Authentic Materials for Learning English: A Study on EFL Students in Aceh

This study explores the students’ opinions on the use of authentic materials and whether these materials motivate them in learning English in the classroom. Authentic materials have been claimed by many experts to give a positive impact on learners’ interest to learn a foreign language (in the classroom). Therefore, this study was conducted to understand the responses of the sample students about the use of authentic texts in teaching-learning English, especially for university students in the EFL context, such as in Indonesia. The data was gathered from 50 first-year students of English. This research used a questionnaire proposed by Peacock (1997) to collect data on the use of authentic materials and motivation in the learning process. The questionnaire was distributed to the students. After analysing the data, it was found that the learners were mostly motivated by using authentic materials because they are exciting to be discussed in the class, interesting to learn and appealing to the learners. The findings in the present research appear to be similar to those from previous research studies who claim that when learners use authentic materials in the learning process, the overall class interest in learning a foreign language increases significantly

Investigating the sociological use of slang from a hearer-oriented perspective

Numerous studies have investigated the importance of slang in linguistics in various media, including novels. The dominant works on this subject have focused solely on the structural explanation of slang, leaving out its sociological context and meaning. Given the nature of slang itself as a pure informal language, studies about the semantic meaning of slang must be essential. This research looked into the slang words and expressions in a true-crime novel entitled ‘Black Mass’ by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill in 2000. The goal is to discover the semantic meaning of slang words and expressions in the novel using the qualitative method and Mattiello’s hearer-oriented (2008) theory as the underlying theory. We applied the documentary method to retrieve the data and further analyzed it using Miles et al.  (2014) theory. Heavily influenced by the setting of South Boston and its crimes, Black Mass data indicated that this novel’s slang is primarily attributed to freshness and novelty. Subsequently, we found evidence of the novel’s use of desire to impress and faddishness, playfulness and humor, and impertinence properties. Color and musicality are this novel’s least common categories of slang, with only four occurrences in the entire manuscript. Given that the novel’s literature cover is still scarce, it is hoped that these findings are helpful to those who are interested in studying and researching the semantic area

The listening skill of autistic students in learning English through total physical response

This study analyses how a teacher at SMPLB-CD YPAC (Foundation for Children with Disabilities), Banda Aceh, Indonesia, teaches English listening using the Total Physical Response (TPR) method to autistic students. In this method, a teacher instructed the students to act as modelled by the teacher. Students are considered to have good listening comprehension if they understood the teacher’s commands and imitated the act. This research is qualitative to describe the application of the TPR method in teaching English listening skills to autistic students. The sample for this study was four autistic students at the school under study. The data were collected by observing and documenting the English listening teaching-learning process in the classroom using the TPR method. The data were then analysed, focusing on the classroom dialogues directly related to using the TPR method to teach listening comprehension to autistic students. The results showed that the TPR method is suitable to teach students with autism to learn and understand new words. This was because they were asked to imitate the words verbally and in action repeatedly. The students could memorize the new vocabulary because it involved motor activities, which created a fun atmosphere in the classroom. Students were active in doing the actions and have no pressure to learn. The TPR method also contains elements of games which is able to raise a positive mood in autistic students

The strategy of Two Stay Two Stray to improve EFL students’ reading skill

The objectives of this study are to figure out whether the use of Two Stay Two Stray (TSTS) strategy could improve Grade 8 EFL students’ reading skill in a junior high school in Banda Aceh and to find out the students’ perspective about the use of this strategy. One class was randomly chosen as the sample in this study. The data were collected by using tests and questionnaire. The data were both analyzed by using statistical formulas. The results show that the use of TSTS in teaching reading to the Grade 8 students was successful. It can be seen from the mean scores of the experimental class that was 84.70. Moreover, the t-score (6.81) was higher than t-table (2.021), and this indicates that the students in the experimental class who were taught using TSTS got better improvement than before they were taught using this strategy. The results from the questionnaire also revealed that the students’ have positive responses in relation to the use of TSTS because this strategy offered a positive relationship between teacher-students and students-students, and further increase their interest in learning. This led the students to escalate their self-confidence, social interaction, individual accountability, and group skills. A better understanding of the materials taught was also attained because they could learn together as a team

Improving EFL Students' Vocabulary in a Rural Area through Scrabble with Crossword Picture Puzzle

There are still many EFL students in Indonesia who face struggles in learning English, especially in memorizing vocabulary. This is prominent in particular to students who reside in rural areas, where besides school facilities are limited, motivation is also among the factors for their depleted motivation to learn English. The students in one of the senior high schools in Sabang island, Aceh, Indonesia, still strain when dealing with this subject. To solve the problem, a game insinuated to improve their  vocabulary is the scrabble with crossword picture puzzle. This game demands cooperation of students to work together with their peers in a group in an entertaining way. This research employed the quantitative approach by experimental teaching. The sample of study of were 25 students in the experimental class and 26 students in the control class. Purposive sampling was used in which these two classes had most students with the lowest English scores among the other tenth grade students. The results of the t-score showed that there was a difference between the scores of the pre-test and the post-test of the experimental (4.23) and control classes (3.59). This proved that the used of scrabble with crossword picture puzzle game gave a significant improvement on students’ vocabulary. The application of this game made the students in the experimental class be more active, communicative, and challenging during learning process compared to the control class. &nbsp

Scrabble game technique: A game changer for English vocabulary learning

Students’ learning outcomes of vocabulary mastery in reading comprehension at junior high schools in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, are relatively low. To tackle the issue, the Scrabble Game Technique (hereafter, SGT) is hoped to be a game-changer. This study aims to investigate EFL students’ learning outcomes through the use of the SGT in learning English vocabulary through narrative texts to seventh-grade students at a junior high school. The aspects assessed for each type of vocabulary included nouns, verbs, pronouns, adverbs, adjectives, and conjunctions. The research design was quantitative with pre-experimental research that used a one-group pre-test post-test design to measure the students’ learning outcomes after three treatments with the SGT. A total of 30 seventh-grade students were selected by purposive sampling. The instrument used to collect data was a test, comprising 30 questions in total, with 18 multiple choices, 6 fill-in-the-blanks, and 6 matching-the-word. The tests were further analyzed using the right-hand t-test after the pre-requisite test was met. It was found that the percentage of mastery of nouns and verbs in the post-test was better than the pre-test, with the improvement of nouns at 93%, verbs at 91%, pronouns at 84%, adverbs at 72%, adjectives at 71%, and conjunctions at 71%. Furthermore, the t-count was 19.68 with p = 0.05, dk = 29, and t-table = 1.70. It was concluded that students’ learning outcomes were better after being taught through the SGT

A study of anxiety experienced by EFL students in speaking performance

Many EFL students show anxiety when speaking English in Indonesia. Therefore, the researchers were interested to conduct this study to find out the level of English-speaking anxiety experienced by those students. In this quantitative study, data were collected from 29 students through a questionnaire that was adopted from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) consisted of 10 items developed by Horwitz, et al. (1986). The data from the questionnaire were analyzed by using the FLCAS questionnaire scale. The results were described in percentages and are further elaborated in narration. The data revealed that 11 out of 29 students (38%) experienced low-level anxiety, 17 out of 29 students (59%) had anxiety at a moderate level, and one out of 29 students (3,4%) got high-level anxiety. It means that most students experienced a moderate level of speaking anxiety. In this case, those findings can be the inputs for every English teacher, especially for the English teachers in which this study was conducted, to be aware of the level of their students’ English-speaking anxiety. It is hoped that the findings of this research can give information and add knowledge to English teachers about EFL students’ level of anxiety so that they could find an appropriate strategy to reduce their students’ speaking anxiety

Boosting young EFL students’ speaking through game activities

English is treated as a foreign language in Indonesia. The language is introduced to students in public schools from Grade 7. This qualitative study investigated English teachers’ efforts in using game activities in teaching speaking and the problems faced in its implementation to EFL (English as a Foreign Langauge) young learners, aged 12-13 years old, at a public middle school in Banda Aceh. Two English teachers from two classes of Grade 7 students were audio-recorded and observed while teaching, and further given a questionnaire. The findings found that both teachers used game activities in their classes. Problems faced by the teachers in implementing these activities revolved around their preparation, class participation and class management. The discussion is elaborated in the paper. The study suggests that well-planned preparation, better class management and a focus more on the students’ participation are needed to reduce difficulty in carrying out these activities in large class sizes

Improving EFL Students' Vocabulary in a Rural Area through Scrabble with Crossword Picture Puzzle

There are still many EFL students in Indonesia who face struggles in learning English, especially in memorizing vocabulary. This is prominent in particular to students who reside in rural areas, where besides school facilities are limited, motivation is also among the factors for their depleted motivation to learn English. The students in one of the senior high schools in Sabang island, Aceh, Indonesia, still strain when dealing with this subject. To solve the problem, a game insinuated to improve their  vocabulary is the scrabble with crossword picture puzzle. This game demands cooperation of students to work together with their peers in a group in an entertaining way. This research employed the quantitative approach by experimental teaching. The sample of study of were 25 students in the experimental class and 26 students in the control class. Purposive sampling was used in which these two classes had most students with the lowest English scores among the other tenth grade students. The results of the t-score showed that there was a difference between the scores of the pre-test and the post-test of the experimental (4.23) and control classes (3.59). This proved that the used of scrabble with crossword picture puzzle game gave a significant improvement on students’ vocabulary. The application of this game made the students in the experimental class be more active, communicative, and challenging during learning process compared to the control class

A review on the use of audiovisual as media in improving listening skills among junior high school students

This research aims to analyze the effectiveness of audiovisual as media to improve junior high school students in listening skill. Based on data and information that are all taken from previous studies, it revealed that the students’ average score in listening were still low. Therefore, in order to help students to improve their listening skill, audiovisual media is a media which gave good effect on students’ listening skill. This research using library research as the method that concerned on how the use of audiovisual media can improve students’ listening skill based on the previous studies and the theories of the experts. Thus, the data was collected from previous studies related to audiovisual media and paraphrased to get information about audiovisual media, this data analysis technique includes the processes of data identification from relevant literature sources, determining where the data is located, obtaining the data, evaluating the data, and incorporating the data into the research presentation. Based on the result of this research, it showed that audiovisual media had positive effect on students’ listening skill. Moreover, several studies revealed that the students gave positive attitudes towards the use of audiovisual media. In addition, audiovisual media also encouraged and motivated students during the process of teaching and learning.