Teaching grammar to young learners
requires an extensive knowledge of a great number of issues. Not only is it
crucial to be aware of various teaching methods and approaches but also it is
fundamental to be familiar with the principles of the development of children’s
intelligence. If an English teacher would like to have the output of
his/her student is satisfying, he or she should be able to use the right method
of teaching grammar to young learners. The general output of students in
learning English is that they are able to use the English language that they
have already learned for communication. This communication may happen inside or
even outside class. The communication may occur between students and teachers
or even between students and students. And the perfect outcome of learning
English is that the students are able to use English as a means of
communication in society. To reach that ideal, it is important for the English
teacher to improve the quality of teaching learning at the point of teaching
grammar to young learners. (Graham, 2003)
In teaching grammar to young learners
especially in Elementary school , it is suggested that English teachers do not
use the activities in the form of grammar formula, sentence patterns, or even
sentence structures that have to be memorized by the students. Grammar is
supposed to be taught to young learners in a kind of nature ways that students
will not be aware that they are learning grammar. The approach that can be
applied in teaching grammar to young learners is using game-like activities,
role-playing/drama, and TPR. Those methods of teaching can be used in the
process of teaching learning so that it can make the English lesson become fun
and exciting for young learners. (Graham, 2003:45).
This research is quite urgent as the
technique of teaching grammar that has already been applied in English class is
still using the conventional technique. At present, most of the English teachers prefer giving the
presentation of grammar theory to giving grammar activities that will enable
students to learn without they are aware that they are studying grammar. In
order to change the presentation of the materials that stil uses the
conventional techniques in teaching grammar, it is important for English
teachers to make the use of natural ways of learning techniques applied in
teaching grammar to young learners.
Review
of Related Literature
1.
The
Nature of Child Development
We tend to take children as minor copies of adults. Not only
is this approach definitely wrong, but it also can cause severe damages. That
is the reason why it is important for parents and mainly teachers to try to
understand the specific development of children’s behaviour. This work deals
with the ways how to present and teach grammar to young learners. Learning,
acquiring new pieces of information and using new skills in practice is
strongly connected with mental abilities of children. Fully developed mental
skills are not inborn. They are influenced by many factors, such as personal
abilities of a child, family, both physical and mental health etc. What we are
interested in is the development of intelligence itself.
Intelligence and its
development have been tackled by a considerable number of authors. Vygotsky,
Bruner and Piaget made enormous progress in the research of how people think
and learn. Their theories are still considered as fundamentals of educating children
and although new discoveries have been made, e.g. some of Piaget’s opinions are
still applicable to education. According to Nunan, he said that while the
learning of a second language has unique aspects, it is not so unique as to
have nothing to gain from general educational theory, practice and research.”
(Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p.1, originally: Nunan, p. 180)
2.
Piaget and his Theory
Piaget’s theory
is based on the fact that it is possible to divide the development of intelligence
into three stages. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p. 2) Each of those stages has
some specific features and applies to a particular period of a child’s life. If
we approach to study the problem, we can generally say that according to Jean
Piaget, the development of intelligence is based on the incorporating of lower intellectual
stages into higher stages. Such a development is a gradual process and no stage
can be omitted from the process. That is why each period of intellectual development
influences the following stage of intelligence and only on the condition that
the succession of stages is preserved, a child can reach the full development
of his/her intellectual abilities.
The first stage in children development is the
sensori-motor stage. The sensori-motor stage proceeds from birth to the age of
18 months. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p.2)
It is just for our orientation to mention the exact age group and it is
always very individual and easily influenced by various factors. There are
various specifications about children development, for example the
sensori-motor stage is sometimes taken as a period lasting till the age of 24
months.
The sensori-motor stage precedes the development
of language itself. It is a period when cognitive substructures are acquired
and become a starting point of further intellectual acquisition. (Piaget,
Inhelderova, 1997, p. 11) Children at the beginning of the sensori-motor stage
are able to use their senses and their limbs but they are not able to do it on
purpose. This means that they look at things and people, they can hear sounds
and voices, they move their legs and arms and they definitely enjoy the
movement but if they want to take a toy, they do not know yet how to do it.
They actually “play” with their senses, legs, arms and hands and that is the process
of acquiring new information and experience.
The concrete operational stage starts at the end
of the sensori-motor stage and lasts until the age of 12 approximately. The
concrete operational stage includes two parts and these are the pre-operational
stage and the operational stage. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p.2). The pre-operational stage lasts till the
age of 7. We should emphasize that one of the crucial activities of this stage
is a game. Children spend most of their time playing which is possible because
of the fact that their imagination and fantasy have undergone important
changes. The underlying factor is the ability of symbolic thinking. Children “bake
cakes” of sand and then they want their parents to “taste” them, they take a
brick from a box of bricks and use it as a telephone etc. It is absolutely
unavoidable to enable them to play as often as they need because a game is one
of the most important factors of learning. This stage is actually a stage of
symbolic (semiotic) functions and according to Piaget, this is a crucial stage
for further development of mental operations. (Kohoutek, 2005, p.14)
2.
Vygotsky and
his Theory
Vygotsky
introduced a concept of speech as a formative factor of human intellect. Speech
and its importance for the development of children’s thinking were just the
issues on which Vygotsky and Piaget did not agree. Jean Piaget considered action
to be the most significant aspect influencing the development of children’s
thinking, learning and understanding. Children assimilate their new experience
into the existing structures.
The approach of Vygotsky is therefore different
from that of Piaget. Vygotsky argues that not only is speech a fundamental
factor at the beginning of thinking but it influences the whole development of
one’s thinking, learning and understanding. It is possible to take speech as a
tool which enables the growth of our intellect. According to Vygotsky speech is
necessary for the development of the basic level of intellect as well as of
much higher mental processes. If we want to use abstract reasoning, develop the
ability of evaluating and memorising, we have to be able to use speech. We
actually could say that the relation between speech and intellect is reciprocal
and one cannot develop without the other. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p.3)
3.
Bruner and his Theory
We learn new information and gain new skills because we do something
concrete in practice. Such a type of learning is obviously used by young
children. As soon as they start to move, stand, sit and manipulate with
objects, they get a considerable number of information. As children grow up,
they are gradually learn to read, they understand the meaning of texts,
pictures and diagrams and finally they are able to discuss and compare what the
texts are about, what they have in common, they can express their ideas and
opinions etc. Provided that a teacher is acquainted with all these
regularities, he/she can offer his/her pupils and students such teaching
methods which lead to successful learning.
If an English teacher wants to teach the present continuous tense.
Is it possible to use all the three modes (enactive, iconic and symbolic)? The
answer is positive and there are many tools how to reach it. We can describe a
picture and then encourage children to act what they can see in the picture.
They divide themselves into two groups. One group say to the other group where
they should be and what they should do and the people in the second group do
it, e.g. Peter is sitting on a chair and he is holding a cup of tea etc. Then
children describe “the life picture” once more and finally they are said to
discuss the whole story again, they can add their new ideas. Not only is such a
way of teaching extremely enjoyable but it is also useful, children are not
bored, they are able to pay their attention for a longer time. Of course, one
has to take into account such aspects as the age of the children and their
intellectual abilities, nevertheless there are many advantages of such teaching
methods both for the teacher and for his/her pupils. Bruner was strongly
influenced by Vygotsky and he stressed the importance of social interaction between
children and adults. He introduced a concept of LASS (Language Acquisition
Support System). As far as this concept is concerned the language development
is reached through innate learning and social abilities together with the support
offered by adults. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p.3).
4. Children’s Abilities, Skills And Instincts
Children are creative. This is not a set phrase,
it is a fact that teachers should use in their lessons. Although their
vocabulary is quite limited, it is enough for them to be able to communicate.
Pupils do not have problems to ask and answer set phrases but it is much more
difficult for them to construct sentences in unpredictable situations.
Therefore games are so important and useful. If a teacher prepares games
(activities) where children are made to communicate, he/she creates such
unpredictable moments when children have to use their vocabulary and grammar as
much as it is possible. It does not matter at all that the children make
mistakes. What is important is the fact that they have to be creative in the
foreign language they learn, which naturally leads to the development of their
communicative skills. (Halliwell, 1992, pp. 4-5)
Children learn although they are not aware of
it. This ability is called indirect learning. If we want to teach our pupils
some new phrases and grammatical structures, the best way is to use the method
of “guessing”. Children ask and answer questions in order to find out some
information. They are not actually interested in the structures and phrases which
we want them to use, they are impatient to find the answers and they are very happy
if they succeed. Some of the children prefer indirect subconscious learning.
Such pupils are usually more talkative, they do not mind making mistakes and
for them it is crucial to be able to communicate, they are not so interested in
avoiding making mistakes. On the other hand, there are children who want to
express their thoughts accurately and such children usually prefer direct
learning.
A good
teacher should be able to coordinate both methods and offer the child what
he/she really needs. The teacher should try to encourage the thoughtful
children to be more relaxed and not to be afraid of speaking and making mistakes
and at the same time he/she should persuade the “easy-going” children to think more
before they start speaking. Nevertheless, we can say that generally the
capacity for indirect learning is developed more than the capacity for direct
learning. Young learners are not able to pay their attention for more than 10 -
20 minutes and after that they start to be bored and tired. Therefore we should
be able to take children’s capacity for indirect learning and their instinct
for games and fun as a great advantage. We cannot spend so much time on real
direct conscious learning as if we teach adults but with adults it is exactly
the opposite and we cannot use so many games and activities based on fantasy
and imagination. The reason is obvious, children have the extremely developed
sense of imaginative thinking. (Halliwell, 1992, pp. 5-7)
5.
Game-like
Activities
For children at primary school, a game is one of the crucial activities. They
enjoy playing games but what is more, games are important as they serve as
tools of socialisation. Children learn to communicate with their friends, they
have to accept others´ opinions and they learn how to present their own ideas.
In our English lessons we can use games for the development of communicative
skills as well as for the revision of vocabulary and grammar. Nevertheless,
activities presented in our classrooms are not typical games. If we use the term
“game”, we usually mean just playing for fun and it is something completely different
from the activities we do with young learners. Although we have fun, the main purpose
is educative and therefore it is better to call such activities “game-like activities”.
(Ur, 1991, pp.289-290)
Although a game-like activity seems to be a very
easy and natural way of learning, it is not an easy task for a teacher to
prepare a good activity. We have to be aware of two basic aspects. Firstly,
what we expect from the particular activity. We should consider whether the
game-like activity is for children only to make the lesson more attractive and
protect them from being bored or whether we tend to revise and practise some particular
part of grammar, vocabulary etc. Secondly, it is important not to waste our time.
Some activities have too complicated rules or on the other hand, some
activities are too simple and both the cases make children speak their native
language, which we definitely want to avoid. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995,
p.33)
Research Methodology
Research Methodology
1.
Research
Setting
SD Supriyadi Semarang or Supriyadi Elementary
School is the institution that becomes the object in this action research. It
is located on Jl. Supriyadi no. 11-13 Semarang. There are some good facilities that support the process of teaching
learning in that school such as TV, CD player, air conditioner, library, LCD,
OHP, teaching aids according to the subject matter, etc.
2.
Research Design
In every research, there are data to
be studied and anylised. A researcher can get the data from many sources,
people, or even things. The data source in every research is basically the
subject from which a researcher gets.
(Arikunto, 2006: 129).
Groups
|
Pre-Test
|
Treatment
|
Post-Test
|
Experimental Group
|
T1
|
X1
|
T2
|
In the design above, the sample is assigned to the experimental group.
The qualities of the subject are checked firstly by doing pre-test on them.
Then the experiment is given to the experimental group. The groups are taught
with a topic that is different from the teaching techniques that are usually
given by their English teacher.
3.
Subjects of the Research
The subject of this study is the students of
SD Supriyadi Semarang. The purposive sampling was used in
this research. Purposive sample is the sample which has the purpose to take the
subjects that are not based on the degrees of stratum, but based on the same
characteristics to reach certain purpose. This technique is done for some
consideration, like the limitation of time, place, and fund. The purposive sampling
in this research is the 41 students of grade three in SD Supriyadi Semarang as
the sample in this research.
4. Method of Data Collection
In conducting the study, the writer
will use two kinds of method of data collection. They are library activities
and field activities.
1.
Library Activities
2.
Field Activities
Instrument of the Research
Instrument of the Research
In this study, the
writer used some kinds of instrument in gathering the data needed for the
research. Those are pre-test, post-test, questionnaire, and field note.
1.
Pre-test and post-test
2.
Questionnaire
3.
Field Note
Technique of Data Analysis
After getting the result of each
test, the next is putting the data into T-test formula. The intention is to
know whether there is any significant improvement of Grammar especially in
contructing positive, negative, and interrogative sentences of the third grade
students in SD Supriyadi Semarang by using the techniques of teaching learning
that are considered natural and exciting.
After the deviation is found, the
writer searched the sum of quadrate deviation ( k x 2d), finally the writer put
the data into T-test formula:
t (t-test) = 
(Arikunto, 2006:
306-308)
Where:
t = t-test
Md = Mean of deviation between
pre-test and post-test
∑ x²d = Deviation difference
N = Number of subject
After finding out the t-test, the
writer uses t-table to compare the t-test. If the value of t-test is more than
the value of t-table, it can be concluded that there is significant improvement
of the students’ achievement in learning Grammar to some activities that are
natural and exciting for them.
The criteria of the
test score:
Score
|
Category
|
|
86-100
|
A
|
Excellent
|
76-85
|
B
|
Good
|
60-75
|
C
|
Fair
|
55-50
|
D
|
Poor
|
0-54
|
E
|
Fail
|
(Arikunto,
2006:245)
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
a. Research Findings
1.
The Result Of The Student’s Mastery On Constructing Positive, Negative, And Interrogative Sentences
In starting the data collection, the writer conducted the pre-test. The
purpose of the pre-test was to check the students’ mastery on constructing
positive, negative, and interrogative sentences before the techniques of
natural ways in teaching Grammar was applied in the classroom. The mean of the pre-test scoring is 72.19 (Xi). It means that the
students’s mastery on constructing the sentences into the positive, negative,
and interrogative forms is fair.
2. The Result of the Sudents’ Mastery on Constructing Sentences in Positive,
Negative, and Interrogative Forms after the Treatment
After
the techiques of teaching Grammar applied in the classroom practice by using
the four natural activities that are mentioned above, the next step done in the
sixth meeting in the class was
evaluating the students’ mastery on constructing sentences in positive,
negative, and interrogative sentences by giving them a post-test. The
mean of the post test scoring is 80.12 (T2). It shows that the students’
mastery on Grammar especially on constructing sentences in positive, negative,
and interrogative sentences is Good.
3. The Significant Difference of the Sudents’
Mastery on Constructing Sentences in the Form of Positive, Negative, and
Interrogative.
After the writerr got the data from pre-test and
post-test scoring, the writer finds out the improvement of the students’
mastery on Grammar by following t-test formula:
T-test formula:
t (t-test) =
(Arikunto, 2006:
306-308)
Where:
t = t-test
Md = Mean of deviation between
pre-test and post-test
∑ x²d = Deviation difference
N = Number of subject
t (t-test) = 
t (t-test) = 
t (t-test) = 
t (t-test) = 
t (t-test) = 6.5338959
In the t-table, t 0,975 = 2,035
(Arikunto, 2006:363), and because the result of t is 6.53, so 6.53 ≥ 2,035, it
can be concluded there is a significant difference of the students’ mastery on
Grammar at the point of constructing sentences in the form of positive,
negative, and interrogative.
Besides
the pre-test and post-test, the writerr used questionnaire to find out the
validity of the data that is to describe the significant difference and to
minimize the intervening variable. The writer gave the questionnaire after the
post test was given to the students. There were 43 students in the third grade
who joined and did the questionnaire in the research. The questionnaire was in
the form of ‘yes/no’ questions with five items in it.
From the result of the questionnaire, it can be seen that
most of the students gave the ‘yes’ answered and this was completed by the
improvement of the students’ score on their post-test. So, it can be concluded
that the natural techniques of teaching chosen by the researcher gave the
improvement for the students’ mastery on Grammar in this case constructing
sentences in the form of negative, positive, and interrogative.
After evaluating the result of the questionnaire, the
writer uses the field note. The field note was used to find out the situation
in the classroom practise and the students’ eagerness in participating the
activities during the research. Eventhough, there were few students who were
less active in joining the activities in the research, generally, most of the
students were active and excited in doing the four treatment in the research.
When the students got difficulties in understanding some difficult words both
reseracher team and the English teacher were ready for help and this condition
made the process of teaching learning in the research went smoothly.
b. Discussion
It can be seen from the data
presented above, that:
1. The Students’ Mastery on Grammar in Constructing
Positive, Negative, and Interrogative Sentences.
From the previous computation, the result of the mean score of
the students’ mastery on Grammar at the point in constructing positive,
negative, and interrogative sentences in their pre-test is .... it shows that
the students’s mastery in understanding Grammar is fair. The researcher found
out that there are some problems faced by the students in understanding how to
contruct sentences in the form of positive, negative, and interrogative
sentences. They still felt confused about the format used to construct among
positive, negative, and interrogative sentences.
2. The Students’ Mastery of Grammar in Constructing
Positive, Negative, and Interrogative Sentences after Being Given the Treatment
of the Natural Ways of Teaching Grammar Techniques.
The result of the students’ mastery of Grammar in constructing
the positive, negative, and interrogative sentences was found out by calculating
the mean score at the post-test that was 80.12 it shows that the students’
mastery of Grammar in constructing postitive, negative, and interrogative
sentences got much more better after they got the four treatments related to
activities that can improve their capability in constructing sentences in the
forms of positive, negative, and interrogative sentences. And throught the
result of pre-test and post-test’s score, the students’ mastery of Grammar is
different before and after getting the treatment of natural ways of teaching
Grammar techniques.
3. The Significant difference in the Students’
Mastery of Grammar in Constructing Positive, Negative, and Interrogative
Sentences.
After Analysing the data, the
writer found that there is significant difference in the students’ mastery of
grammar in concstructing positive, negative, and interrogative sentences before
and after the treatment was given. It was found that the mean of the post-test
scores of constructing positive, negative, and interrogative sentences was
higher than the mean of the pre-test scores. It means that using the natural
ways of teaching Grammar techniques; puzzle in chain words, one word story
game, literature in reading and writing story game, and TPR game was able to
improve the students’ ability in mastering Grammar at the point of constructing
positive, negative, and interrogative sentence that can be seen from the
average of the pre-test score (72.19) and the post-test score (80.12). The
result of the pre-test score was lower (72.19) than the post-test score
(80.12).
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