a thesis proposal (proposal skripsi)

BAB I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

During the past 10 years, the rate of growth of LLSs has increased by about 65% while total enrollments for all students in Grades K-12 have increased by 9% in the US. It shows us about the importance of suitable learning strategies toward our successfulness, in spite of the existence of teacher as facilitator. In short, the LLSs will be running well based on the cooperation between student and teacher. In addition, Later contributions of scholars such as Oxford (1990) and O’Malley and Chamot (1990) resulted in the explosion of interest in learning strategies over the last three decades.

Nowadays, English language learning strategies are among the main factors that join in influencing the efficiency of learning process, that is why it is such an obligation for students themselves to figure out their own strategies by following several ways. Imagine if some students don’t know what strategies have to be used in overcoming the language problem, they will be eliminated of this technology era where english is one of international language which is admitted by world. Because of its complexity,  students must be having the concrete strategies to solve.

Teoritically, Oxford (1990) divided the LLSs into two broad categories of direct and indirect dichotomy. Direct learning strategies consist of cognitive, memory and compensation strategies whereas indirect strategies include metacognitive, social and affective ones. Teachers can assist identifying their student strategies by paying attention to them while learning process is running, or using strategy inventory for language learning (SILL) which consists of 50 questions containing items that will discover what their language learning strategies are. It examines the frequency of the strategy usage for L2 learning. SILL has six sections including memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective and social each of which aims at measuring one strategy type in particular. Hence, the language learning would be effective by making the best use of some strategies mentioned above.

1.2  Research Questions

The present study was driven by four research questions, they are:

1.      Does each of student in the Islamic Boarding School Madinatul Munawwarah have language learning strategies?

2.      Do they really make the best use of those language learning strategies?

3.      What are language learning strategies mostly used by the students of Islamic Boarding School Madinatul Munawwarah?

4.      Does SILL give the best result for finding?

1.3  Objective of the Study

The major objective of the study is to know self-perceived strategies which are utilized by each of student in the Islamic Boarding School Madinatul Munawwarah at the senior level. In other words, the study aimed to determine the LLSs most frequently used by the students of Islamic Boarding School Madinatul Munawwarah at the senior level, which one of the LLSs less frequently used, and the percentage of each strategy use. 

1.4  Significance of the study

Investigating about the LLSs of whole Islamic Boarding School Madinatul Munawwarah’s student at the senior level is going to allow us to deal with the most and the less frequently used. Beside, students can establish the way they learn based on their own LLSs, until the learning process can be running well as far as expected.

BAB II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

            Understanding the theoretical foundations of the study allows us to make more well-grounded decisions regarding the research design. In what follows the theoretical basis of the present study is explained. Here are some explanations about language learning strategies proposed by some experts :

A.    The Definition of English Language Learning Strategy

1.      Ellis (1994) defined strategy as “mental or behavioral activity related to some specific stage in the overall process of language acquisition or language use.

2.      Oxford (1990) defined LLSs as “operations employed by the learner to aid the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information and conscious or unconscious mental steps that are employed by learners to aid in the acquisition of a target language (Oxford, 1990).

3.      O’Malley and Chamot (1990) also defined them as skills that are acquired as declarative knowledge, which would subsequently become procedural as a result of extensive practice.

B.     The Classification of English Language Learning Strategies

O’Malley & Chamot (1990) classified LLSs into three types: metacognitive (knowing about learning and controlling learning through planning, monitoring and evaluating learning activity), cognitive (manipulation or transformation of the material to be learned) and social/affective (involving the learner in communicative interaction with another person, for example, collaboration with peers and teachers in the learning process).

LLSs are divided by Rebecca L. Oxford (1990) into two broad categories : direct and indirect strategies.

a.      Direct learning strategies

They are beneficial to the students because they help store and recover information. These strategies help learners to produce language even when there is gap in knowledge. They also help to understand and use the new language.

a)      Memory strategies

They are based on simple principles like laying things out in order, making association, and reviewing. These principles are employed when a learner faces challenge of vocabulary learning. The words and phrases can be associated with visual images that can be stored and retrieved for communication. Many learners make use of visual images, but some find it easy to connect words and phrases with sound, motion or touch.

b)     Cognitive strategies

Cognitive strategies enable the learner to manipulate the language material in direct ways, e.g., through reasoning, analysis, note-taking, summarizing, synthesizing, outlining, reorganizing information to develop stronger schemas (knowledge structures), practicing in naturalistic settings, and practicing structures and sounds formally.

c)      Compensation Strategies

Learners use compensation strategies for comprehension of the target language when they have insufficient knowledge of the target language. These strategies make up for the deficiency in grammar and vocabulary. When learners do not know new words and expressions, they guess the meaning. A learner brings own life experience to interpret data by guessing.

b.      Indirect Strategies

Indirect language learning strategies work together with the direct strategies. They help learner regulate the learning process. These strategies support and manage language learning without direct engagement and therefore called indirect strategies.

a)      Metacognitive strategies

These strategies (e.g., identifying one’s own learning style preferences and needs, planning for an L2 task, gathering and organizing materials, arranging a study space and a schedule, monitoring mistakes, and evaluating task success, and evaluating the success of any type of learning strategy) are employed for managing the learning process overall.

b)     Affective Strategies

Affective strategies, such as identifying one’s mood and anxiety level, talking about feelings, rewarding oneself for good performance, and using deep breathing or positive self-talk, have been shown to be significantly related to L2 proficiency based on many previous studies. Good language learners control their attitudes and emotions about learning and understand that negative feelings retard learning. Teachers can help generate positive feeling in class by giving students more responsibility, increasing the amount of natural communication, and teaching affective strategies.

c)      Social strategies

Social strategies (e.g., asking questions to get verification, asking for clarification of a confusing point, asking for help in doing a language task, talking with a native-speaking conversation partner, and exploring cultural and social norms) help the learner work with others and understand the target culture as well as the language. Learners can apply the strategy of cooperating with others by doing something together in the language they are learning. Daily telephone conversation with a friend in the target language is an example to practice listening and speaking skills.

In order to deal with LLSs of Islamic Boarding School students at the senior level, we seize on SILL (Strategy Inventory for Language Learning) created by Rebecca L. Oxford (1990). SILL is a 50-question, self-rating survey for EFL learners. In the form, learners are going to find statements about learning english and their tasks are writing responses which tell how true toward them the statement is.

LLSs have been analyzed in different ways. For example, Rubin (1975) and Stern (1975) used observation to analyze the strategies. O’Malley and Chamot (1990) utilized first language categories while Oxford’s (1990) classification of LLSs is a multi-source one which draws on various factors. Chamot and El-Dinary (1999) and Chamot et al. (1996) also employed thinkaloud protocol to analyze learning strategies.

BAB III

METHODOLOGY

      In what follows, the participants of the study, the instruments used to collect the data and the data collection and analysis procedures are detailed.

4.1  Participants

The selected participants of this study were all of senior students (male and female without exception) at Islamic Boarding School Madinatul Munawwarah in Ngarai, Bukittinggi, ranging age from 15 to 17.

4.2 Instruments

The one and only utilized instruments were SILL, commonly known as strategy inventory for language learning. It is a kind of self-report questionnaire that has been used extensively by researcher to examine the frequency of the strategy usage for L2 learning  in many countries, and its reliability has been checked in multiple ways, and has been reported as high validity, reliability and utility (Oxford, 1996). It includes Memory strategies (9 items), Cognitive strategies (14 items), Compensation strategies (6 items), Metacognitive strategies (9 items), Affective strategies (6 items), and Social strategies (6 items).

4.3 Type of the Study

      In this research, the writer uses classroom action research (CAR). Mc Niff (1992) in Arikunto (2006:102) states that action research is a form of self-reflective inquiry undertaken by participants in a social (including educational) situation. The researchers are going to visit the Islamic boarding school Madinatul Munawwarah at the senior level and divide the sheet of SILL to all of them without exceptional.

4.4 Research Location

      This research takes place at Islamic Boarding School Madinatul Munawwarah at the senior level, Ngarai, Bukittinggi city. The researcher chooses this place to do an action research by reason of the simplicity of that Islamic Boarding school at the senior level which just consists of eighteen students totally. Therefore, the purpose for analyzing whole of their English language learning strategy would come true because they are not in a large sample. Even, the research could be well done without taking an excessive expense.

4.5 Subject of the Study

      The subject of the study is whole of Islamic Boarding school Madinatul munawwarah’s student at the senior level in 2012/2013 Academic Year. They are 18 students totally existing there.

REFERENCES

Hossein fazeli, Seyyed. 2012. The prediction use of English language learning strategies based on personality traits among the female university level learners. Indian journal of science and technology.

K. Samida, Deepak. ____. Language Learning Strategies. _______:________.

L. Oxford, Rebecca. 2003. Language Learning styles and strategies: An Overview. ______: GALA.

Mulia Sari, Vicka. 2008. Improving student’s speaking mastery using Information gap at the second year of smp n 3 Kebakramat karanganyar in 2007/2008 Academic year. Surakarta : Muhammadiyah University.

Sharmini rajamoney, Shirley. 2008.  A study on the use of language learning strategies after strategy training among form four esl students : A case study. Universiti sains Malaysia.

Tahriri, A., & Divsar, H. (2011). EFL Learners’ self-perceived strategy use across various intelligence types: A case study. Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 15(1), 115-138.

Appendix A: Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) Rebecca Oxford (1990)

This form of the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) is for students of English as a second or foreign language. You will find statements about learning English. Please read each statement. On the separate Worksheet (page 4), write the response (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) that tells How True of you the statement is.

1 = Never or almost never true of me

2 = Usually not true of me

3 = Somewhat true of me

4 = Usually true of me

5 = Always or almost always true of me

Answer in terms of how well the statement describes you. Do not answer how you think you should be, or what other people do. There are no right or wrong answers to these statements. Put your answers on the separate Worksheet. Work as quickly as you can without being careless. This usually takes about 20-30 minutes to complete.

• Remember, answer 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 (as described above).

Part A

1. I think of relationships between what I already know and new things I learn in English.

2. I use new English words in a sentence so I can remember them.

3. I connect the sound of a new English word and an image or picture of the word to help me remember the word.

4. I remember a new English word by making a mental picture of a situation in which the word might be used.

5. I use rhymes to remember new English words.

6. I use flashcards to remember new English words.

7. I physically act out new English words.

8. I review English lessons often.

9. I remember new English words or phrases by remembering their location on the page, on the board, or on a street sign.

Part B

10. I say or write new English words several times.

11. I try to talk like native English speakers.

12. I practice the sounds of English.

13. I use the English words I know in different ways.

14. I start conversations in English.

15. I watch English language TV shows spoken in English or go to movies spoken in English.

16. I read for pleasure in English.

17. I write notes, messages, letters, or reports in English.

18. I first skim an English passage (read over the passage quickly) then go back and read carefully.

19. I look for words in my own language that are similar to new words in English.

20. I try to find patterns in English.

21. I find the meaning of an English word by dividing it into parts that I understand.

22. I try not to translate word-for-word.

23. I make summaries of information that I hear or read in English.

Part C

24. To understand unfamiliar English words, I make guesses.

25. When I can’t think of a word during a conversation in English, I use gestures.

26. I make up new words if I do not know the right ones in English.

27. I read English without looking up every new word.

28. I try to guess what the other person will say next in English.

29. If I can’t think of an English word, I use a word or phrase that means the same thing.

Part D

30. I try to find as many ways as I can to use my English.

31. I notice my English mistakes and use that information to help me do better.

32. I pay attention when someone is speaking English.

33. I try to find out how to be a better learner of English.

34. I plan my schedule so I will have enough time to study English.

35. I look for people I can talk to in English.

36. I look for opportunities to read as much as possible in English.

37. I have clear goals for improving my English skills.

38. I think about my progress in learning English.

Part E

39. I try to relax whenever I feel afraid of using English.

40. I encourage myself to speak English even when I am afraid of making a mistake.

41. I give myself a reward or treat when I do well in English.

42. I notice if I am tense or nervous when I am studying or using English.

43. I write down my feelings in a language learning diary.

44. I talk to someone else about how I feel when I am learning English.

Part F

45. If I do not understand something in English, I ask the other person to slow down or say it again.

46. I ask English speakers to correct me when I talk.

47. I practice English with other students.

48. I ask for help from English speakers.

49. I ask questions in English.

50. I try to learn about the culture of English speakers.