is 686 students.

SMP N 1 Jaten uses KTSP curriculum as the basis of teaching and learning

processes. Instructional processes are done in six days from Monday to Saturday. The

students start to learn at 7 a.m. and finish the lesson at 12.10 p.m. On Friday, the

lesson ends at 10.30 p.m. The students of this school come from different social

background but most of their parents work as enterpreneur and government

employee.

2. The Time Place of the Research

The research is conducted in three months. It took place during the second

semester for about four months from March to June 2012. It includes the pre research,

action and activities after the action. It can be arranged as follow:

Table 3.1. The schedule of research

No Activity Time of Research

1. Identifying problems area March 2011

2. Gathering and interpreting data April 2011

3. Acting on evidence 1 May week 1 and 2 2012

5. Evaluating result 1 May week 3 2012

6. Acting on evidence 2 May week 4 and 5 2012

7. Evaluating result 2 June week 1 2012


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B. Method of the Research

1. Definition of Action Research

Action research is a process in which participants examine their own

educational practice systematically and carefully, using the techniques of research

(Watts in Larsen-Freeman, 2000: 1)

In their systematic review of action research, Waterman et al. provide a

comprehensive and practically useful definition. Action research is a period of

inquiry, which describes, interprets and explains social situations while executing a

change of intervention aimed at improvement and involvement. . . (Waterman et al.,

2001: 4)

Winter and Munn-Giddings (2001: 8) define action research as a study of a

social situation carried out by those involved in that situation in order to improve both

their practice and the quality of their understanding. Mills (2003) states that action

research is any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers to gather

information about the ways that their particular school operates, how they teach, and

how well their students learn. The information gathered is aimed at enriching

knowledge, developing reflective practice, giving positive changes in the school and

on educators, and improving students’ achievement.

Based on those definitions above, it can be concluded that action research is

a process conducted by teacher researcher to describe, interpret and explain social

situations while executing a change of intervention or practice using the techniques of

research aimed at gaining insight, developing reflective practice, giving positive

changes in the school and on educators, and improving students’ achievement.

2. Characteristics of Action Research

Kemmis in Tammelin (2004: 74) points out that action research is essentially

participatory in the sense that it involves participants in reflection on practices. It

commits to the improvement of practices, educators’ understandings, and the settings


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of practice. Carr and Kemmis (1986: 164) in their seminal text on action research

included the underlying principles of the action research approach. These include its

1. participatory character;

2. democratic impulse;

3. simultaneous contribution to social science (knowledge) and social change

(practice).

According to Burns (1999: 30), the following features of action research are:

1. Contextualised, small-scale and localized

2. Evaluative and reflective

3. Aims to bring about change

4. Changes are based on the collection of data which provides impetus for change

5. Cyclical.

3. The Advantages of Action Research

According to Ferrance (2000: 13-15), there are many advantages that we can

get from action research such as:

a. Focus on school issue, problem, or area of collective interest.

Action research focuses on the problem faced. It aims at producing problem

solving to encounter the problems. It is future-oriented.

b. Form of teacher professional development

Teachers will more learn about the way of the teaching, their students and

classroom situation since they take action research. They learn how to identify

problems in the teaching and learning process then try to reflect and revise the

weaknesses occurs in the class. Within the process, the teacher can develop their skill,

management, attitude and teaching technique. Besides, it improves the critical

thinking of the teachers Action research emphasizes the involvement of teachers in

problems in their own classrooms and has as its primary goal the in-service training

and development of the teacher rather than the acquisition of general knowledge in

the field of education (Borg, 1965: 313).


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c. Collegial interactions

Action research can be done in pairs or by teams. It improves the collegial

interaction between the teachers and other persons. They can share knowledge,

teaching strategies, classroom management and so on. The discussion with the

colleagues will improve the communication skill and closer relationship. With the

increased sharing and collaboration across the teachers or the others, it builds the

cooperation to improve the quality of teaching and learning process in the school.

d. Potential to impact school change

As mentioned before, action research focuses on problem solving of the

problem faced. The researcher will study to find some suggested solution to

overcome the problems. The inquiry can be proposed to school to make some

changes. The priority for school-development becomes the main purposes of the

inquiry.

e. Reflect on own practice

Teachers rarely evaluate their teaching strategies and its impact to the

students. Action research provides time to the teachers to reflect on their own

teaching practice. Although the main target to observe is the students, the teachers

can find the effect of their teaching also. They can investigate whether their way of

teaching is successful or not.

f. Improved communications

Team work within an action research has many beneficial. The educators

participating in action research will communicate each other and share knowledge

and purpose. It creates open-minded thinking and share. Educators involved in action

research become more flexible in their thinking and more open to new ideas (Pine,

1981).

4. Types of Action Research

Feerance (2000: 3-6) classifies action research into four types. They are

individual teacher research, collaborative action research, school-wide action


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research, and district-wide action research. The differentiation between those types

can be seen in the table below.

Table 3.2. The types of action research

Individual

teacher

research

Collaborative

action research

School-wide

action research

District-wide

action research

Focus Single

classroom

issue

Single classroom

or several

classrooms with

common issue

School issue,

problem, or area

of collective

interest

District issue

Organizational

structures

Possible

support

needed

Coach/mentor

Access to

technology

Assistance with

data

organization

and analysis

Substitute

teachers

Release time

Close link with

administrators

School

commitment

Leadership

Communication

External

partners

District

commitment

Facilitator

Recorder

Communication

External

partners

Potential

impact

Curriculum

Instruction

Assessment

Curriculum

Instruction

Assessment

Policy

Potential to

impact school

restructuring

and change

Policy

Parent

involvement

Evaluation

of programs

Allocation

of resources

Professional

development

activities

Organizational

structures

Policy

Side

effects

Practice

informed

by data

Information not

always shared

Improved

collegiality

Formation of

partnerships

Improved

collegiality,

collaboration,

and

communication

Team building

Disagreements

on process

Improved

collegiality,

collaboration,

and

communication

Team building

Disagreements

on process

Shared vision


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5. The Procedures of Action Research

From the previous definitions of action research stated above, four main

terms in the action research covers participants, participation, acquisition of

knowledge, and social change. In conducting action research, we are deeply involved

in social community to observe, interpret and conclude data related to the problem

discussed. There are at least five phases of action research. They are:

a. Identification of problem area

b. Collection and organization of data

c. Interpretation of data

d. Action based on data

e. Reflection

Here, the writer use the action research procedures proposed by Feerance

(2000). It includes identifying the problem, gathering data, interpreting data, acting

on evidence, evaluating result and next step. Below is the picture showing the cycle

of the steps in doing action research.

Action Research Cycle (Ferrance, 2000: 9)

IDENTIFY THE

PROBLEM

GATHER

DATA

INTERPRET

DATA

ACT ON

EVIDENCE

EVALUATE

RESULT

NEXT

STEPS


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The detail explanation about each of the steps is listed below.

a. Identify a Problem Area

Teacher researchers often have issue to investigate and observe. The first

step in doing the action research is limiting the problem area and deciding the

question to look for the answer. The success in planning will effect on the success on

the research. Feerance (2009: 10) argues that there are several criteria to consider

before investing the time and effort in ―researching‖ a problem. The question should:

1) be a higher-order question—not a yes/no

2) be stated in common language, avoiding jargon

3) be concise

4) be meaningful

5) not already have an answer

b. Gather Data

Data collection is important activity to decide the action will be conducted.

Multiple sources of data are used to better understand the scope of happenings in the

classroom or school. There are many vehicles for collection of data:

interviews journals

portfolios individual files

diaries logs of meetings

field notes videotapes

audio tapes case studies

photos surveys

memos records – tests, report cards,

questionnaires attendance

focus groups self-assessment

anecdotal records samples of student work,

checklists projects, performances


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To select technique of collecting data stated above, the researcher should

consider the appropriateness the data with the issue being researched. The researcher

can choose the easiest technique also. The data collected is suited with the necessity

of the research in conducting the research.

c. Interpret Data

After the researchers feel enough in getting the data, they should analyze and

identify the problems included in the data. Besides, the interpretation about the data is

essential to be the reason for taking some actions.

d. Act on Evidence

The information gotten from the data interpretation is used to the

consideration in designing a plan of some actions. The plan is as the proposed

solutions of the problems occurred. The researcher should focus on the one essential

issue to overcome in order to result a clear outcome.

e. Evaluate Results

After getting the reaction of the action happened, the research should reflect

all the process of conducting the actions. It is done to measure whether there is

improvement or not and the objectives of the research is achieved or not. If the

objectives has not achieved yet, the researcher should revise the plan and choose

another action to improve and reach the objectives of the research.

f. Next Steps

By considering the evaluation result of the action, the researcher will plan

for the next activity. The next activity is determined by problems identified in the

treatment. To overcome the problem, the researcher plan activities for better

improvement.


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6. Technique of Collecting Data

a. Qualitative data

The qualitative data collected in this study consists of the information

obtained during the pre-research, the process and the results of action research

implementation and the results of the discussion between the teacher and the

researcher. The qualitative data of the research is collected by using some techniques

including:

1) Interview

Interview is done before and after the research. The researcher will

interview the English teacher and three students to get information about

the students’ grammar skill.

2) Observation

The researcher will observe the classroom situation before and during the

research. It is conducted to know deeper about the methods used by the

teacher, the subject of the teacher and the teaching learning process when

the method is applied by the researcher. The researcher also observes the

school condition generally.

3) Documents

In this research, the researcher will gather some documents that will be

analyzed to get the data. The documents include the students’ works, the

field notes, the interview transcripts and the questionnaires.

4) Photos

The implementation of the research was recorded in photographs to get

more accurate data.

b. Quantitative data

The data are collected from the test called pre-test and post-test. A test is a

formal or informal method of measuring students’ knowledge and/or abilities in a


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given area. A test inevitably samples performance but infers certain general

competence on the basis of the sampled performance (Brown, 1994: 252).

7. Technique of Analyzing Data

a. Qualitative data

Here, the technique used by writer to analyze the qualitative data is an

interactive model. It deals with phenomenological in nature or based on social

interactions. Researcher uses this approach to present a holistic view of data.

According to Miles and Huberman (1992) in Idrus (2009: 147-152),

interactive model has four steps. They are as follows:

1) Data collection

The first thing to do in interactive data analysis is collecting the data. Most

of qualitative data consists of words, phenomenon, photo, attitude and

daily activity that are gained by the researcher. It is resulted from many

techniques used including observation, interview, documentation, camera,

video type, etc. The process of data collection involves informant, activity,

setting and contextual condition. The researcher finds out information

through what he/she see, hear and monitor. Therefore, the data can consist

of interview transcript, research diary, field note, photo, journal, memos,

portfolios, audio tapes, etc.

2) Data reduction.

Data reduction is the time for researcher to select, simplify and transform

the collected data into written form. The data reduction is done to the ease

of analysis and limitation of area related to issue being address.

3) Data display.

After reducing the data, the researcher must show the data into the

readable form. It can be displayed in a piece of text, diagram, chart, table,

picture, etc.


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4) Conclusion drawing and verification.

Conclusion drawing includes the researcher thinking about the data

display. Besides, the researchers’ conclusion in analyzing the data should

be connected to the questions at hand. Verification is closely related to

conclusion drawing. The researcher should verify or recheck the data as

many as possible to ensure the data are accurate to be the proofs of

conclusion. The following is the cycles of the interactive model:

(Miles and Huberman, 1992)

b. Quantitative data

The data are analyzed using statistic descriptive technique. It is done by

describing the test results. The results of pre-test and post-test are analyzed to show

the achievement data. This analysis is to find out whether teaching grammar by

EGRA technique can improve the students’ grammar mastery to the class VIII E of

students of SMP N 1 Jaten Karanganyar in the academic year 2011-2012 or not. The

formulas are stated as follows:

Data Collection Data Display

Data Reduction Conclusion Drawing

and Verification


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Where:

= mean of pre-test score

∑X = the total of pre-test score

= mean of post-test score

∑Y = the total of post-test score

N = the number of sample

The mean of the pre-test and post-test:


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CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

A. Research Findings

1. Introduction

As presented in chapter I, there were some problems found in the English

teaching learning for students of VIII E of SMP N 1 Jaten. The main problem found

is the lack of grammar mastery. It can be seen from their low score of English

especially in grammar items.

The difficulties of mastering grammar were caused by many reasons.

Firstly, the students were still confused in some grammar points like the use of past

tense especially in differentiating the verb forms. Secondly, the students were still

confused in forming a correct and meaningfull sentences besause they were still

confused in determining subject, predicate and object. Thirdly¸ the lack of students’

cognition in learning grammar.

2. Research Implementation

The implementation of the action planned in this research was held in two

cycles. Each cycle included several meetings. Each meeting took 80 minutes. The

researcher divided three meetings in cycle 1. It was conducted from 9 to 23 May

2012. Meanwhile, the second cycle included two meetings. It was conducted from 30

May to 6 June 2012. Every cycle in this research consisted of series of steps, namely

identifying problem area, gathering data, interpreting data, acting on evidence,

evaluating result and next steps. They are explained in the following parts.

1. Identifying problem area

The writer thought that grammar could become the fifth skill of learning

English because of its essential in implementation of learning English. Besides, the

teacher had limited time to teach about grammar so that the students had difficulties

in understanding sentences even texts. Therefore, the writer had a question, “What is

the best technique to improve the students’ grammar skill in junior high school?”


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2. Gathering data

The writer did some observations in class VIII E of SMP N 1 Jaten to know

the pre-condition before the implementation of the action research. Based on the

observation, the researcher could identify the main problem faced by the students is

learning grammar. In the pre-research, the researcher observed the teaching-learning

process and interview with the teacher. Besides, the researcher also divided

questionnaire and pre-test to the students who were observed.

3. Interpreting data

After doing some activities in gathering the data about the students who

were observed, she found some problems arose in the class. First, the students were

not interested and looked bored in English class. They also thought that they were

poor in English because they were Javanese people. It means that they did not realize

the importance of English. Second, the students’ score of grammar item was low. It

can be seen from the score of the mid test in semester 2. There were a lot of students

in class VIII who got score under the KKM (grade score). In the interview, the

teacher also said, “Kemampuan siswa pada grammar masih sangat kurang. Mereka

saja masih bingung untuk membedakan perubahan kata kerja dari V1 ke V2 dan V3

apalagi menulis kalimat. Siswa itu juga belum semuanya memperhatikan saat guru

menerangkan grammar. Hanya anak-anak yang pintar saja yang memperhatikan

dan anak-anak yang masih kurang malah disambi main. Third, the teacher was too

fast in explaining the material because of the lack of time. Some of the students said

to the researcher, “Bu guru terlalu cepat menerangkan pelajarannya miss dan

kurang jelas, jadi aku gak nyantol.”

4. First Cycle

1) Acting on evidence

a) Planning the action

After finding the problems faced by the students, the researcher prepared to

conduct the research. She looked for many techniques appropriate with the students’

condition. After looking for many references, she finally chose EGRA as the

technique in teaching grammar. She made lesson plans for the first cycle. She

prepared the teaching material based on the syllabus of the school. The material was


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about narrative text. For the first cycle, she planned three meetings. The meeting was

conducted twice a week. Before doing the treatment to the class VIII E, the

researcher gave the students pre-test. It was aimed at knowing their grammar mastery

in past tense. The test was also given in the end of the first cycle, namely post-test.

b) Implementing the action

Here, the researcher played a role as the teacher. Meanwhile, the real

English teacher helped the researcher to observe the teaching-learning process and in

overcoming the problems faced by the researcher in the class. The researcher was

also helped by her friend to take pictures during the teaching learning process.

Therefore, there were two observers in the class.

The researcher did the teaching-learning process in three phases: opening,

main activity and closing. The opening phase covered greeting, checking the

students’ attendance and homework. In the main activity, there were four stages

namely exposure, generalization, reinforcement and application. In the closing, the

researcher did reflection and closed the lesson.

(1) The first meeting

The first meeting was conducted on Wednesday, May 9, 2012. The

researcher opened the lesson by greeting, checking attendance and stating the

objectives of the lesson would be given. After opening, FRS started to begin main

activities. She showed pictures about cows relating to the text that would be

discussed. It was done for attracting the students to follow the lesson. Then, FRS

asked questions related to the picture. After that, she distributed students’ worksheet

including a narrative text with the title “a stupid man and his cows” and three tasks.

In five minutes, the students were asked by the researcher to read and learn

the text then answer five questions about it. The students looked serious in doing the

tasks. Many of them asked about difficult vocabularies. Five minutes later, the

students were little bit noisy and the researcher decided to check their answer. She

asked the students about narrative text including its meaning and generic structure.

She invited volunteer to read and answer the questions. In answering the easy

questions, the students were enthusiast to answer. Yet, in difficult questions, they

were doubt to answer.


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After finishing the correction, FRS divided the class into eight groups. Each

group consisted of four or five students. In the group, the students were asked to find

past tense sentences as many as possible in the narrative text that they had learnt

before. Each group had to find five sentences at minimum. After the students found

the sentences and wrote it on the paper, they had to break down each sentence into

Subject, Verb, Object and Complement (Adverb, Adjective and Noun). Here, the

students still looked confused to differentiate about the position of words in a

sentence. It was reflected from their lots of questions about it. Whereas, they had

learnt about past tense sentences before they did the task. At this time, the researcher

walked around the class to make sure that all students were involved in discussion

and to help the students about their difficulties.

Twenty minutes later, the researcher got the representative of each group to

write one of the sentences they found and place it on the table that had been made by

the researcher on the whiteboard. The table consisted of four column including

subject, verb form 1, 2, 3, object and complement. After the students finished writing

their answer on the whiteboard, the researcher invited the class to check the answer

together. From eight sentences written, there were three groups who made mistake.

They placed words in the wrong category. Later, the other groups tried to revise the

mistakes and the researcher helped also.

After that, the researcher asked the students to make the structure of past

tense sentence and invited them to write down on the white board for verbal and

nominal formula. For this challenge, there was only one student who came forward

and wrote the verbal structure of past tense. She was Refarmita. She answered

correctly. Unfortunately, no one wanted to write nominal structure of past tense but

actually some of them could answer it in soft of voice.

On ten minutes remaining, FRS divided the evaluation sheet to reinforce

their understanding in past tense. Knowing the time was limited, the researcher had

the students do the sheet as homework. It was submitted the following day. Then, the

researcher asked the difficulty that the students found in the class that day. They

answered that the lesson that day was clear. Finally, the researcher evaluated the

students’ performance and chose the best student and group of the day. The students


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who were chosen looked so happy. Because of the last lesson of that day, the class

was closed with praying guided by the leader of the class.

(2) The second meeting

The second meeting was conducted on Thursday, May 10, 2012. As usual,

the researcher opened the lesson by greeting, asking the students’ feeling and

checking attendance. Then, the researcher asked the students to submit their

homework which was given in the previous day. After all the students had collected

their homework, the researcher went on the lesson. She still gave them knowledge

about narrative text.

For building knowledge deeper about narrative text, the researcher showed a

video about “The hare and tortoise”. At this moment, the students watched it

seriously and after it ended they asked to replay. The researcher answered if they

would see it again they had to do task 1 on the worksheet they had gotten. Task 1

included completion of the narrative text entitled the hare and tortoise with the

appropriate form of verb. Before that, the researcher had asked the students about the

video they had watched.

Ten minutes running, the researcher gave them instruction to stop doing and

check their answer together. The researcher invited the students to write the answer

on the projector available. After the students had finished the writing, the researcher

made clarification to the students whether any wrong answers or not. Some of them

said that there were many wrong answers. Dea and Mita were the students who made

correction to the wrong answers. Later, the researchers replayed the video to watch.

After it ended, the researcher asked the students about tense used in the video and the

students still looked doubtful to answer. Then, FRS showed two structures of tenses

and she got the students to choose the structure used in narrative text. The students

collectively choose past tense structure.

Next activity was discussion. The researcher divided the groups according

to the seat. She asked the students to do next tasks in the worksheet. The task was

story puzzle. There were many students who asked about verb form and meaning.

Because the seat were fixed and could not be set in a circle, the discussion did not

run well. They tended to do the task individually or in pairs. As usual, the researcher


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walked around the class to make sure that all students were involved in discussion

and to help them about their difficulties. At 9.15, the students and the researcher

checked the answers. The representative of each group wrote their answers on the

projector. FRS had not given feedback yet at this time. She offered to the other

students to revise their friend’s answer. When it came to arrange sentences into a

paragraph, the students looked enthusiast to find the correct composition. The

arrangement was revised by three students and finally the correct answer was from

Refarmita.

Ten minutes left, the researcher distributed task to do at home and gave

instruction how to do the task. Some of the students especially boys were little bit

noisy. Finally, the researcher closed the lesson by greeting.

(3) The third meeting

The third meeting was conducted on Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Routinely,

the researcher opened the lesson by greeting, asking the students’ condition and

checking attendance. The students looked bored at that time. The researcher asked

what made them bored. They answered that they were not finished yet to do the

homework. Then, the researcher still asked the students to submit their homework

which was given in the previous week. Only 17 students who were finished the

homework. Later, the researcher asked the difficulties they found in doing the

homework. Some said their homework were left, they forgot to bring and did not

understand how to do it. Actually, boys’ students dominated in the number of lazy

students. They did not want to pay attention when the researchers explained and they

also did not want to ask their friends.

To encounter the problem faced by the students, the researcher chose three

from the students who had collected their homework to explain about their answer

and how to do it. The rest of the students especially who had not yet finished their

homework was asked to pay attention. After the three students finished explaining,

the researcher confirmed the students whether they had understood or not. They said

understand then, she got the students to do their homework in five minutes. The

researcher also wrote verbal and nominal structure of past tense on the whiteboard to

remember them. Five minutes later, all the students had submitted their homework.


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As the punishment for the students who were late in submitting their

homework, the researcher chose two of them to come forward, write their sentences

on the whiteboard and give categories for each word they made. Hasan and Merisa

were choosen. Hasan did the instruction well but Merisa did not. Finally, one of the

students namely Dean revised it.

At 11.40 p.m., the researcher gave reinforcement again in the form of task.

Some of the students showed their dislike in doing task all the day. The researcher

advised them to be more motivated in learning English. Then, they decided to do the

task. The students in the back seat were noisy and the researcher came toward them

and asked them to do the task silently. As usual, the researcher walked around the

class to make sure that all students did the task and to help them about their

difficulties. Ten minutes later, the students and the researcher checked the answers

together.

Five minutes remaining, the researcher stopped the lesson and gave them

homework to write five past tense sentences about their experience in vacation to

Bali a month ago. Some students still asked how to do the homework and the

researcher explained that the assignment should be typed. Some of them protested.

The last, FRS announced the best student and group on the previous meeting and

gave them reward. Finally, the class was closed with praying guided by the leader of

the class.

2) Evaluating result

During the research, the teaching and learning process were observed by

two observers, they are the researcher and the English teacher. The researcher did not

only teach but also observed the process of teaching and learning included the

activities happened in the class and the students’ response. For the English teacher,

she/he observed the researcher’s performance dealt with the way to teach and the

class management. The detail explanation about the result based on the observation,

field note, test and interview to the students are as follows:


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a) First meeting

In the first meeting, overall the students were motivated in joining the

lesson. They were active to follow the teaching and learning process. Furthermore,

the researcher had taught them before in the job training last year. They gave good

response when the researcher asked some questions. Otherwise, some boys and girls

kept talking while the researcher gave instruction in discussion task. The class

became so noisy when the discussion session. Some students confused to do the task

because they did not pay attention to the researcher’s instruction.

From the teacher, she argued that the teaching and learning process run well

and fluent. She gave suggestion to the researcher to explain more detail about

narrative text in order to make the students understand and could differentiate it from

the other genres of text.

b) Second meeting

In the second meeting, the students were enthusiast at the beginning. They

were enthusiast when the researcher played movie. Yet, they showed their

unwillingness when they began to do task. Some students said, “Worksheet lagi

miss? Masak ngerjain lagi, kan kemarin sudah. Aku capek miss. Nonton lagi aja

miss.” To overcome this, the researcher would replay the movie if the students had

finished doing task 1. The students did it finally.

Discussion time at this meeting seemed failed. The formation of the seat in

language laboratory which was fixed and could not be set in circle made the

discussion difficult to do. It was seen when the students rather chose to do the task in

pairs or individually. The researcher also could not walk around as easy as in the

class.

The teacher who observed the process of teaching and learning underlined

some points related to the researcher’s way in teaching and managing the class. He

gave some suggestions such as the researcher should focus on one stage in EGRA

steps, make a short and clear task and slide, commend the students in brief, explore

the students’ thinking when asking and maximize the discussion time. Nevertheless,

the teacher praised the researcher performance in using IT and interesting task such

as puzzle when teaching.


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c) Third meeting

In this meeting, the researcher observed the class individually because the

teacher felt not good enough and went home first. When the researcher came to the

class, the students directly said,”Miss, PR-ku ketinggalan karena kelupaan

dimasukkan di tas, soalnya tak masukkin buku yang lain. Aku kumpulkan besok ya

miss?” and the other students continued,” Aku belum paham miss bagaimana

mengerjakannya PR-nya, tolong jelaskan lagi ya miss.” Their statements reflected

that they were not ready to follow the lesson that day. They began to be bored in

doing a lot of tasks. The researcher tried to explain how to do the task and helped by

some students. The students who had not finished the task started to complete the

assignment and they finally submit their homework.

To keep the students’ involvement, the researcher gave a short task to do

and they wanted to do it. Finally, the researcher gave them the final task to make a

story about their experience when visiting Bali. Some were glad and the others

protested because the assignment must be typed.

3) Next steps

After the implementation of teaching in cycle one included three meetings,

the researcher could find some strength.

Firstly, from the classroom situation, the students’ motivation toward

grammar class was increased. It could be seen from their enthusiasm to follow the

lesson when it was going on. They showed their seriousness when the researcher

explained certain materials. Their curiousness about grammar looked increased since

they were courageous to ask some unclear materials. They were also actively

involved in discussion session. In doing grammar tasks, they performed good attitude

and seriousness. When correcting the grammar tasks, they were not shy to express

their arguments. From the researcher’s observation, there were 17 students from the

whole students totally 33 students or 52percent who showed their activeness and

seriousness in joining grammar class.

Secondly, the students’ grammar skill was improved. It could be seen from

their increase in scores of grammar test showed in the table below.


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Table 4.1. The Increase of Each Indicator in Cycle I

Indicator Pre-test

average

Post-test 1

average

1. The students can choose accurate word (word meaning). 67.3 71.2

2. The students can match the number (singular or plural) and the tense. 49.2 64.4

3. The students can arrange words in order to form grammatically correct

and meaningful sentences.

47.1

79.1

From the table above, in the end of the first cycle, the third indicator (The students

can arrange words in order to form grammatically correct and meaningful sentences)

was successfully improved and upper the KKM (passing grade). It was considered as

the strength of the grammar skill found in cycle I.

However, the main target from the researcher had not been achieved. She

had formulated the indicators of success in the research such as the students’

seriousness and activeness in following the grammar class and their grammar scores

were upper the KKM (passing grade), 73. The target of achievement for each aspect

was 75 percent. From the result of the first cycle, it could be seen clearly that the

indicators of the success had not been reached, namely; (1) the students’ seriousness

and activeness in following the grammar class was only 52 percent; (2) the students

scores in grammar test which was upper the KKM (passing grade) was only 36

percent.

There were also several problems that the researcher found in the first cycle,

they are as follows:

a) The weaknesses found in classroom situation.

(1) The students looked reluctant to do many tasks. They dislike reinforcing their

understanding in grammar by doing many written tasks. They thought that the

tasks were too much. It could be seen from many students who complained

when the researcher distributed some tasks. One example of the complaint

was as follow:

“Aduh miss, masa’ ngerjain latihan lagi. Capek miss. Masa’ tiap pertemuan

banyak banget latihannya.

(2) The researcher wasted time in one stage of EGRA’s steps. It was

generalization. The researcher repeated generalization stage many times and


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it made the other stages did not quite. It was supported by the teacher

observer’s argument:

“Menurut saya, anda terlalu menghabiskan waktu di generalization. Kalo

sekiranya anak-anak sudah cukup untuk fase tersebut maka tidak perlu

diulangi lagi. Fokuskan pada reinforcement atau application saja.”

(3) The researcher did not have enough time to explain more detail about

narrative text since she focused on the grammar used. The teacher who

observed the researcher at the class argued that the explanation about

narrative text was important in order to differentiate it to another genre of

text.

b) The weaknesses found in grammar skill.

(1) The two of the indicators of grammar mastery were still low and under the

KKM (passing grade). The average score for the first indicator, the ability to

choose accurate word (word meaning), was 71.2. The second indicator, the

ability to match the number (singular or plural) and the tense, was only 64.4.

Referring to what she identified as the weaknesses above, the researcher

decided to take the second cycle in order to make better improvement in students’

grammar mastery.

5. Second Cycle

1) Acting on evidence

a) Planning the action

After finding the problems faced by the students and researcher, the

researcher prepared to conduct the second cycle. With the same technique, EGRA,

she made lesson plans for the second cycle. The material was about recount text. For

this cycle, she planned two meetings.

b) Implementing the action

(1) The first meeting

The first meeting was conducted on Wednesday, May 30, 2012. As usual,

the researcher opened the lesson by greeting, checking attendance and asking about

homework. After opening, FRS started to begin main activities. For reinforcing, the


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researcher asked the structure of past tense to the students. Some of them answered

and the others kept quiet. Then she asked one of the students to write simple past

structure. Faradila was the student who took the challenge and she did it correctly.

Then, the researcher asked the students to mention the question words they know.

They answered correctly including who, what, where, when, why, how.

Ten minutes passing, the researcher wrote a verbal sentence, “The president

phoned Queen Zahra Yesterday”, on the whiteboard. She asked the students orally to

identify the subject (the president), verb (phoned), object (Queen Zahra) and finally

adverb of time (yesterday). She reminded the students that English word order

typically followed a subject – verb – object pattern (SVO) and sometimes completed

with adverb. After that, the researcher erased the word “the president” and

substituted it with the word “someone”. She followed it with a question “Who

phoned Queen Zahra yesterday?”. The students answered, “The president”. The

researcher wrote the answer on the white board. She then returned to the original

sentence, “The president phoned Queen Zahra Yesterday”. She rubbed out the word

Queen Zahra and substituted it with “someone”. She provided a question, “Who did

the president phone?”. The students answered “Queen Zahra”. She then asked the

students to study and differentiate the two questions and wrote it on the book.

The following activity was explanation. Before explaining, the researcher

invited the students to make categories in every word in the sentences she wrote.

There were two students who came forward to do it. One was a volunteer and

another was chosen by the researcher. They did it well but one of the two still made

mistake. The researcher revised it and continued with explaining. She pointed out

that to form questions about subject of the sentence required no change in word

order, SVO. Whereas to form questions about object requires a change in the

standard word order becoming OVSV. The researcher did the same way in

explaining nominal sentence questions.

After finishing the explanation, FRS divided the class into eight groups.

Each group consisted of four or five students. In the group, the students were asked

to make three questions and its answers in past tense form. Before that, the

researcher had distributed a sheet of paper to each group listing three words as the


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clue to compose the sentences. To make it more interesting, the researcher placed

pictures of four persons and connected them with arrows. Here, the students still

looked confused about the instruction of doing the task and the researcher explained

it again. Then, the researcher walked around the class to make sure that all students

were involved in discussion and to help them about their difficulties.

Fifteen minutes remaining, the researcher got the representative of each

group to write one of the questions they composed and place it on the table that had

been made by the researcher on the whiteboard. Because of limited time, she only

invited three groups to write. After the students finished writing their answer on the

whiteboard, the researcher invited the class to check the answer together. The

questions written were all correct. Later, the researcher confirmed the students

whether any difficulties and unclear materials they found. They answered, “No”.

On five minutes left, FRS asked the difficulty that the students found in the

class that day. They answered that the lesson that day was clear. Finally, the

researcher evaluated the students’ performance and chose the best student and group

of the day. The students who were chosen looked so happy. Because of the last

lesson of that day, the class was closed with praying guided by the leader of the

class.

(2) The second meeting

The second meeting was conducted on Thursday, May 31, 2012. As usual,

the researcher opened the lesson by greeting, asking the students’ feeling and

checking attendance. Then, the researcher asked the students what the last materials

they got. They still remembered the materials given in the previous day.

For the last meeting, the researcher focused only in application stage. Going

to the main activity, the researcher showed a slide about the researcher’s story

entitled “My Unforgettable Research”. The slide was completed with some pictures

of the students themselves so they were so enthusiast to watch. At the end of the

story, they asked to the researcher to replay. Then she replied the slide. Later, she

asked to the students about the kind of the text they saw in the slide. They could

answer it “recount text” and it was correct. They also could identify the objective of

the text and the tense used in it.


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Twenty minutes running, the researcher got the students to write four

questions on the slide and tried to answer it. They looked serious in doing the task.

Some of the students were reluctant to write and she came closer to them. She asked

them to be serious in the class and they would write. After answering the questions,

FRS asked them to arrange the answer into a good paragraph. The researcher also

gave an example of the text they had to write. As usual, the researcher walked around

the class to make sure that all students were involved in discussion and to help them

about their difficulties.

After thirty minutes, the researcher asked the two representatives from the

students to write their writings on the projector. Because there was no volunteer, the

researcher chose two students namely Shofi and Hudaya. From the result, the

students made only little mistakes. The other students gave their contribution in

revising the error made. The correction ran lively. Then, researcher asked the

students to submit their writings.

Ten minutes left, FRS asked the difficulty that the students found in the

class that day. They answered that the lesson that day was clear and interesting.

Some of the students especially boys were little bit noisy. Finally, the researcher

closed the lesson by greeting.

2) Evaluating result

The detail explanation about the results based on the observation, field note,

test and interview to the students in the cycle two are as follows:

a) First meeting

In the first meeting, most of the students showed better attitudes toward

grammar class. They were actively involved in teaching and learning process. They

did not complain again regarding to the task given because the researcher simplified

it. There were still some boys kept talking while the researcher gave instruction in

discussion task. Otherwise, the number of them was decreasing. The discussion ran

lively and the students were serious in doing the task. They were not shy to ask about

unclear materials.


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b) Second meeting

In the second meeting, the students looked enthusiast from the beginning

until the end. They were enthusiast especially when the researcher played slide about

her story. In this meeting, application stage was the focus. The meeting was aimed at

producing a recount text about their experience when they were taught by the

researcher. The students performed good attitudes and activeness in this session.

Generally, they only made little mistakes in writing past tense sentences. They

looked more understand from meeting to meeting.

3) Next steps

Referring to the main target of the researcher, the students’ seriousness and

activeness in following the grammar class and their grammar scores were upper the

KKM (passing grade), 73, she finds the result of the second cycle is satisfying.

Overall, she can say that EGRA technique works well in improving the students’

grammar mastery. The improvement can be seen from some progresses.

a) The strengths found in classroom situation.

Firstly, the students’ motivation toward grammar class is increased from the

previous meetings. It can be seen from their enthusiasm, seriousness and activeness

to follow the grammar class. In doing grammar tasks, they performed good attitude

and seriousness. They did not complain again about the task given by the researcher.

When correcting the grammar tasks, they were not shy to express their arguments.

From the researcher’s observation, almost all students totally 30 from 33 students or

91 percent showed their activeness and seriousness in joining grammar class.

Secondly, the researcher can perform better in teaching and managing the

class. FRS simplified the task given to the students so they did not reluctant to do it.

She also tried to implement what the teacher’s suggestion in managing the class such

as giving more simple and clear explanation and feedback, making a readable slide,

and focusing certain stage in every meeting. As the result, she focused each meeting

in one stage according to the students’ need to achieve.


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b) The strengths found in grammar skill.

The students’ grammar mastery is improved. It can be seen from their

increase in grammar scores showed in the table below.

Table 4.2. The Increase of Each Indicator in Cycle II

Indicator Post-test 1

average

Post-test 2

average

1. The students can choose accurate word (word meaning). 71.2 95.9

2. The students can match the number (singular or plural) and the tense. 64.4 100

3. The students can arrange words in order to form grammatically correct

and meaningful sentences.

79.1

85.8

From the table above, in the end of the second cycle, all the three of indicators are

increased and upper the KKM (passing grade).

However, the researcher still finds some weaknesses. They are:

(1) The weaknesses found in classroom situation.

From the classroom situation, there are three students who still have problem

with their performance in a class. They are all boys. They are so talkative even

when the teacher explains. They rarely pay attention when the teacher gives

instruction to the task given so they are difficult to complete it.

(2) The weaknesses found in grammar skill.

From the students’ grammar skill, there is one student who got score under the

KKM (passing grade) and the score was also worse than the previous meeting.

Based on the researcher’s observation, the student has very low motivation in

learning English.

Those achievements above do not mean that the treatment done by the

researcher is already perfect and final. It cannot be said that EGRA is the best

technique to use in grammar class. EGRA technique is only one of the techniques

that can be implemented in improving the students’ grammar mastery. The other

technique may be more effective as long as the teacher suited it with the condition of

the class.

3. Findings

Based on the analysis of the data including the students’ score of pre and

post test, field notes, observation, interview result, and photographs of teaching and


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learning process; the writer gains some findings which answer the questions as

mentioned in chapter one.

There are two findings related to the research questions. The first is the

improvement of students’ grammar mastery. It can be seen from the students’ score

in grammar test. The following is the table describing the students’ grammar score

taken during the research:

Table 4.3. The Scores of the Students during the Research

Scoring Pre-Test Post-Test 1 Post-Test 2

Total Score 1870 2270 3030

Mean Score 1870/33= 56.7 2270/33= 68.8 3030/33= 91.8

From those scores, it proves that EGRA technique can improve the students’

grammar mastery. The second finding is the strengths and the weaknesses of EGRA

technique when it was implemented in the grammar class.

B. Discussion

This research is aimed at knowing whether EGRA technique can improve

the students’ grammar mastery or not and identifying strengths and weaknesses of

the technique implementation in the teaching-learning process. The more detailed of

research findings are described in this part. The improvement of students’ grammar

mastery and classroom situation can be found by implementing EGRA technique in

the class. The followings are the detail explanation of each finding.

1. EGRA technique can improve the students’ grammar mastery.

Before giving treatment, the teacher conducted pre-test. As the result, most

of the students’ achievement in grammar was categorized poor. It was proven by the

mean of the score of pre-test, 56.7. Knowing this, the teacher planned the treatment

to improve the students’ grammar skill.

First cycle in this research consisted of three meetings. It showed that there

was little improvement that the students achieved. The improvement could be seen

from the increase of the students’ test score and the improvement of the classroom

situation. The grammar test covered the English grammar competences including


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morphology and syntax. The table below reflected the improvement that the

students’ score achieved. It was taken at the end of the first cycle.

Table 4.4. The Scores of the Students in Cycle 1

Scoring Pre-Test Post-Test 1

Total Score 1870 2270

Mean Score 1870/33= 56.7 2270/33= 68.8

Besides, the classroom situation was also little improved. The students tried

to show their good attitude in learning English especially grammar. Based on the

researcher’s observation, there were 17 students from the whole students totally 33

students or 52 percent who showed their activeness and seriousness in joining

grammar class. The little improvement both in the students’ grammar skill and

classroom situation was caused by many factors such as the students were reluctant

to do many tasks or it can be said that their motivation were still low and the

researcher had not performed well in conducting the learning and teaching activity.

Therefore, second cycle was taken.

The second cycle consisted of two meetings. It showed better improvement

from cycle one to cycle two. The increase can be seen by comparing the score of

previous post-test in the first cycle and the post-test in the second cycle. The

following is the table describing the students’ score result which is taken from the

end of the second cycle.

Table 4.5. The Scores of the Students in Cycle 2

Scoring Post-Test 1 Post-Test 2

Total Score 2270 3030

Mean Score 2270/33= 68.8 3030/33= 91.8

The scores above show the better improvement that the students reach in

grammar understanding. From the classroom situation, the students also perform

more active and serious in following the lesson. They act as active participant in

learning grammar. They are not reluctant to do task, ask difficulties and correct their

friends’ mistake. From the researcher’s observation, almost all students totally 30

from 33 students or 91 percent showed their activeness and seriousness in joining

grammar class.


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2. The strengths and the weaknesses of EGRA technique.

Every technique in teaching must have its strengths and weaknesses. EGRA

as the technique of teaching grammar applied by the writer also has both strengths

and weaknesses. The writer finds out the strengths of EGRA technique implemented

in grammar teaching and learning conducted in class VIII E of students of SMP N 1

Jaten Karanganyar in the academic year 2011 – 2012. They are as follows:

a. EGRA can enhance the students’ grammar concept.

Every step in EGRA can improve the students’ grammar mastery. From

experience where the students are exposed to the meaningful use of particular

structure item; generalization which is improved the students’ exploration in

recognizing the language structure; reinforcement sharpening and revising the

students’ findings in generalization and application when the students are given

opportunities to use or apply the structure item that they have learned.

After getting some treatments, some students feel that they know deeper

about grammar such as tenses and word categorization including subject, verb, object

and complement. It is supported by the student’s about her improvement after

learning grammar through EGRA. “Aku lebih mengerti tentang tenses bahasa

Inggris dan lebih pintar bahasa Inggris pokoknya”.

b. Generalization stage in EGRA steps can pump up the students’ discovery in

learning structures of a sentence.

Independence learning is built up well in generalization since the researcher

did not teach them about the structure of a certain tense. They tried to make the

structure of a sentence in order to make them better remember conclusion about the

form and function they make for themselves. This independence learning is

supported by the argument of an expert. Rousseau (1712 –1778) in Benson (2001:

24) said that, “make your pupil attend to the phenomena of nature, and you will soon

arouse his curiosity. But to nourish this curiosity, be in no hurry to satisfy it. Suggest

problems but leave the solving of them to him. Whatever he knows, he should know

not because you have told him, but because he has grasped it himself. Do not teach

him science: let him discover it. If ever you substitute authority for reason in his

mind, he will stop reasoning and become the victim of other people’s opinion.”


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c. EGRA technique can be a tool of motivator to build the students’ awareness

in learning grammar.

The students performed good attitude and motivation from meeting to

meeting when the researcher implemented EGRA technique in teaching grammar in

the class. In EGRA, the teacher can explore many activities in the class such as

discussion, games and so on. Here, the researcher played role as a facilitator and

motivator. She talked less and let the students explore their knowledge. It builds

good mood on students’ feeling because they are tend to be bored only in listening

the researcher.

Otherwise, the implementation of EGRA also meets weaknesses such as:

1) It is time consuming in generalization stage.

The generalization can be considered as the central of EGRA technique

because the students are expected to make a discovery of language structure. The

researcher did generalization phase in the form of sentences and paragraph analysis.

The students needed much time in learning the sentences and paragraph. Sometimes,

it spent all the time in a meeting. It is because the ability of the students in a class is

different. Besides, their attention in learning grammar also has variation. Some

students are motivated and the others are not. It needs more time to motivate the

unmotivated students.

2) The students get bored with repeated explanation on structures.

EGRA consist of a sequence of instruction, moving from giving example,

drawing generalization, providing reinforcement, and assigning tasks to students for

application. As a sequence, the steps must be well organized. If a step does not pass

well, it must be repeated. Based on the researcher’s observation, the students who

had understood looked bored when the researcher repeated the structure to the

students who did not understand enough. Sometimes, they did another activity rather

than paid attention to the repeated explanation.


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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION AND SUGGESTION

In the last chapter, the writer presents three points including conclusion,

implication and suggestion. Those points are based on the findings and discussion

presented in the previous chapter. All of the points as mentioned above will be

explained in details below.

A. Conclusion

Based on the research findings and discussion presented in the chapter IV, it

can be concluded that:

1. The implementation of EGRA as the technique in teaching grammar can improve

the students’ grammar mastery.

EGRA technique is suitable to improve the students’ grammar skill to the

class VIII E of SMP N 1 Jaten Karanganyar in the academic year 2011-2012. The

improvement of the students’ grammar skill can be seen from the result of the tests.

The mean score of post test in the second cycle shows the significance improvement

of the students’ grammar mastery. The mean score of post test in the second cycle is

91.8. It is better than the mean score of the first cycle which is 68.8.

2. The implementation of EGRA as the technique in teaching grammar has both

strengths and weaknesses. The strengths are:

a. EGRA can enhance the students’ grammar concept.

b. Generalization stage in EGRA steps can pump up the students’ discovery in

learning structures of a sentence.

c. EGRA technique can be a tool of motivator to build the students’ awareness

in learning grammar.

While, the weaknesses of EGRA technique when it is implemented in

teaching grammar to the class VIII E of students of SMP N 1 Jaten Karanganyar

in the academic year 2011 – 2012 are:

1) It is time consuming in generalization stage.

2) The students get bored with repeated explanation on structures.


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B. Implication

In teaching-learning grammar, EGRA technique has important implication

on both teacher and students. In conducting EGRA, teacher acts as facilitator

dominantly. He/she bridges the learning activity by providing discovery activities

which actively involve the students in analysis and application rather than through

receiving information passively from a textbook or teacher. The teacher also

reinforces the students in the form of feedback to what they have discovered. After

the students get understand, the teacher gives them application to apply grammatical

forms that have previously been practiced.

For the students, they are active participant in grammar class from the

beginning until the end. They explore their understanding in the language to make

structures discovery. They will be easier to understand concept because they find the

structures by themselves. The students are also facilitated to sharpen their knowledge

in grammar. They should do many tasks not only in a group but also in pairs or

individually.

From the process of the implementation EGRA, teacher can make variation

in teaching grammar to make the students understand easily. It can be in the form of

task, discussion, games, observation, etc. Since generalization needs much time to

conduct, the teacher should create simpler activity but it is highly inquiry oriented.

C. Suggestion

Based on the conclusion and the implication stated above, the researcher

would like give some suggestions dealing with the improvement of students’

grammar mastery by using EGRA. Hopefully, the suggestions will be beneficial to

whosoever regarding to improve the students’ grammar skill including teachers,

students, other researchers and institutions.

1. For teachers

The teacher should be more attention in teaching grammar to the students

since strong grammar foundation will automatically create a better understanding in

four main language skills. Many variations in teaching can be used. A student

centered in learning is better applied because it has proven to make better concept


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and conclusion in the grammatical form and function. It is also expected that the

teacher will try EGRA as the technique used to improve the students’ grammar

mastery.

2. For students

The students should be more aware about the importance of grammar in

mastering English. Inner motivation will result better willingness in learning.

Besides, the students should not be afraid of making errors in the use of grammar.

To improve their grammar mastery, the students should be serious in learning and

practicing structures. They should try to apply the grammatical form and function

both in written and spoken.

3. For other researchers

It is expected that the other researchers can choose EGRA as a means of

improving the students’ grammar mastery with a better implementation and teaching

media. The technique can be collaborated by another technique either. Besides, the

other researcher can also conduct experimental or comparative technique in order to

compare this technique with other techniques in teaching grammar.

4. For institution

The demand of better facilities in learning English cannot be neglected.

SMP Negeri 1 Jaten should encourage and support the English teacher to improve the

quality of teaching. The institution should provide facilities needed by both teachers

and students in conducting effective teaching and learning process. The institution

should facilitate various media and materials supporting teaching and learning

process. Besides, the discussion between the institution and the English teacher

should be done regularly in order to discuss about problems faced and find out its

best solutions.

Documents

,03529,1*7+(678'(176¶*5$00$50$67(5< THROUGH EGRA …...note, questionnaire, pho tographs and test. The tests included pre -test and post -test. The researcher analyzed the quantitative

,03529,17+(678'(176¶5$00$50$67(5< THROUGH EGRA …...note, questionnaire, pho tographs and test. The tests included pre -test and post -test. The researcher analyzed the quantitative