Journal Dinamika Ilmu | IAIN SAMARINDA (original) (raw)

Papers by Journal Dinamika Ilmu

Research paper thumbnail of Effect of YouTube Videos and Pictures on EFL Students' Writing Performance

This research aims at investigating the effect of YouTube videos and pictures as the authentic ma... more This research aims at investigating the effect of YouTube videos and pictures as the authentic materials on Indonesian EFL students' writing performance. The experimental research is conducted by using quasi-experimental design. This research employed two groups; an experimental and control group. This is to see which group is effective to be used in helping the students' writing ability. The first group was taught by using YouTube videos and the second group was given treatment by using pictures. Both YouTube and pictures are the authentic materials which help the students to have better writing performance. The subjects of this study were the second semester students of English Department, IKIP PGRI Madiun. Both of the groups were instructed to write paragraph by using YouTube videos and pictures as the authentic materials. The data were analyzed by using Independent t-test. The result of the study shows that there is significantly different between the students who write paragraph after being taught by using YouTube videos and by using pictures. The students who were taught by using YouTube videos had lower writing performance than the students who were taught by using pictures. It means that using pictures in teaching writing is better than using YouTube videos to help the students in writing performance.

Research paper thumbnail of The Effect of Discovery Learning Method Application on Increasing Students' Listening Outcome and Social Attitude

Curriculum of 2013 has been started in schools appointed as the implementer. This curriculum, for... more Curriculum of 2013 has been started in schools appointed as the implementer. This curriculum, for English subject demands the students to improve their skills. To reach this one of the suggested method is discovery learning since this method is considered appropriate to implement for increasing the students' ability especially to fulfill minimum criteria of success at school. This study is experimental study with one group pretest-posttest design. Its purpose is to know whether or not discovery learning model implementation could increase students' listening score and social attitude in accordance with curriculum implementation. The subjects of this study are 37 students of class X IPA 5 Public High School 2 Jember in their 2 nd semester of 2015/2016 academic year. The method used to collect data in the study is test. The research design is one group pretest-posttest design where there is only one group receiving the treatment which result is assessed by pre-test and post-test. The finding shows that there are improvement of both students' listening and attitude scores. Based on data analysis it is concluded that the implementation of discovery learning model could increase students' listening score and social attitude, with significance value of 0,005 (z =-2,823, p < 0,001), with medium effect size for listening score and significance value of 0,000 (-4,875, p < 0,001), with large effect size for social attitude.

Research paper thumbnail of Character Values and Their Internalization in Teaching and Learning English at Madrasah

In addition to communicate intellectual-based concepts such as ideas, belief and thought, languag... more In addition to communicate intellectual-based concepts such as ideas, belief and thought, language is used to communicate norms, values and emotions. As the result, it is important to internalize the character values into the teaching and learning activity of English. The study describes the analysis of the internalization of character values. The research design was qualitative without any experimental settings involved. The results showed that there were at least six character values performed by the students in learning English, they were independence, hardworking ethos, curiosity, democratic citizenship, communicative manner, and reading interest. In addition, the character values were internalized by the English teacher into the process of teaching and learning even though she did not realize it.

Research paper thumbnail of The Teaching of EFL Writing in Indonesia

Writing is one of the most important aspects in English language acquisition. Teaching writing ha... more Writing is one of the most important aspects in English language acquisition. Teaching writing has its own challenges since there are some steps and requirements that teachers should prepare to undertake in the classroom. This article is aimed to discuss teaching and learning writing in the classroom based on theoretical conceptualisation. In addition, curriculum of teaching writing will be another important factor to consider as well as research and practice in teaching writing. Based on comparison to many theoretical concepts from various researchers, it shows that most of Indonesian students still struggle to figure out their problems of grammatical area. The biggest challenge is derived from the difference in cultural backgrounds between the students' mother tongue and English, so it is possible to know the production of their writing does not 'sound' well in appropriate culture of English. Several problems also occur when the teachers have big classes to teach and the result of teaching writing to the students may be defeated. In this case, time also being a big challenge for the teachers to have the students' writing improve because to accomplish a good composition in English, it needs complex steps such as brainstorming, prewriting, drafting, and editing. However, new techniques in teaching writing are needed to develop the students' writing outcomes.

Research paper thumbnail of The Implementation of Group Investigation to Improve the Students' Speaking Skill

This research aimed to find out how group investigation improves the student's speaking skill of ... more This research aimed to find out how group investigation improves the student's speaking skill of the second grade students of SMA 2 Samarinda, how group investigation improves the student's participation in speaking of second grade students of SMA 2 Samarinda, and what the obstacles are in the implementation of Group Investigation. The classroom action research was employed in this study and was done in two cycles. Each cycle consisted of four stages: (1) planning, (2) action, (3) observation, and (4) reflection. Each cycle took three meetings. The instruments used to collect the data were observation, checklist, field-note, and speaking test. After the implementation of Group Investigation through two cycles, the researcher concluded: First, Group Investigation improves the students' speaking ability by (a) increasing the students' pronunciation, grammatical, vocabulary, and fluency, (b) by reducing the students' reluctance to speak, worry of making mistakes, and afraid of being laughed at by other students. Second, Group Investigation improves the students' participation in speaking (a) the students learnt how to investigate a certain problem and to solve the problem using English, (b) how to share, (c) how to discuss, (d) how to give their ideas, (e) how to accept other opinions, and (f) how to present their ideas. Third, the obstacles in the implementation of Group Investigation are: (a) The students were noisy, (b) Some students spent too short in the presentation, (c) Some students had difficulties in expressing their arguments and suggestion related to the topics, and (d) Few students dominated the group investigation.

Research paper thumbnail of EFL Students' Preferences toward the Lecturer's Corrective Feedback in Business Letters Writing

This study aimed to investigate; the students' preferences toward the lecturer's corrective feedb... more This study aimed to investigate; the students' preferences toward the lecturer's corrective feedback in the business letter writing and their reasons why they preferred for particular corrective feedback types. A case study was used by involving 15 EFL students who enrolled the Business Correspondence Course. The questionnaire and interview were used as the research instruments. This study revealed that; (1) the students preferred to receive lecturer correction (M=5.00), followed by lecturer-students conferencing (M=4.13), peer-correction (M=2.73), error identification (M=2.00), lecturer commentary (M=1.93), and self-correction (M=1.27). (2) the students' reasons at choosing the lecturer correction were getting the directly good correction from the lecturer, which it would be used as the reference/guide for further improvements both linguistic accuracy and business letter organization. In lecturer-students conferencing, beside they got good correction and grateful appreciation from both their lecturer and other students, they could learn and share the knowledge of errors made together; however they ashamed their linguistics errors, low ability and knowledge in formatting good business letter could be known by others. In peer-correction, the students got the unsatisfied and satisfied corrective feedback from their peers; and they were doubt with their peers' ability and knowledge in giving correction. In Error identification and lecturer commentary, it was difficult for the students to diagnose the real errors and to correct them. Finally, the reasons of self-correction were useless and unsatisfied to evaluate their own work since they had limited ability and knowledge in formatting the business letter writing effectively.

Research paper thumbnail of Implementation Grass Roots' Voices on the CLIL Implementation in Tertiary Education

Twenty-first Century era has brought great challenges in Indonesian education system, i.e. the in... more Twenty-first Century era has brought great challenges in Indonesian education system, i.e. the increasing demand for the students to have foreign language skills to succeed in global world competition. Particularly in the higher education, the awareness of learning English leads some lecturers in Accounting Department Faculty of Economics State University of Malang to apply the concept of Content-and-Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) during the classroom instruction (CLIL) – dual-focused education in which the content subject is delivered through foreign language. It is expected that students are benefited from content and language integration so that they can compete in the real global market. This study, then, elaborated the CLIL practice reflections in Accounting Department as seen from the students' viewpoint. The data were collected by means of questionnaire and interview. The respondents were students of accounting department class QQ 2012. The result of this current study, then, is aimed at examining students' general attitude toward CLIL and the effect of English instruction on their language competence. Moreover, the findings in this present study are also intended for evaluating CLIL implementation for further betterment.

Research paper thumbnail of A View Into Successful Teaching Techniques: Teaching Malay Language As A Foreign Language In Malaysia

This paper will highlight successful teaching techniques used in class in teaching the Malay Lang... more This paper will highlight successful teaching techniques used in class in teaching the Malay Language 1 course in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). The course is to equip foreign students for their studies and also as means of basic communication with the locals in Malaysia. In Malaysia, the emphasis in Malay language teaching are focused to Malaysians and had been on grammar structure. There has been little development of teaching of Malay as a foreign language. However, the effort to introduce Malay as a foreign language is important since generally there are a growing number of learners who are aware of the benefits. Other than travelers guide and basic Malay phrase books, not many materials are found for teaching of Malay as a foreign language. Based on the lack of resources, teachers have to incorporate techniques to be used in class to teach the Malay language course. It is hoped that other foreign language teachers will find information useful especially in the teaching the Malay Language as a foreign language.

Research paper thumbnail of Bridging the Gap from Classroom-based Learning to Experiential Professional Learning: A Hong Kong Case

This paper describes and evaluates a funded longitudinal teaching development project that aims t... more This paper describes and evaluates a funded longitudinal teaching development project that aims to bridge the gap from classroom-based theory learning to experiential professional learning, and thereby prepare ideal and competent world class graduates. To align with the University's shared mission to foster links with the business community, the design of the internship program has a threefold purpose and was implemented in stages. It intends to enhance students' professional awareness-knowledge-skills through a multi-leveled approach integrating classroom learning with professional practice. A debriefing mechanism was also built in enabling students to share their learning and professional challenges, and theory application to problem-solving scenarios. A 360 degree multiple evaluation procedure were used to measure the project effectiveness, including the use of industry consultants, student interns, hosts, and academic supervisors. The project has proved to promote closer ties with the business community and enhance students' professional competencies to increase future success in the competitive job market. The impact of the internship program is significant in two aspects. From the perspective of student learning, the internship allows students to understand how they can improve business efficiency by applying communications theories. From the teaching perspective, the successful and unsuccessful intern experiences can be drawn upon in developing classroom teaching. These lessons can focus on preparing students to solve real-world business communication problems.

Research paper thumbnail of The Implementation of Lesson Study in English Language Learning: A Case Study

Lesson Study as a growing interest in the education world has attracted educators, experts, and p... more Lesson Study as a growing interest in the education world has attracted educators, experts, and professionals in the area to make use of it in improving the lessons—it also happens in Indonesia. Originally applied in the teaching of mathematics in Japan, now it turns to be used in other fields, and English is one of them. This paper highlights the guideline on Lesson Study and pictures its application in a private senior high school in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. The adaptation of Lesson Study is interesting since Japan and Indonesia have different cultural background. How Lesson Study is usually implemented in Japan and the US and how it is applied in Indonesia will be seen here. As this is a case study, it will only focus on a school and the result should not be used to generalize Lesson Study applications in Indonesia. Interview and observation were instruments used in this study. The interview was used to gain information on how Lesson Study was normally conducted and observation (and the researchers' involvements) was used to see the real implementation of Lesson Study. What happened during the implementation of Lesson Study and during the teaching and learning process become a great attention here.

Research paper thumbnail of The Effect of Mind Mapping on EFL Students' Idea Development in Argumentative Writing across Gender Differences and Learning Styles

The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of mind mapping as a strategy in generating ... more The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of mind mapping as a strategy in generating ideas before writing on the EFL students' idea development in argumentative writing as perceived from their gender differences and learning styles. By conducting an experimental investigation at university level in Indonesia, two existing TOEFL classes at the State Islamic Studies (STAIN) in Kediri were selected by a lottery to group 1: using linear notes (N=41), and group 2: using mind mapping (N=41). For analyzing the data, Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were utilized by using students' TOEFL score as the covariate variable. The result findings indicated that there is no significant difference on the students' idea developments in writing between the control and the experimental groups. These result also revealed that there is no significant difference on the students' idea development in writing between gender differences, and among the students' learning styles. Furthermore, there is no significant interaction between treatment and gender differences, and there is no significant interaction between treatment and learning styles.

Research paper thumbnail of A Tale of English Polytechnic Lecturers' Decision Making

Teacher decision making involves a selection of options that leads to thinking processes, underly... more Teacher decision making involves a selection of options that leads to thinking processes, underlying teaching in language classroom contexts. Due to this, as a small part of an ongoing postgraduate research, this exploratory case study shares the initial findings on the lecturers' decision-making effects on their classroom orientation. Four lecturers in a local polytechnic were purposively selected as research participants. The primary data was collected through non-participatory classroom observations. Manual constant comparative analysis across the cases was run to obtain the results. Later, the results were triangulated with the responses from informal semi-structured interviews and reflective journal entries. The qualitative analysis revealed that participants did share a similar teaching pattern, i.e. active teaching. The participants employed learner-focused-orientation approach as their common teaching practice. They worked on their planning decisions as well as their interactive decisions in order to harmonize their teachings to students' response, proficiency, and attitude. This finding informs some instructional concerns regarding language teaching and learning process in polytechnics' context (as a Technical and Vocational Education and Training, or TVET, higher education institution in Malaysia) to other English educators in different types and levels of learning institutions.

Research paper thumbnail of The Role of English Debating Tournament in the Face of the ASEAN Economy Community (AEC)

Since its establishment in the late 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) with English as the ... more Since its establishment in the late 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) with English as the official language has forced its participating countries to improve the quality of English language teaching, in the hope to prepare their people to be globally competitive, as the lack of English proficiency remains the main challenge across the country members. A myriad of empirical evidence shows that English forensic or debating tournament can bring about globally competitive individuals in terms of being highly competent in English together with having higher order thinking skills. In response to the above challenge, this paper sheds some light on how English debating tournament or teaching strategy can generate such competitive generations in Indonesia. Specifically, this paper presents (1) typology of English debating tournaments, (2) how English debating improves the language competence and critical thinking skills by drawing on some of respective research, (3) An example of its practice in an Indonesian EFL classroom and its principles, (4) and its implications on the teaching of English in Indonesia.

Research paper thumbnail of هموم و إشکالیات تعلیم اللغة العربية في إيران (بذل المجهود نحو تفعیل اللغة العربية في إيران) A Study of the Problematic Status of Teaching Arabic in Iran: An attempt to Activate Teaching Arabic in Iran

Many have spoken of Arabic as the language of the Holy Quran and the medium of the Islamic civili... more Many have spoken of Arabic as the language of the Holy Quran and the medium of the Islamic civilization drawing on its status and importance, its role, and its peculiar characteristics.. The current study touches upon the problems and challenges inflicting Arabic in Iran. As such the main objective of the current study is to both maintain the importance of Arabic in Iran and to find solutions for such problems and challenges. Arabic can help the learners dramatically, as it is such a powerful means toward social development. The researcher has not only attempted to address the many problems and obstacles in the path of teaching Arabic in Iran, but to propose solutions focusing on a comparative methodology that would deal with the limitations imposed on both teachers and learners, the well/ill-receptions of this language and it learners in Iran, and such issues as lack of motivation among learners.

Research paper thumbnail of الوسائل‬ ‫التعليمية‬ ‫في‬ ‫تعليم‬ ‫اللغة‬ ‫العربية‬ ‫للناطقين‬ ‫بغيرها‬ Teaching Media in the Teaching of Arabic Language to Non-Native Arabic Speakers

Learning media has demonstrated its superiority in helping educators or teachers in the process o... more Learning media has demonstrated its superiority in helping educators or teachers in the process of conveying the message of learning more quickly and easily caught by the students. The media play a role in enriching the learning experience of students, increase their attention to the lesson, minimize differences in perception between teachers and students as well as to help resolve personal differences between students. The teaching Arabic to non-native speaker would be more interesting and easier to learn, remembered, understood and practiced by the students, if taught through the media. This article aims to explore the benefits, importance and role of instructional media in teaching Arabic to non-native speaker.

Research paper thumbnail of بية‬ ‫العر‬ ‫باللغة‬ ‫الكتابة‬ ‫يف‬ ‫الذاتية‬ ‫الفعالية‬ ‫بية‬ ‫العر‬ ‬ Self-efficacy in Arabic Writing

The study aimed to determine the level of self-efficacy in writing skill among learners at Intern... more The study aimed to determine the level of self-efficacy in writing skill among learners at International Islamic University Malaysia. The respondents were 200 learners from the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at this university. The instrument used was adapted from previous studies that measured writing self-efficacy. The results show that most learners had high level of self-efficacy in writing as well as its elements. However, in the writing process, the study discovers moderate level of self-efficacy among these learners. In terms of gender differences, there was no significant difference in self-efficacy between both male and female learners. Male learners reported higher level of self-efficacy in overall writing skill as well as its process and

Research paper thumbnail of The Application of Fishbone Diagram Analisis to Improve School Quality

With the enactment of the National Education Standards (NES), the measurement of the school quali... more With the enactment of the National Education Standards (NES), the measurement of the school quality was clear; NES became a reference for school development program to improve the school quality. However, the form of the program that exist still in problematic, so that a good proposal need to be prepared. In the real condition, the school shows, although they already have prepared school improvement program, but it has not been based on scientific studies and yet profound; many principals have constraints, because of the low quality of the program implementation. Thus the assistance for the school is needed in order to develop a school improvement program based on a model that proved effective and efficient. The research problems are: 1) What steps are to take in a program development aimed at improving the quality of school using a fishbone analysis? 2) Is the program model using fishbone analysis effective and efficient in meeting the school's needs to improve its quality? This is research and developmental which comprises 3 phases, namely Preliminary Study, Model Development, and Evaluation/Model Testing. The qualitative data come from the input of management experts and the result of interviews/FGD with stakeholders. The quantitative data are obtained from the assessment of management experts on the product draft, the observation sheets for the field study on the standards of education, and the try out. Data analisis on the validation result uses a descriptive analysis technique. Data from the questionnaire are analyzed by descriptive statistical technique. The results are: 1) the developmental steps in the school quality improvement program fish bone analysis have gone through 6 phases, 2) the research product using fish bone diagram has proved to be simple, applicable, important, controllable, as well as adaptable. Furthermore, it is communicable, so that it has been effective and efficient for the school's needs to improve its educational quality.

Research paper thumbnail of Learning from Fables: Moral Values in Three Selected English Stories

Fable is not just a fun story, but it certainly has the moral lesson(s) inside of the storyline. ... more Fable is not just a fun story, but it certainly has the moral lesson(s) inside of the storyline. This research tries to portray ethical value(s) in three selected English fable stories as well as to let the readers know that they can learn something from the fables. With this study, the researcher also correlated the value(s) to real life and Islamic views. To achieve the research objectives, the researcher employed qualitative research design with descriptive analysis as an attempt to provide an in-depth and comprehensive explanation of the data. The data of this study, based on the researcher's random survey on Primary and Junior High Schools students on January –June 2015, are three selected English fable stories entitled " The Rabbit and the Turtle, The Fox and the Goat, and The Monkey and the Crocodile ". The results indicate that each fable has, at least, a moral lesson in its narrative, among others: Never underestimate the weakest opponent, Never give up is the key of success, Look before you leap, Being smart helps better in life, and Trust is the basis of the relationship.

Research paper thumbnail of Phonetic Symbols through Audiolingual Method to Improve the Students' Listening Skill

Phonetic symbols present linguistics feature to how the words are pronounced or spelled and they ... more Phonetic symbols present linguistics feature to how the words are pronounced or spelled and they offer a way to easily identify and recognize the words. Phonetic symbols were applied in this research to give the students clear input and a comprehension toward English words. Moreover, these phonetic symbols were applied within audio-lingual method which provided repetitions, memorizations, and drills through audio media. This research used Classroom Action Research (CAR) design. The objective of this research was to improve the students' listening skill through phonetic symbols applied within audio-lingual method. The instruments used were observation and test. The result showed that the students were encouraged to identify spoken words based on phonetic symbols. They were able to differentiate phonetic symbols used that helped them to identify words on spoken text. Meanwhile, the result of test showed that there were 30 students of 40 students who achieved the passing grade, 75. The percentage of students' achievement test met the target of this research success that was 75% of the students got score ≥ 75. As the target of the research was successfully done that it showed to the students' improvement, this CAR was able to improve the students listening skill.

Research paper thumbnail of Improving the EFL Learners' Speaking Ability through Interactive Storytelling

This present research was aimed to improve the EFL learners' speaking ability and their classroom... more This present research was aimed to improve the EFL learners' speaking ability and their classroom activities through the implementation of Interactive Storytelling Strategy. Therefore, this study was directed to explore the beneficial of Interactive Storytelling that closely related to the EFL learners' everyday activities at their home and school. The subject consisted of 22 of Junior High of Indonesian EFL learners. A Classroom Action Research in two cycles had been conducted within 6 meetings for every cycle. The meetings were focused on the interactivity and communicative ability among learners. The research result showed that the learners' speaking ability improved from 17 or 72,27% passed in Cycle 1 to 22 or 100% passed the criteria of success in Cycle 2. It also showed that their classroom activities improved from 8 or 36,36% who were very active (VA) and 14 or 63,64% who were active (A) to 18 or 81,82% were very active (VA) and 4 or 18,18% were active (A). In conclusion, the implementation of Interactive Storytelling Strategy increased the EFL learners' speaking ability and their classroom activities.

Research paper thumbnail of Effect of YouTube Videos and Pictures on EFL Students' Writing Performance

This research aims at investigating the effect of YouTube videos and pictures as the authentic ma... more This research aims at investigating the effect of YouTube videos and pictures as the authentic materials on Indonesian EFL students' writing performance. The experimental research is conducted by using quasi-experimental design. This research employed two groups; an experimental and control group. This is to see which group is effective to be used in helping the students' writing ability. The first group was taught by using YouTube videos and the second group was given treatment by using pictures. Both YouTube and pictures are the authentic materials which help the students to have better writing performance. The subjects of this study were the second semester students of English Department, IKIP PGRI Madiun. Both of the groups were instructed to write paragraph by using YouTube videos and pictures as the authentic materials. The data were analyzed by using Independent t-test. The result of the study shows that there is significantly different between the students who write paragraph after being taught by using YouTube videos and by using pictures. The students who were taught by using YouTube videos had lower writing performance than the students who were taught by using pictures. It means that using pictures in teaching writing is better than using YouTube videos to help the students in writing performance.

Research paper thumbnail of The Effect of Discovery Learning Method Application on Increasing Students' Listening Outcome and Social Attitude

Curriculum of 2013 has been started in schools appointed as the implementer. This curriculum, for... more Curriculum of 2013 has been started in schools appointed as the implementer. This curriculum, for English subject demands the students to improve their skills. To reach this one of the suggested method is discovery learning since this method is considered appropriate to implement for increasing the students' ability especially to fulfill minimum criteria of success at school. This study is experimental study with one group pretest-posttest design. Its purpose is to know whether or not discovery learning model implementation could increase students' listening score and social attitude in accordance with curriculum implementation. The subjects of this study are 37 students of class X IPA 5 Public High School 2 Jember in their 2 nd semester of 2015/2016 academic year. The method used to collect data in the study is test. The research design is one group pretest-posttest design where there is only one group receiving the treatment which result is assessed by pre-test and post-test. The finding shows that there are improvement of both students' listening and attitude scores. Based on data analysis it is concluded that the implementation of discovery learning model could increase students' listening score and social attitude, with significance value of 0,005 (z =-2,823, p < 0,001), with medium effect size for listening score and significance value of 0,000 (-4,875, p < 0,001), with large effect size for social attitude.

Research paper thumbnail of Character Values and Their Internalization in Teaching and Learning English at Madrasah

In addition to communicate intellectual-based concepts such as ideas, belief and thought, languag... more In addition to communicate intellectual-based concepts such as ideas, belief and thought, language is used to communicate norms, values and emotions. As the result, it is important to internalize the character values into the teaching and learning activity of English. The study describes the analysis of the internalization of character values. The research design was qualitative without any experimental settings involved. The results showed that there were at least six character values performed by the students in learning English, they were independence, hardworking ethos, curiosity, democratic citizenship, communicative manner, and reading interest. In addition, the character values were internalized by the English teacher into the process of teaching and learning even though she did not realize it.

Research paper thumbnail of The Teaching of EFL Writing in Indonesia

Writing is one of the most important aspects in English language acquisition. Teaching writing ha... more Writing is one of the most important aspects in English language acquisition. Teaching writing has its own challenges since there are some steps and requirements that teachers should prepare to undertake in the classroom. This article is aimed to discuss teaching and learning writing in the classroom based on theoretical conceptualisation. In addition, curriculum of teaching writing will be another important factor to consider as well as research and practice in teaching writing. Based on comparison to many theoretical concepts from various researchers, it shows that most of Indonesian students still struggle to figure out their problems of grammatical area. The biggest challenge is derived from the difference in cultural backgrounds between the students' mother tongue and English, so it is possible to know the production of their writing does not 'sound' well in appropriate culture of English. Several problems also occur when the teachers have big classes to teach and the result of teaching writing to the students may be defeated. In this case, time also being a big challenge for the teachers to have the students' writing improve because to accomplish a good composition in English, it needs complex steps such as brainstorming, prewriting, drafting, and editing. However, new techniques in teaching writing are needed to develop the students' writing outcomes.

Research paper thumbnail of The Implementation of Group Investigation to Improve the Students' Speaking Skill

This research aimed to find out how group investigation improves the student's speaking skill of ... more This research aimed to find out how group investigation improves the student's speaking skill of the second grade students of SMA 2 Samarinda, how group investigation improves the student's participation in speaking of second grade students of SMA 2 Samarinda, and what the obstacles are in the implementation of Group Investigation. The classroom action research was employed in this study and was done in two cycles. Each cycle consisted of four stages: (1) planning, (2) action, (3) observation, and (4) reflection. Each cycle took three meetings. The instruments used to collect the data were observation, checklist, field-note, and speaking test. After the implementation of Group Investigation through two cycles, the researcher concluded: First, Group Investigation improves the students' speaking ability by (a) increasing the students' pronunciation, grammatical, vocabulary, and fluency, (b) by reducing the students' reluctance to speak, worry of making mistakes, and afraid of being laughed at by other students. Second, Group Investigation improves the students' participation in speaking (a) the students learnt how to investigate a certain problem and to solve the problem using English, (b) how to share, (c) how to discuss, (d) how to give their ideas, (e) how to accept other opinions, and (f) how to present their ideas. Third, the obstacles in the implementation of Group Investigation are: (a) The students were noisy, (b) Some students spent too short in the presentation, (c) Some students had difficulties in expressing their arguments and suggestion related to the topics, and (d) Few students dominated the group investigation.

Research paper thumbnail of EFL Students' Preferences toward the Lecturer's Corrective Feedback in Business Letters Writing

This study aimed to investigate; the students' preferences toward the lecturer's corrective feedb... more This study aimed to investigate; the students' preferences toward the lecturer's corrective feedback in the business letter writing and their reasons why they preferred for particular corrective feedback types. A case study was used by involving 15 EFL students who enrolled the Business Correspondence Course. The questionnaire and interview were used as the research instruments. This study revealed that; (1) the students preferred to receive lecturer correction (M=5.00), followed by lecturer-students conferencing (M=4.13), peer-correction (M=2.73), error identification (M=2.00), lecturer commentary (M=1.93), and self-correction (M=1.27). (2) the students' reasons at choosing the lecturer correction were getting the directly good correction from the lecturer, which it would be used as the reference/guide for further improvements both linguistic accuracy and business letter organization. In lecturer-students conferencing, beside they got good correction and grateful appreciation from both their lecturer and other students, they could learn and share the knowledge of errors made together; however they ashamed their linguistics errors, low ability and knowledge in formatting good business letter could be known by others. In peer-correction, the students got the unsatisfied and satisfied corrective feedback from their peers; and they were doubt with their peers' ability and knowledge in giving correction. In Error identification and lecturer commentary, it was difficult for the students to diagnose the real errors and to correct them. Finally, the reasons of self-correction were useless and unsatisfied to evaluate their own work since they had limited ability and knowledge in formatting the business letter writing effectively.

Research paper thumbnail of Implementation Grass Roots' Voices on the CLIL Implementation in Tertiary Education

Twenty-first Century era has brought great challenges in Indonesian education system, i.e. the in... more Twenty-first Century era has brought great challenges in Indonesian education system, i.e. the increasing demand for the students to have foreign language skills to succeed in global world competition. Particularly in the higher education, the awareness of learning English leads some lecturers in Accounting Department Faculty of Economics State University of Malang to apply the concept of Content-and-Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) during the classroom instruction (CLIL) – dual-focused education in which the content subject is delivered through foreign language. It is expected that students are benefited from content and language integration so that they can compete in the real global market. This study, then, elaborated the CLIL practice reflections in Accounting Department as seen from the students' viewpoint. The data were collected by means of questionnaire and interview. The respondents were students of accounting department class QQ 2012. The result of this current study, then, is aimed at examining students' general attitude toward CLIL and the effect of English instruction on their language competence. Moreover, the findings in this present study are also intended for evaluating CLIL implementation for further betterment.

Research paper thumbnail of A View Into Successful Teaching Techniques: Teaching Malay Language As A Foreign Language In Malaysia

This paper will highlight successful teaching techniques used in class in teaching the Malay Lang... more This paper will highlight successful teaching techniques used in class in teaching the Malay Language 1 course in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). The course is to equip foreign students for their studies and also as means of basic communication with the locals in Malaysia. In Malaysia, the emphasis in Malay language teaching are focused to Malaysians and had been on grammar structure. There has been little development of teaching of Malay as a foreign language. However, the effort to introduce Malay as a foreign language is important since generally there are a growing number of learners who are aware of the benefits. Other than travelers guide and basic Malay phrase books, not many materials are found for teaching of Malay as a foreign language. Based on the lack of resources, teachers have to incorporate techniques to be used in class to teach the Malay language course. It is hoped that other foreign language teachers will find information useful especially in the teaching the Malay Language as a foreign language.

Research paper thumbnail of Bridging the Gap from Classroom-based Learning to Experiential Professional Learning: A Hong Kong Case

This paper describes and evaluates a funded longitudinal teaching development project that aims t... more This paper describes and evaluates a funded longitudinal teaching development project that aims to bridge the gap from classroom-based theory learning to experiential professional learning, and thereby prepare ideal and competent world class graduates. To align with the University's shared mission to foster links with the business community, the design of the internship program has a threefold purpose and was implemented in stages. It intends to enhance students' professional awareness-knowledge-skills through a multi-leveled approach integrating classroom learning with professional practice. A debriefing mechanism was also built in enabling students to share their learning and professional challenges, and theory application to problem-solving scenarios. A 360 degree multiple evaluation procedure were used to measure the project effectiveness, including the use of industry consultants, student interns, hosts, and academic supervisors. The project has proved to promote closer ties with the business community and enhance students' professional competencies to increase future success in the competitive job market. The impact of the internship program is significant in two aspects. From the perspective of student learning, the internship allows students to understand how they can improve business efficiency by applying communications theories. From the teaching perspective, the successful and unsuccessful intern experiences can be drawn upon in developing classroom teaching. These lessons can focus on preparing students to solve real-world business communication problems.

Research paper thumbnail of The Implementation of Lesson Study in English Language Learning: A Case Study

Lesson Study as a growing interest in the education world has attracted educators, experts, and p... more Lesson Study as a growing interest in the education world has attracted educators, experts, and professionals in the area to make use of it in improving the lessons—it also happens in Indonesia. Originally applied in the teaching of mathematics in Japan, now it turns to be used in other fields, and English is one of them. This paper highlights the guideline on Lesson Study and pictures its application in a private senior high school in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. The adaptation of Lesson Study is interesting since Japan and Indonesia have different cultural background. How Lesson Study is usually implemented in Japan and the US and how it is applied in Indonesia will be seen here. As this is a case study, it will only focus on a school and the result should not be used to generalize Lesson Study applications in Indonesia. Interview and observation were instruments used in this study. The interview was used to gain information on how Lesson Study was normally conducted and observation (and the researchers' involvements) was used to see the real implementation of Lesson Study. What happened during the implementation of Lesson Study and during the teaching and learning process become a great attention here.

Research paper thumbnail of The Effect of Mind Mapping on EFL Students' Idea Development in Argumentative Writing across Gender Differences and Learning Styles

The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of mind mapping as a strategy in generating ... more The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of mind mapping as a strategy in generating ideas before writing on the EFL students' idea development in argumentative writing as perceived from their gender differences and learning styles. By conducting an experimental investigation at university level in Indonesia, two existing TOEFL classes at the State Islamic Studies (STAIN) in Kediri were selected by a lottery to group 1: using linear notes (N=41), and group 2: using mind mapping (N=41). For analyzing the data, Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were utilized by using students' TOEFL score as the covariate variable. The result findings indicated that there is no significant difference on the students' idea developments in writing between the control and the experimental groups. These result also revealed that there is no significant difference on the students' idea development in writing between gender differences, and among the students' learning styles. Furthermore, there is no significant interaction between treatment and gender differences, and there is no significant interaction between treatment and learning styles.

Research paper thumbnail of A Tale of English Polytechnic Lecturers' Decision Making

Teacher decision making involves a selection of options that leads to thinking processes, underly... more Teacher decision making involves a selection of options that leads to thinking processes, underlying teaching in language classroom contexts. Due to this, as a small part of an ongoing postgraduate research, this exploratory case study shares the initial findings on the lecturers' decision-making effects on their classroom orientation. Four lecturers in a local polytechnic were purposively selected as research participants. The primary data was collected through non-participatory classroom observations. Manual constant comparative analysis across the cases was run to obtain the results. Later, the results were triangulated with the responses from informal semi-structured interviews and reflective journal entries. The qualitative analysis revealed that participants did share a similar teaching pattern, i.e. active teaching. The participants employed learner-focused-orientation approach as their common teaching practice. They worked on their planning decisions as well as their interactive decisions in order to harmonize their teachings to students' response, proficiency, and attitude. This finding informs some instructional concerns regarding language teaching and learning process in polytechnics' context (as a Technical and Vocational Education and Training, or TVET, higher education institution in Malaysia) to other English educators in different types and levels of learning institutions.

Research paper thumbnail of The Role of English Debating Tournament in the Face of the ASEAN Economy Community (AEC)

Since its establishment in the late 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) with English as the ... more Since its establishment in the late 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) with English as the official language has forced its participating countries to improve the quality of English language teaching, in the hope to prepare their people to be globally competitive, as the lack of English proficiency remains the main challenge across the country members. A myriad of empirical evidence shows that English forensic or debating tournament can bring about globally competitive individuals in terms of being highly competent in English together with having higher order thinking skills. In response to the above challenge, this paper sheds some light on how English debating tournament or teaching strategy can generate such competitive generations in Indonesia. Specifically, this paper presents (1) typology of English debating tournaments, (2) how English debating improves the language competence and critical thinking skills by drawing on some of respective research, (3) An example of its practice in an Indonesian EFL classroom and its principles, (4) and its implications on the teaching of English in Indonesia.

Research paper thumbnail of هموم و إشکالیات تعلیم اللغة العربية في إيران (بذل المجهود نحو تفعیل اللغة العربية في إيران) A Study of the Problematic Status of Teaching Arabic in Iran: An attempt to Activate Teaching Arabic in Iran

Many have spoken of Arabic as the language of the Holy Quran and the medium of the Islamic civili... more Many have spoken of Arabic as the language of the Holy Quran and the medium of the Islamic civilization drawing on its status and importance, its role, and its peculiar characteristics.. The current study touches upon the problems and challenges inflicting Arabic in Iran. As such the main objective of the current study is to both maintain the importance of Arabic in Iran and to find solutions for such problems and challenges. Arabic can help the learners dramatically, as it is such a powerful means toward social development. The researcher has not only attempted to address the many problems and obstacles in the path of teaching Arabic in Iran, but to propose solutions focusing on a comparative methodology that would deal with the limitations imposed on both teachers and learners, the well/ill-receptions of this language and it learners in Iran, and such issues as lack of motivation among learners.

Research paper thumbnail of الوسائل‬ ‫التعليمية‬ ‫في‬ ‫تعليم‬ ‫اللغة‬ ‫العربية‬ ‫للناطقين‬ ‫بغيرها‬ Teaching Media in the Teaching of Arabic Language to Non-Native Arabic Speakers

Learning media has demonstrated its superiority in helping educators or teachers in the process o... more Learning media has demonstrated its superiority in helping educators or teachers in the process of conveying the message of learning more quickly and easily caught by the students. The media play a role in enriching the learning experience of students, increase their attention to the lesson, minimize differences in perception between teachers and students as well as to help resolve personal differences between students. The teaching Arabic to non-native speaker would be more interesting and easier to learn, remembered, understood and practiced by the students, if taught through the media. This article aims to explore the benefits, importance and role of instructional media in teaching Arabic to non-native speaker.

Research paper thumbnail of بية‬ ‫العر‬ ‫باللغة‬ ‫الكتابة‬ ‫يف‬ ‫الذاتية‬ ‫الفعالية‬ ‫بية‬ ‫العر‬ ‬ Self-efficacy in Arabic Writing

The study aimed to determine the level of self-efficacy in writing skill among learners at Intern... more The study aimed to determine the level of self-efficacy in writing skill among learners at International Islamic University Malaysia. The respondents were 200 learners from the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at this university. The instrument used was adapted from previous studies that measured writing self-efficacy. The results show that most learners had high level of self-efficacy in writing as well as its elements. However, in the writing process, the study discovers moderate level of self-efficacy among these learners. In terms of gender differences, there was no significant difference in self-efficacy between both male and female learners. Male learners reported higher level of self-efficacy in overall writing skill as well as its process and

Research paper thumbnail of The Application of Fishbone Diagram Analisis to Improve School Quality

With the enactment of the National Education Standards (NES), the measurement of the school quali... more With the enactment of the National Education Standards (NES), the measurement of the school quality was clear; NES became a reference for school development program to improve the school quality. However, the form of the program that exist still in problematic, so that a good proposal need to be prepared. In the real condition, the school shows, although they already have prepared school improvement program, but it has not been based on scientific studies and yet profound; many principals have constraints, because of the low quality of the program implementation. Thus the assistance for the school is needed in order to develop a school improvement program based on a model that proved effective and efficient. The research problems are: 1) What steps are to take in a program development aimed at improving the quality of school using a fishbone analysis? 2) Is the program model using fishbone analysis effective and efficient in meeting the school's needs to improve its quality? This is research and developmental which comprises 3 phases, namely Preliminary Study, Model Development, and Evaluation/Model Testing. The qualitative data come from the input of management experts and the result of interviews/FGD with stakeholders. The quantitative data are obtained from the assessment of management experts on the product draft, the observation sheets for the field study on the standards of education, and the try out. Data analisis on the validation result uses a descriptive analysis technique. Data from the questionnaire are analyzed by descriptive statistical technique. The results are: 1) the developmental steps in the school quality improvement program fish bone analysis have gone through 6 phases, 2) the research product using fish bone diagram has proved to be simple, applicable, important, controllable, as well as adaptable. Furthermore, it is communicable, so that it has been effective and efficient for the school's needs to improve its educational quality.

Research paper thumbnail of Learning from Fables: Moral Values in Three Selected English Stories

Fable is not just a fun story, but it certainly has the moral lesson(s) inside of the storyline. ... more Fable is not just a fun story, but it certainly has the moral lesson(s) inside of the storyline. This research tries to portray ethical value(s) in three selected English fable stories as well as to let the readers know that they can learn something from the fables. With this study, the researcher also correlated the value(s) to real life and Islamic views. To achieve the research objectives, the researcher employed qualitative research design with descriptive analysis as an attempt to provide an in-depth and comprehensive explanation of the data. The data of this study, based on the researcher's random survey on Primary and Junior High Schools students on January –June 2015, are three selected English fable stories entitled " The Rabbit and the Turtle, The Fox and the Goat, and The Monkey and the Crocodile ". The results indicate that each fable has, at least, a moral lesson in its narrative, among others: Never underestimate the weakest opponent, Never give up is the key of success, Look before you leap, Being smart helps better in life, and Trust is the basis of the relationship.

Research paper thumbnail of Phonetic Symbols through Audiolingual Method to Improve the Students' Listening Skill

Phonetic symbols present linguistics feature to how the words are pronounced or spelled and they ... more Phonetic symbols present linguistics feature to how the words are pronounced or spelled and they offer a way to easily identify and recognize the words. Phonetic symbols were applied in this research to give the students clear input and a comprehension toward English words. Moreover, these phonetic symbols were applied within audio-lingual method which provided repetitions, memorizations, and drills through audio media. This research used Classroom Action Research (CAR) design. The objective of this research was to improve the students' listening skill through phonetic symbols applied within audio-lingual method. The instruments used were observation and test. The result showed that the students were encouraged to identify spoken words based on phonetic symbols. They were able to differentiate phonetic symbols used that helped them to identify words on spoken text. Meanwhile, the result of test showed that there were 30 students of 40 students who achieved the passing grade, 75. The percentage of students' achievement test met the target of this research success that was 75% of the students got score ≥ 75. As the target of the research was successfully done that it showed to the students' improvement, this CAR was able to improve the students listening skill.

Research paper thumbnail of Improving the EFL Learners' Speaking Ability through Interactive Storytelling

This present research was aimed to improve the EFL learners' speaking ability and their classroom... more This present research was aimed to improve the EFL learners' speaking ability and their classroom activities through the implementation of Interactive Storytelling Strategy. Therefore, this study was directed to explore the beneficial of Interactive Storytelling that closely related to the EFL learners' everyday activities at their home and school. The subject consisted of 22 of Junior High of Indonesian EFL learners. A Classroom Action Research in two cycles had been conducted within 6 meetings for every cycle. The meetings were focused on the interactivity and communicative ability among learners. The research result showed that the learners' speaking ability improved from 17 or 72,27% passed in Cycle 1 to 22 or 100% passed the criteria of success in Cycle 2. It also showed that their classroom activities improved from 8 or 36,36% who were very active (VA) and 14 or 63,64% who were active (A) to 18 or 81,82% were very active (VA) and 4 or 18,18% were active (A). In conclusion, the implementation of Interactive Storytelling Strategy increased the EFL learners' speaking ability and their classroom activities.