Assessing Receptive Skills

Teaching and assessment are interrelated each other. They are important elements of learning cycle. As teachers, we must evaluate on a routine basis so that we can make decisions about what to teach the next day. English skill is classified into receptive and productive skills. Receptive skills that include listening and writing. They are crucial to be tested as language competence is developed firstly from receptive skills. When people understand what other people say or write, interaction may go on. If an interlocutor does not know the utterances, communication will not occur. This article explores the nature of receptive skills and provides the models of testing both listening and reading skills and its implementation. By understanding the concept of assessing receptive skill, hopefully teachers are able to run the assessment more effectively that later can contribute to the better learnin

Students’ Perspective on Teaching Materials of English for Management Business II In Management Department, Universitas Muria Kudus

In the era of globalization, people around the world can have interaction for satisfying their goal in any aspect of life, such as business, politics, social and culture, education, etc. for that reason, the need of English proficiency as a global language becomes a priority. Therefore, it is compulsory for all students in formal education to learn it.   In university level, students of the non-English department must study English with varied purposes, depending on their major, at least for two credits. Generally, it is taught to support the basic major or discipline. Consequently, the materials are designed based on their needs, especially later when they get jobs. For this reason, the material adapted is called ESP (English for Specific Purposes) which aims at preparing students to meet the demands of the workplace, i.e. the English skills. It should be more contextual, real life for now and the future. If the material is authentic and in accordance with the needs of learners, they will likely be ready to work as the demands of the employer. With these objectives, the English materials need to be adjusted to the needs of users (stakeholders) so that after graduating from universities, freshmen can directly work or create jobs according to their expertise. This research aims to describe students’ perception of English teaching materials for Management department. A survey was conducted to second-semester students of Management department of Universitas Muria Kudus. The result of the study reveals that the students have a positive perspective on the teaching materials of English for Management Business II. They think affirmatively that the materials have been selected properly in terms of material attraction, usefulness, authenticity, variety, level of difficulty, language skill proportion and the discussed topics. In other words, the materials are appropriate for satisfying Management department students’ need to prepare their future. The implication is the materials should be revised by adding more reading texts of Business English and providing more vocabulary tasks in the real context

STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE ON KETRAMPILAN WAJIB BAHASA INGGRIS IN UNIVERSITAS MURIA KUDUS

Due to globalization, the need of English mastery is getting higher. Therefore, it is very important for students to master the international language in order to survive in the global competition.  To prepare its alumni with good English competence Universitas Muria Kudus requires all students to pursue Ketrampilan Wajib Bahasa Inggris (English Compulsory Skill)  with 0 SKS. This policy has been ruled since 2001 and organized by Language Center of Universitas Muria Kudus. To know whether the program runs effectively, at the end of each semester, there is an evaluation conducted by the instructors along with the head of the Language Center. However, it does not involve the students. Therefore, it is worthy to investigate students’ responses and opinions of the class. This study aims at describing students' perceptions on the learning process of Ketrampilan Wajib Bahasa Inggris in the academic semester of 2014/2015. To achieve the above objectives, this study was conducted by survey. Questionnaires were distributed to 98 students who were selected randomly, out of 498 students joining the class in the academic year  2014/2015. The results of data analysis shows that the learning process of Ketrampilan Wajib Bahasa Inggris class in odd semester academic year 2014/2015 ran well. This is shown from the learning strategies, learning media, learning materials, student interests, students discipline in joining the English course and student mastery were classified as good.  Some improvements need to be done so that the quality of learning can be improved due to satisfactory service of Language Center.Keywords: Ketrampilan Wajib Bahasa Inggris, learning, TOEFL

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON LEARNING ENGLISH THROUGH MICROSOFT TEAMS

English is one of the subjects that has an important role in communication, because English is an international language used to communicate in various countries. Since the pandemic all activities have been carried out online, including learning activities. Many learning applications are used during online learning, one of them is Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams is a learning application that has very complete features. This research aims to describe students' perceptions of learning English through Microsoft Teams in class XI students at SMA 2 Kudus.  This research uses a qualitative research design with an open questionnaire instrument given to 50 students and interviews with 15 student. The results of this research indicate that the students of class XI at SMA 2 Kudus have a neutral perception of learning English through Microsoft Teams. This is evidenced by the fact that most students think that learning English through Microsoft Teams is effective and efficient, but they face several obstacles while using Microsoft Teams which causes them do not understand the material and choose face-to-face learning. From the results of this research, it is suggested that students pay more attention to the importance of learning English and motivate themselves to study harder

PRONUNCIATION ERRORS MADE BY EFL STUDENT TEACHERS IN SPEECH PERFORMANCE

Pronunciation is one of the key factors in communication. The different pronunciation or different sounds will cause different meanings. It is known that the sound of English vowels and consonants are so much different from Indonesian vowels and consonants. A slip of pronunciation might occur and cause listeners misunderstand the message.This study is aimed at finding the pronunciation errors and the factors contributing to the pronunciation errors made by the EFL student teachers in speech performance.A descriptive qualitative research design was used. The data were collected through document analysis and interview. The result of the study shows that there were 79 errors found, meanwhile the factors contributing to the students’ pronunciations consists of  internal and external factors

Students' perception on the use of Google Translate in learning Pronunciation

Since the Covid-19 pandemic that occurred in Indonesia, teaching and learning activities must be carried out online. Therefore, to improve students’ pronunciation skills, the teacher suggests to students to use Google Translate Application as media to learn pronunciation independently. Google Translate is an application that has various features, one of them is the pronunciation feature that can convert sound into text. This feature can be used by students’ to practice pronunciation so that it can train students’ ability to pronounce difficult words. The aim of this research is to describe the students’ perceptions of using Google Translate Application and to describe the obstacles do students find using Google Translate Application as media in learning pronunciation. This research used descriptive qualitative research design. The participants of this research is 15 students of the tenth grade an Islamic public senior high school in Kudus, Indonesia. The data was collected by distributing a questionnaire to the respondents. The result of this research shows the students’ perception on using Google Translate Application as media in learning pronunciation was positive, because students can learn practically and independently. While the obstacles that students found when learning pronunciation using Google Translate were that Google Translate often had errors, could not be used offline, took a long time to load, and had low accuracy. Therefore, to help students improve their pronunciation ability, students’ can use Google Translate Application as learning media. To minimize obstacles when using Google Translate Application, it is recommended to use Wi-Fi, so that the connection is good so that loading can be faster and reduce errors. &nbsp

An Analysis of Speech Act Used in London Has Fallen Movie

The most significant thing in speech act is the message that speaker wants to convey. It means when using language is not only produces a sentence but also perform an action. The aims of the research are (i) to find out the kinds of speech act used in London Has Fallen Movie (ii) to find out the way of speech act and the classifications of illocutionary act used in London Has Fallen Movie. This research uses descriptive qualitative research. This research figures out the kinds of speech act and the classifications of illocutionary act used in London Has Fallen Movie. The result of the research shows that: (i) there are 76 utterances of speech act used in London Has Fallen Movie which is the most dominant is illocutinary act consist of 37 utterances. (ii) there are 99 utterances of the classifications of illocutionary act and the most dominant categories are directive with 32 utterances and expressive with 23 utterances

Peluang dan Tantangan Berwirausaha bagi Mahasiswa Universitas Muria Kudus di Masa Pandemi

Artikel ini menyajikan peluang dan tantangan mahasiswa dalam berwirausaha dalam masa pandemi. Pada tahun pertama Pelaksanaan Progam Pengembangan Kewirausahaan Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Muria Kudus (PPK FKIP UMK) telah menghasilkan 8 wirausahawan baru dengan hasil evaluasi bahwa mindset, motivasi, dan kerjasama tim perlu ditekankan pada tahun kedua. Hal tersebut diperkuat pada tahun kedua ini dimana pelaksanaan program bertepatan dengan pandemi Covid-19. Mahasiswa sebagai sasaran program melaksanakan pembelajaran jarak jauh (daring). Aktivitas aktivitas lain di kampus ditiadakan sesuai dengan regulasi pemerintah. Semua kegiatan akademik dan non akademik dilaksanakan secara daring. Hal tersebut memberikan banyak dampak dalam persiapan, pelaksanaan, serta evaluasi program. Masalah yang dihadapi para calon tenant adalah wirausaha tidak dapat dilakukan secara langsung di kampus, menentukan jenis bisnis yang tetap dapat dijalankan selama pandemi, dan bagaimana supaya wirausaha bisa tetap bertahan dalam masa pandemi. Sesuai dengan masalah yang dihadapi oleh calon wirausaha baru (tenant), maka tujuan dari program PPK pada tahun kedua ini yaitu membantu para mahasiswa untuk dapat menyikapi peluang dan tantangan berwirausaha dalam situasi seperti ini, dan menghasilkan tenant yang siap berwirausaha. Metode yang digunakan adalah sosialisasi, workshop, eksekusi usaha, coaching dan evaluasi. Berdasarkan hasil wawancara dan pengamatan selama proses coaching, peluang yang dimiliki tenant meliputi penggunaan media sosial untuk mempromosikan produk dan berinovasi menciptakan produk buatan sendiri. Sementara tantangan yang dihadapi berupa motivasi berwirausaha dan pembatasan sosial

Cable TV: Bringing Home Native Speaker to Increase Listening Comprehension of the Students of English Education Department Teacher Training and Education Faculty Muria Kudus University

This study investigated the use of cable TV to increase listening comprehension of the students of English education department of Muria Kudus University. The aims were to find out: (1) the listening comprehension achievement of the students taught by using cable TV, (2) the students' response towards the teaching of listening comprehension class by using cable TV, and (3) the students' difficulties when being involved in the listening class taught by using cable TV are. A classroom action research was conducted with three cycles. The data was collected by using test, observation checklist, & a questionnaire. The subject consisted of 29 students joining Advanced Listening class. The findings show that: (a) The listening comprehension achievement of the students taught by using cable TV in cycle I, II, & III is fair, (b) The students have enthusiasm and seriousness and motivation in joining the class in all cycles, (c) In cycle III the students' difficulties when being involved in the listening comprehension class taught by using cable TV are more and more decreasing