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TEACHERS’ DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH
USING SCIENTIFIC APPROACH: A Study at Public Senior
High Schools in Mataram
A JOURNAL
Submitted as the Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Sarjana
Pendidikan (S.Pd) Degree in English Education Program Faculty of Teacher
Training and Education Mataram University
BY:
TRISAGITA OKTAVIANTI
E1D014052
ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MATARAM
2018
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TEACHERS’ DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH USING
SCIENTIFIC APPROACH: A Study at Public Senior High Schools in
Mataram
Trisagita Oktavianti, Dr. Muhammad Amin, M. Tesol, Kurniawan
Apgrianto, M.Pd.
English Education Program
Faculty of Teacher Training and Education
University of Mataram
Email: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
This study aimed at investigating difficulties encountered by teachers in
teaching English using scientific approach. This study also tries to find out factors
causing the difficulties. This study is of descriptive qualitative research. There
were 3 English teachers from three schools in Mataram selected as the participants
of this research. The data were collected by means of teachers’ lesson plan,
questionnaire and interview. The lesson plans were analyzed using lesson plan
rubric proposed in curriculum 2013 and added with some concepts of scientific
approach stated by some experts. The data from questionnaire and interview were
analyzed using thematic analysis. The difficulties investigated were in three
points; (1) difficulties in preparation (2) difficulties in implementation and (3) and
difficulties in assessment. The results of this study showed that the difficulties in
preparation are related to designing indicators, materials and activities that fit the
concept of scientific approach. Difficulties in implementation are mostly the
difficulties in classroom management in which students are the sources of the
problems. Difficulties in assessment lay on the problems in designing and doing
the assessment in classroom. The other result shows that there are 11 factors that
cause the difficulties. The factors come from the teachers, the students, the parents
at home and others. Based on the results of the study, it is suggested to English
teachers, government and all practitioners to take this as considerations in
improving education in Indonesia through the effective implementation of
scientific approach.
Keywords: Difficulties, English teacher, Scientific approach
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KESULITAN GURU DALAM MENGAJAR BAHASA INGGRIS
MENGGUNAKAN PENDEKATAN SAINTIFIK: Sebuah Kajian di Sekolah
Menengah Atas Negeri di Mataram
Trisagita Oktavianti
E1D014052
ABSTRAK
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menyelidiki kesulitan yang dihadapi oleh
guru dalam mengajar bahasa Inggris menggunakan pendekatan saintifik.
Penelitian ini juga mencoba mencari faktor-faktor penyebab kesulitan. Penelitian
ini adalah penelitian kualitatif deskriptif. Ada 3 guru bahasa Inggris dari tiga
sekolah di Mataram sebagai subjek penelitian. Data dikumpulkan dengan
menggunakan RPP guru, kuesioner dan wawancara. RPP dianalisis menggunakan
rubrik RPP yang diusulkan dalam kurikulum 2013 dan ditambahkan dengan
beberapa konsep pendekatan saintifik oleh beberapa ahli. Data dari kuesioner dan
wawancara dianalisis menggunakan analisis tematik. Kesulitan yang diselidiki
terdiri atas tiga poin; (1) kesulitan dalam persiapan (2) kesulitan dalam
implementasi dan (3) dan kesulitan dalam penilaian. Hasil penelitian ini
menunjukkan bahwa kesulitan dalam persiapan adalah kesulitan yang terkait
dengan merancang indikator, bahan ajar dan kegiatan yang sesuai dengan konsep
pendekatan ilmiah. Kesulitan dalam pelaksanaan sebagian besar adalah kesulitan
dalam manajemen kelas di mana siswa adalah sumber masalah. Kesulitan dalam
penilaian terletak pada merancang dan melakukan penilaian di kelas. Hasil lain
menunjukkan bahwa ada 12 faktor yang menyebabkan kesulitan. Faktor tersebut
berasal dari para guru, para siswa, orang tua di rumah dan lain-lain. Berdasarkan
hasil penelitian, disarankan kepada guru bahasa Inggris, pemerintah dan semua
praktisi untuk mengambil ini sebagai pertimbangan dalam meningkatkan
pendidikan di Indonesia melalui penerapan pendekatan saintifik yang efektif.
Kata kunci: Kesulitan, guru bahasa Inggris, pendekatan ilmiah
INTRODUCTION
Regarding the importance of English, it is necessary to take huge
consideration of the practice of teaching English. One of the elements of teaching
English is the approaches used. English teaching approach is one of teachers'
devices in conducting teaching and learning in a classroom. Approaches deal with
the belief and principles applied in teaching. In an attempt to gain the
effectiveness of English teaching, teachers need to find out principles considered
as the best way in teaching. This may help the teacher as well as the students to
meet the learning objectives.
The Indonesian government via the Ministry of Education and Culture
released a new curriculum that is Curriculum 2013. The introduction of scientific
approach is one of the characteristics of this curriculum. In teaching all the
subjects, teachers are expected to use scientific approach even though in newly
revised curriculum 2013, this approach is not the only one approach to implement.
This approach consists of some steps. They are Observing, Questioning,
Exploring, Associating and Communicating. These steps are intended to be the
step for students to finally gain the knowledge being learned.
This approach is highly recommended by the government because it fits
the nature of learning in order to gain new knowledge. Shofwan (2016) examined
the effectiveness of scientific approach and found that this approach is appropriate
and gives impact in teaching English since the students can be more
communicative and expressive. The more the students use English in
communication the more improvement they get and this is how the teaching and
learning process is conducted using scientific approach.
However, the implementation of this approach might bring up some
problems. English teacher may find it difficult to implement scientific approach.
Zaim (2017) reveals that English teachers feel it hard to implement scientific
approach especially in the stage of observing and questioning.
Furthermore, regarding to the background of the study stated above, two
research questions are proposed in the study they are a) what are the difficulties
encountered by teachers in teaching English using scientific approach? (b) what
are factors causing the difficulties in teaching English using scientific approach
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faced by English teachers?. The objectives of this study are to find out (a) kinds of
difficulties encountered by English teachers in teaching English using scientific
approach (b) factors causing the difficulties in teaching English using scientific
approach faced by English teachers.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Scientific Approach to Teaching and Learning
Handlesman et al (2002) introduces the concept of science in teaching by
means of a project named scientific teaching. Scientific teaching is a way of
teaching undergraduate students to think like a scientist. Handlesman et al. (2002)
argues that scientific teaching aims to capture the spirit of scientific research by
immersing students in the scientific discovery process by using evidence, either
local or published, to justify the selection of teaching methods.
There are three main principles in using the scientific approach as follows
(Handlesman, 2007):
a) Learners’ active learning includes inquiry-based learning or research-based
learning, cooperative learning or learning in groups, and student-centered
learning.
b) Scientific approach develops an approach to diversity. Diversity means the
width of differences that make each student unique, each cohort of students
unique, and each teaching experience unique. Diversity includes everything
in the classroom such as the students, the instructors, the content, the
teaching methods, and the context. The diversity of students can be their
multiple intelligences. There are 8 multiple intelligences suggested by
Gardener (1983).
c) The scientific method is a technique of formulating questions and answering
it through observation and execution trial.
Counch, et al. (2015) categorized the practice of scientific teaching into
course alignment, science practice, students’ participation and cognitive process.
The pedagogical goals in course alignment are consisted of students understand
learning and performance expectations, students work to accomplish course
objectives, student achievement of course objectives is accurately measured and
students inform course curriculum decisions. The pedagogical goals in science
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practice are students explore the relationship between science and society,
students use science process skills, students synthesize experimental results and
students engage in formal scientific discourse.
The pedagogical goals in students’ participation are students engage in
class, students refine their knowledge through peer interactions, students
participate at the whole-class level, students of diverse backgrounds are affirmed
as members of the class and scientific community. The pedagogical goals in
cognitive process are students practice higher order cognitive skills, students
transfer skills across discipline and students try to think metacognitively. Counch
et al. (2015) includes the importance to account for the cognitive process in the
practice of scientific teaching.
Scientific Approach to Teaching and Learning in Indonesia
In a teacher book provided by the Ministry of Education and Culture
arranged by Wachidah et al. (2015), it is stated that there are five steps of applying
scientific approach in language teaching and learning process. They are observing,
questioning, experimenting/collecting data, associating, and communicating. The
strategy of implementing all the stages can be done randomly. Teachers do not
need to implement all the stages in one meeting as long as all the stages are
implemented for every basic competence. The activities of each step can be
explained as follows.
Observing
This step is the effort of students to get to know the text that will be learned
(interpersonal, transactional, specific functional text, or functional text). This
involves the use of more than one sense. In order to know the text well, the
students need to observe many texts actively in various activities that are seeing,
listening, reading or watching some kind of texts. The thing being observed is the
material consisted of social function, text structure, and language features.
Questioning
Questioning step is the effort of students to construct knowledge about
social functions, linguistic elements/language features, and text structure through
guided discussion.
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Experimenting/Collecting data
This step is the effort of the students to try or explore the knowledge in
order to internalize knowledge and skills that have just been observed, in the form
of understanding activities. This activity absolutely requires the activeness of the
learners to strive for interact in English with teachers and friends, inside and
outside of the classroom.
Associating
This step is the efforts of learners to develop the skill of grouping and
comparing various ideas and events to be able to associate and store it in their
memory. The experience is then related and interacted with previous experience
(background knowledge) available in long-term memory. Learners are given the
opportunity to link information about the text being studied with the similar text
in different forms found in other sources to enrichment and deepen their
understanding.
Communicating
This step is the effort of learners to develop the ability to present all
knowledge and skills that have been mastered or haven't either oral or written
way. In this activity, students also talk about problems and achievements that have
been experienced during the learning process. This activity will fully illustrate the
ability of learners in the mastery of attitudes, knowledge, and skills.
Previous Studies
Febriana (2015) did a study and found that there were some problems
beyond the implementation of Scientific approach, namely, the limitation of
teaching-learning facilities available at school made the teachers difficult to
prepare the teaching-learning media, the lack of teachers’ comprehensive
knowledge on Curriculum 2013 made them difficult in understanding the depth of
the basic competencies and achievement indicators; the low level students find it
more difficult to follow the learning process using Scientific approach; the teacher
who was lack comprehensive sometimes applied the teacher-centered learning;
and the students sometimes avoid to be involved in a group discussion and did not
want to do the exercises.
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RESEARCH METHODS
This study employs descriptive qualitative research. There were 3 English
teachers from three schools in Mataram selected as the participants of this
research. The three schools have applied curriculum 2013 and the teachers have
already implemented scientific approach in classroom.
The data were collected by means of teachers’ lesson plan, questionnaire
and interview. The lesson plans were analyzed using lesson plan rubric proposed
in curriculum 2013 and added with some concepts of scientific approach stated by
some experts. The data from questionnaire and interview were analyzed using
thematic analysis. The difficulties investigated were in three points; (1) difficulties
in preparation (2) difficulties in implementation and (3) and difficulties in
assessment
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Findings
After collecting and analyzing the data, the study found that there are
some difficulties faced by English teachers in implementing scientific approach.
The finding also shows some factors that cause the difficulties.
1. Difficulties in Teaching English Using Scientific Approach
After analyzing data obtained from teachers’ lesson plan, questionnaire and
interview to three English teachers in Mataram, it is found that there are some
difficulties in teaching English using scientific approach. The difficulties are
categorized into preparation, implementation and assessment. The difficulties are
shown below.
a. Difficulties in Preparation
According to analysis result to teacher’s lesson plan, interview and
questionnaire, it is found that there 5 difficulties in preparing classroom using
scientific approach. The difficulties are shown in the table below.
1. Difficulty in arranging indicators
The problem that appears in indicators is that the teachers missed some
cognitive processes. T1 only put C1 and C2 without including C3 as the main
competences needed in basic competence (KD). In addition, T3 started the
indicator with C3 and followed by C4 which means the other cognitive
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processes to arrive at C3 are not included. Indicators of T3 cannot show the
hierarchy process of students’ cognition in order to meet the standard
competence.
2. Difficulty in designing activities to account for students’ multiple
intelligences.
The finding below shows that two teachers miss a few intelligences in
their lesson plan. T2 has already covered all intelligence of students.
Meanwhile T1 and T3 missed the naturalistic skill of students where students
learn best if they involve in real life situation. In addition, T3 did not cover
the Bodily-kinesthetic, Visual-spatial and Musical intelligences of the
students. The data findings from lesson plan analysis related to the
accommodation of multiple intelligences of students cannot be one of the
evidence to this difficulty since designing lesson plan is based on the
students. Teachers might design the lesson plan without covering all the
multiple intelligences because perhaps, none of the students has those
intelligences. T1 and T3 at least have covered various learning activities.
However, in questionnaire T3 supports this finding in lesson plan by stating
in close-ended questionnaire that this problem sometimes happen in teaching
English using scientific approach. So it can be concluded that T3 felt this
problem in preparation of teaching English using scientific approach.
3. Difficulty in choosing suitable material for learners
The result of interview session shows that T1 have problems in choosing
material. T1 feels difficult in choosing the suitable material for the students.
T1 was asked about the difficulties in teaching English using scientific
approach and T1 answered as follow:
“Ada beberapa kesulitan seperti pemilihan materi yang sesuai dengan kondisi saat ini
karena saintifik memfokuskan pada siswa”-T1
“There are some difficulties such as choosing suitable material that fits the current
condition of students because scientific approach focuses on the students”- T1
Therefore T1 faced this kind of problem in preparing scientific based learning
in classroom.
4. Difficulty in providing materials/activities to support students’
Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)
T2 faced challenging in providing students with materials or activities
that supports students’ higher thinking skills. T2 said that the demand of
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curriculum to provide HOTs whether in assessment or in materials is
challenging to do. T2’s statement is presented below:
“Karena sekali lagi tuntutan kurikulum sekarang itu bagaimana kita memberikan
sesuatu yang lebih. Soal itu kan harus HOTS. Kalo sudah HOTS itu otomatis materinya
juga harus ikut HOTS dan itulah tantangannya”-T2
“Because once again, the demand of the curriculum is how we give something more.
Question in assessment must be HOTS. Automatically, the material also must be HOTS
and that's the challenge.”-T2
5. Difficulty in determining activities that fit the concept of Scientific
Approach
Data obtained from close-ended questionnaire shows that T3 sometimes
feel hard in providing activities that are in line with the concept of scientific
approach.
b. Difficulties in Implementation
Teachers still have problems in implementing scientific approach.
According to data findings from of questionnaire and interview, there are 13
difficulties faced by English teachers that are categorized in difficulties in all
stages, observing stage, questioning stage, collecting data stage, associating stage
and communicating stage.
1. All Stages of Scientific Approach
There are some problems found in implementing all stages of scientific
approach. The occurrence of these problems gives impact on the process in
observing, questioning, collecting data, associating and communicating. The
problems are:
1.1 Difficulty in dealing with passive students
Findings from interview show that T1 faced problem in dealing with
passive students. In interview section T1 argued that this is one of challenging
in conducting teaching and learning process. T1 stated about this problem
when T1 was asked about some problems in implementing scientific
approach. T1’s answer was shown below:
“Tidak semua aktif di kelas, yang akktif hanya yang sudah ready atau yang di SMP sudah
dipersiapkan.” -T1
“Not all students in classroom are active. The active students are only those who are
ready from junior high school”-T1
T3 felt the same difficulty. T3 answered questions in part of close-ended
questionnaire related to passive students by stating that this problem is often
faced.
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1.2 Difficulty to make sure that the students have experienced all the
stages or not.
The research finding from close-ended questionnaire reveals that T3 face
difficulty to make sure that the students have experienced all the stages or
not. T3 answered with often. In interview session T3 expressed:
“Susah memantau semua siswa. Guru selama 2x 45 menit harus mengobservasi siswa
yang banyak, dengan waktu yang sedikit”-T3
“It's hard to monitor all students because teachers for 2x 45 minutes should observe
many students, with little time”.-T3
1.3 Difficulty in dealing with the low proficiency students to do all the
learning stages successfully
Dealing with the tow proficiency students is the most crucial problem in
implementing scientific approach. The two participants in this research faced
problems related to the low proficiency students. Data obtained from close-
ended questionnaire shows that this difficulty is encountered by T2 and T3.
T2 stated that it sometimes happens and T3 answered with often. In addition,
T3 mentioned in interview that this problem lies on the students’ low
vocabulary mastery. T3 mentioned that:
“…vocab siswa kurang. Hal ini menyebabkan kesulitan dalam tahap mengumpulkan
informasi”- T3
“Students’ vocabulary mastery is low. It caused the difficulty for students to collect
data”- T3
1.4 Difficulty in giving feedback to the students
Giving feedback to the students is also considered difficult by T3. The
data found in close-ended questionnaire shows that T3 often feels it hard to
give feedback to the students. Giving feedback sometimes is not an easy thing
to do. T3 mentioned in interview section that feedbacks given to the students
are not understood by the student.
1.5 Difficulty in managing time for each steps in scientific approach
Data obtained from close-ended questionnaire show that T3
sometimes felt difficult in managing time to implement each step in scientific
approach.
1.6 Difficulty in facing the diversity of students’ characteristics
According to data finding from questionnaire and interview, T1 faced
problems related to the diversity of students’ characteristics. T1 answered
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with sometimes. T1 added this difficulty in interview session by saying a
statement below:
“Siswa memiliki karakter yang berbeda sehingga harus memberikan tritmen yang
berbeda dalam mengajar. Jadi bermasalah dengan kelas yang heterogen.-T1
“Students have different characters so teacher has to provide different treatment in
teaching. So heterogeneous classes is a problem”-T1
1.7 Difficulty in maximizing the implementation of scientific approach
Data found in open ended-question related to this difficulty show that T1
and T3 encountered the same difficulty in maximizing the implementation of
scientific approach. Data from open-ended questionnaire reveals this
problem. When the teachers were asked about whether this approach is well
implemented in classroom or not the teachers answered as presented below.
T1’s answer:
“Ya, tapi belum maksimal dikarenakan siswa belum sepenuhnya dapat menerima karena
orang tua di rumah tidak sepenuhnya mendukung siswa untuk dapat berperan aktif dalam
proses pembelajran ini”-T1
“Yes, it is, but is not maximal yet due to the unreadiness of students to accept this
approach and parents at home do not fully support students to be active in the learning
process”- T1
2. Observing Stage
The difficulty that specifically occurs in the implementation of scientific
approach in the observing stage is difficulty in dealing with low motivated
and inattentive students to do observation in classroom. T3 mentioned this in
interview session where the students are lazy to do observation. In interview,
T3 said:
“pada saat observing itu minat belajar yang kurang sehingga pembelajarna menjadi
monoton” -T3
“At the time of observing, the students’ motivation in learning is low so that the learning
process is monotonous.”-T3
3. Questioning Stage
The study found that T1 and T3 faced difficulty related to the low
motivation students to ask question in questioning stage. Teachers felt
difficult to stimulate students to ask questions. In interview session T1 said
that not all students asked questions. Only those who are interested in English
do it. While T3 stated the same by saying
“…minat belajar mereka yang kurang sehingga tidak semua bertanya”-T3
“…students’ less interest in learning makes not all of them ask question”-T3
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In addition, T3 said that we need to encourage students’ curiosity to make
they want to ask question and this is quite hard to do. So, it can be concluded
that T1 and T3 encountered this problem.
4. Collecting Data Stage
In the activity of collecting data, teachers still face difficulty. Having
students collect information they need by themselves is one of T3’s
difficulties in the stage of collecting data. Finding from close-ended
questionnaire reveals that T3 often faces this difficulty.
5. Associating Stage
In implementing this stage, there are some difficulties faced by English
teachers. The research findings show the difficulties below.
5.1 Difficulty in helping the students to answer questions in associating
stage
T3 mentioned this difficult in interview session. T3 feel it hard to help
students to do the associating activities since the students taught by T3 are
categorized into low proficiency students and this makes the process of
associating cannot run successfully. This causes difficulties for English
teacher (T3) to help the students to successfully do the activities in
associating stage. Students are sometimes failed to do this activities. T3’s
statement about this difficulty is below:
“Kesaulitan dalam melakukan proses asosiasi seperti salah menjawab pertanyaan.
contohnya mereka salah dalam menentukan tujuan teks”-T3
“The difficulty in associating process such as students give a wrong answer to the
question, for example they are wrong in determining the the purpose a text”- T3
5.2 Difficulty in helping students to infer the result of their learning by
themselves
T3 answered this problem in associating stage by means of close-ended
questionnaire. T3 answer it with often. T3 give a checklist in part of often
to the question related to the difficulties dealing with students who feel
hard to infer the result of their learning.
6. Communicating Stage
Difficulty in this stage is to give a chance for all students to do
communicating activity. Data found from close-ended questionnaire shows
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that T3 often face this difficulty. In addition, T3 stated that not all students
can do this stage. Only certain students take part in this session. This brings
up problems to teacher since communicating stage is important in learning
English. Activities in communicating stage promote productive skill in
English such as speaking and writing. Students can practice their English
through this stage so teachers need to deal with students who can practice
their language in communicating stage.
c. Difficulties in Assessment
There are some problems related to assess students’ performance in
learning English. The difficulties are shown below.
1. Difficulties in determining the assessment of knowledge and skill of
the students
The finding from close-ended questionnaire shows that T3 often felt
difficulty in determining the assessment. The form of authentic assessment in
the implementation of scientific approach is considered difficult by T3.
Authentic assessment that requires teacher to gain authentic evidence,
accurate and consistent evidence to assess students’ knowledge and skill give
challenges for teachers. Teacher faced difficulties in determining or designing
the assessment of knowledge and skill of the students as well as doing the
assessment in classroom.
2. Difficulties in assessing students’ knowledge and skill
In the implementation of this assessment in classroom, T3 still felt it
difficult. In interview with T3, T3 said that the complexity of the assessment
is really challenging in assessing the students. T3 mentioned that it is hard to
assess the students in the process of learning since there are many criteria to
assess. T3’s statement about this difficulty is shown below:
“…dari segi proses penilaianya yang terhitung agak rumit sementara kita harus
menilai satu kelas dengan alokasi waktu yang terlalu minim” –T3
“…in part of the assessment process, it is quite complicated since we need to asses
students in one class with too little time allocation-T3
3. Difficulties in managing the time for doing the assessment
Another problem is also faced by T3 related to the assessment in the
implementation of scientific approach. Data from close-ended questionnaire
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shows that T3 often feel difficulty in managing time to do the assessment.
Time to assess all the students is not enough for the students while
implementing scientific approach.
2. Factors Causing Difficulties in Teaching English Using Scientific
Approach.
According to data found from interview and questionnaire, there are some
factors that caused difficulties that mentioned before. The factors are presented
below.
a. Lack of Teachers’ Understanding of Scientific Approach
This factor is supported by T1 and T3 in open-ended questionnaire and
interview in which they mention the need for further training to English
teachers. T1 said that government needs to conduct specific training of the
implementation of scientific approach for only English teachers. Moreover, T3
said that there must be training in the form of simulation of the implementation
of scientific approach. T3 was asked about the suggestion to English teachers
towards the implementation of this approach. T3’s answer is below:
“Mungkin ini juga saran untuk saya sendiri agar lebih banyak belajar lagi mengenai
pendekatan saintifik sehingga lebih memehami dan mengerti pendekatan ini”.-T3
“Perhaps it is also a suggestion for myself in order to learn more about scientific approach
to get a better understanding of this approach."-T3
This shows that T3 still needs to improve the understanding of scientific
approach.
b. The lack of learning sources
T1 stated in interview session that problem comes from the low quality of
textbook given by government so that teachers need to supply materials from
others resources. T1 said:
“Materi tidak sesuai karena mudah dan tidak cocok dengan level siswa sehingga
pembelajaran kurang saintifik”-T1
“Material is not suitable because it is easy and not appropriate with the level of the
students so that the learning process is less scientific”-T1
Moreover, data from interview with T2 shows that it is challenging for T2 to
find the materials that supports students’ higher order thinking since not all
materials provided promote students’ cognitive process.
c. The lack of parents’ support at home to help students to learn
T1 and T3 mention the importance of motivation and support from parents
at home to improve students learning in questionnaire and interview. They
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imply that the support from parents at home really helps the teachers in
implementing scientific approach. In fact, teachers feel that there is no support
from home for the students so that it is hard for the teachers to handle the
students. For example, parents do not provide them with dictionary to help
them in learning. In interview T1 and T3 said:
“Wali murid kurang memberikan support atau bersinergi dengan sekolah untuk
menyiapkan siswa dalam belajar. Orang tua terlalu lepas tangan”-T1
“Parents are less support and synergy with the school to prepare students in learning.
Parents are too hands off.”-T1
“Tidak ada motivasi dari orang tua sehingga tahapan observing siswa cendrung agak
malas.”-T3
There is no motivation from parents so that in observing stages students tend to be quite
lazy.-T3
d. Time limitation and overloaded classroom
Data gained from questionnaire and interview reveals about the time
limitation and the overloaded classroom are the cause of problems faced by T3.
Meanwhile, T1 only considers the large number of students as the cause of the
problems. In implementing all stages of scientific approach as well as assessing
the students, T3 felt the limitation of time as the cause of the difficulties faced.
In open-ended questionnaire T1 stated that factor causing the difficulties is the
overloaded classroom. The transcript of T1’s questionnaire can be seen below:
Q: What do you think become the factors that cause the difficulties you face?
A: Overloaded jumlah siswa dalam satu kelas,
The overloaded amount of students in one class.
Moreover, T3 mentioned this factor in interview section by stating this:
“rombongan belajar yang tidak sesuai dengan apa yang harus dilakukan dan dengan
durasi 2 kali 45 menit itu.” T3
“The learning group is not appropriate with what should be done in 2 x 45 minutes.-T3
e. Students are passive and inattentive
The passive and inattentive student is one of the factors causing the
problems. T1 and T3 mentioned this in interview session. T1 and T3’s
statements of this factor are stated below:
“Faktornya seperti siswa pasif dan tidak meperhatikan ketika dijelaskan.”-T3
“the factors, such as the students are passive and inattentive when explained (materials)”-
T3
Students who are passive and inattentive in classroom will bring up some
problems. The learning process of scientific approach which needs the
activeness of students will go beyond the expectation if the students are passive
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and inattentive. The process of constructing new knowledge by the students
will not run well since the students themselves do not participate in classroom
and do not give attention to the teachers.
f. Students have low level of English Proficiency
T1 and T3 have mentioned about this in questionnaire and interview in
which this factors causes some problems especially in associating stage.
Student with low level of English proficiency become a big challenge for
teachers since this causes some unexpected situation in teaching and learning
process. The interview transcript with T3 about this factor is presented below.
“…perlu melakukan kerja ekstra agar siswa paham dengan feedback yang diberikan
karena keterbatasan kosa kata siswa”-T3
“It needs to do extra work so that students understand the feedback given because of
limited vocabulary of students”-T3
g. Lack of teaching facilities
In interview with T3, it is said that the lack facilities at school give impact
to the implementation of scientific approach. Facilities function to promote
students’ learning in classroom. The lack of teaching facilities will give impact
to the lack of teachers’ aid in teaching so that the process of learning is not
optimal. T3 said:
“…tidak ada fasilitas belajar yang memadai seperti kamus. Kamus sangat dibutuhkan.-
T3
“…there are no adequate learning facilities such as dictionaries. Dictionary is really
needed.-T3
h. Students are not interested in learning English and consider English
difficult.
Data finding from interview with T1 and T3 show that some students are
not interested in learning English. T3 added that students in T3’s school
consider English difficult so that it brings problems to English teacher. This
factor will affect students’ motivation in learning English. T3 revealed:
“minat belajar kurang….Bahasa inggris dianggap tidak penting dan sulit”-T3
“Lack of learning interes….English is considered unimportant and difficult-T3
i. Students’ low reading motivation
Based on the interview finding from T1, it shows that students’ low
reading motivation is one of the factors that cause the difficulties faced by
English teachers. This factor brings problems especially in associating stage.
T1 supports this by giving a statement below:
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Faktornya mungkin siswa yang literasi kurang sehingga susah dalam melaukan tahapan
ini (associating stage)”- T1
The factors might come from low students’ literacy so it causes the difficulty in
implementing this stage (associating stage)- T1
The need of students to be an independent learner in the implementation of
scientific approach is high. Reading is one of activities students can do to help
the process of gaining new knowledge. Reading helps students in the process
of associating information in order to construct new knowledge. Students’ low
reading motivation will cause the extra work of teacher to help them to obtain
the success of learning.
j. Too many criteria to be considered to assess
Finding form interview with T3 shows that the problem related to
assessment is caused by the large number of criteria to assess the students. T3
mentioned this in interview as quoted below:
“keterbatasan waktu, kriteria banyak dan rumit serta siswa terlalu banyak”.-T3
“The limitation of time, the large amount and the complexity of the criteria and the large
amount of students”-T3
The expression above is T3’s answer after being asked about the factors
causing difficulties in assessing students.
k. Inadequate training to the implementation of scientific approach
In open-ended questionnaire, T1 and T3 mentioned that training of the
implementation of scientific approach in classroom is needed. Teachers were
asked about whether they need a further training about scientific approach or
not. T1 and T3’s answers about that question can be seen below.
“Pelatihan harus, karena tidak cukup guru menjadi professional kalau tidak dilatih
secara kontinyu”-T1
“Training is needed because it is not enough for teacher to be professional without
continuous training”-T1
“Sangat perlu, agar kita sebagai fasilitator lebih mengerti mendalam dan lebih mudah
menerapkannya pada saat pembelajaran.”-T3
“It is very important for us as the facilitator to better understand and to easily implement
it in the learning process”- T3
In addition T1 and T3 said in interview section that specific training for only
English teachers is necessary. T1 said that there is no specific training to
scientific approach for English teachers. It is important since the
implementation of scientific approach for English teacher is different with
other teachers. T3 also mentioned that training in terms of simulation about
how this approach is implemented in classroom is needed.
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Discussion
1. Difficulties in Teaching English Using Scientific Approach
Difficulties that are found will try to discuss in this section. The
difficulties are consisted of difficulties in preparation, difficulties in
implementation and difficulties in assessment.
a. Preparation
One of the difficulties in preparation is arranging indicators. Indicators that
the teachers arranged cannot fully become benchmark to reach the basic
competence. Indicators in lesson plan are very important since they give impact to
the way teachers provide material, activities and assessment for the students.
Material, teaching activities, and assessment should follow the indicators arranged
by the teachers in order to arrive at the basic competences. This process is what it
is meant by the concept of scientific approach that is cognitive process proposed
by Counch, et al. (2015).
Another issue related to preparation of teaching English using scientific
approach is teachers need to give different treatment to students in order to
account for the 8 intelligences of students. This helps students to choose which
treatment they consider as the easiest way to help them to obtain the attitude,
knowledge or skill being learnt. Multiple intelligence theory is claimed to be an
important tool to recognize the diversity of ways that learners approach the
curriculum and it helps teachers and learners to successfully program
individualized instructions.
Dealing with HOTs is another important thing to be considered since the
concept of scientific approach needs higher level of students’ cognitive process
such as in the process of associating and communicating. Providing HOTs’
material, activities or evaluation for students will promote students’ cognitive
development in order to learn as what explained by Counch, et al. (2015) to
concept of scientific approach.
In preparation teacher also faced difficulty in determining activities that fit
the concept of Scientific Approach. Apryauni (2016) supports this finding by
revealing the same difficulty from teachers in Pekan Baru. This difficulty gives
impact on the effectiveness of teaching and learning. In order to conduct a
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successful teaching and learning based on scientific approach, teachers should
know what activities suitable with the concept of scientific approach.
b. Implementation
Some studies support the findings of teachers’ difficulties in teaching
English using scientific approach in part of implementation. Teacher feels it hard
to deal with the passive students. Dealing with passive students is really a problem
in implementing scientific approach. It is because the students need to do the
activities in all stages actively in order to discover or invent the knowledge, skill
or attitude learnt. It means that the passive students will ruin the effectiveness of
scientific approach.
Another issue in the implementation of scientific approach is to deal with
the low proficiency students. This difficulty is in line with research findings from
Zaim (2017) arguing that low proficiency students really challenge teachers in
implementing scientific approach. All of the findings consider the lack of
students’ vocabulary is the main problem.
In addition to the difficulties faced by teachers in implementing scientific
approach, Wahyudin & Sukadi (2015) supports the finding in which teachers feel
it hard to implement all stages of scientific approach. Another related difficulty
faced is maximizing the implementation of this approach. Teachers feel that the
effectiveness of teaching English using scientific approach in their classroom has
not met the optimal point.
In part of questioning stage teachers found their students passive and have
no willingness to ask questions. Sejati (2015) reveals the same problems in
questioning stages in which not all students ask questions so that it challenges the
teacher to promote students’ curiosity to ask questions. Questioning stage is an
important stage in which students start to construct knowledge by asking some
questions that they need to know the answer with the guidance of the teachers. In
order to know whether the students have already constructed the knowledge or
not, teachers observe it from their curiosity to ask questions. It infers that they
have had knowledge that will be gained during the teaching and learning process.
Most of the difficulties are related to classroom management in which
students as the source of the problem. In teaching English using scientific
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approach, learners are considered as the most important aspect in the success of
teaching and learning. It is because this approach employs student-centred
principle in classroom. Students are the one who determine the process of learning
will be successful or not and teachers work as facilitator to help them. The five
stages in scientific approach should be done by the students not the teacher.
Therefore, students with problems will also bring problems in the implementation
of scientific approach in teaching English.
c. Assessment
Hendlesman et al. (2007) said that teachers need to set clear criteria that
establish the intended learning outcomes and determine how to measure learning.
That is how scientific teaching should be in classroom. The change of the
traditional way of assessment into a new mode of assessment such as authentic
assessment brings up a big challenge to the teacher. Authentic assessment that
requires teacher to gain authentic evidence, accurate and consistent evidence to
assess students’ knowledge and skill give challenges for teachers.
Teacher faced difficulties in determining or designing the assessment of
knowledge and skill of the students as well as doing the assessment in classroom.
The challenge is teachers should deal with the new mode of assessment. The
teacher also got problem in time management for the assessment. The teacher is
still confused in assessing students’ performance especially in direct assessment
using observation sheet in classroom. The need for assessing the attitudes of the
students while the learning process is conducted becomes one of the challenges
faced by the teacher.
2. Factors Causing the Difficulties
Wahyudi and Sukyadi (2015) reveal the same factors in examining
difficulties facing by English teacher in teaching using scientific approach. The
same factors are the limitation of time and the big numbers of students in
classroom make the teaching and learning become not effective. Teachers cannot
control all the students since the classroom is overloaded. Too many students and
the limitation of time make some students cannot practice in communicating
stage. Febrina (2015) also supports some factors causing the difficulties by
arguing that students who have low level of English will bring some problems in
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the implementation of scientific approach and reveals the same fact that teachers
still need more facilities in teaching.
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
Conclusion
There are some difficulties faced by English teachers in teaching English
using scientific approach. Difficulties in Preparation are related to designing
indicators, materials and activities that fit the concept of scientific approach.
Difficulties in Implementation are mostly to the classroom management in which
students are the sources of the problems. Difficulties in assessment lay on the
problems in designing and doing the assessment in classroom. Beside the
difficulties, the study also finds some factors causing the difficulties. The factors
come from the teacher, the students, parents and others.
Suggestion
Teacher should be more creative in setting classroom. The skill of
classroom management is also necessary to improve. It is also suggested to the
other researcher to take the findings of the study as well as the limitation to be a
consideration for other researchers for planning the same research. It is also
expected to government to conduct a specific training for English teachers in
implementing scientific approach. The training should be in the form of
simulation. In addition, the training should be focus on English teachers.
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