MEDIA TO IMPROVING THE MOTIVATION OF YOUNG LEANER TO
STUDY ENGLISH
Evi Susanti
Nusantara PGRI Kediri
Abstract
This
paper tries to bring about a discussion on the concept of improving the
motivation of young learner to study English using picture. Moreover the
paper aimed at examining and applying of
improving the motivation of young learner to study English using picture media.
Young learner more active and correspondence the material that it is given
their teacher by using the picture media. The paper adopt an action research
approach. The findings of the paper that application of picture media to bring
positive impact to the young learner especially in elementary school and
teacher. These two part that is can be increase motivation of young learner,
they are using picture media to the motivation of young learner to study
English in vocabulary learning.
Keywords : Motivation of young learner, Study English, using
Picture media.
Introduction
Learning English is important for young leaner,
especially in elementary school. Teacher feel an importance to introduce a
Foreign Language especially English to young leaner since childhood. There are
many reasons why English is introduced in the early age. English as
international language is very important to the society because English is used
in several aspect such as education, social, culture, etc.
Teaching
English at the early age is easier than teaching to the adult. Brunfit (1997 :
VI) explains that young leaner have more opportunities than adult. However, now
days the young leaner are bored to study English especially in vocabulary
learning because they think study English is difficult. So, they don’t have
motivation (Interest) to study English.
Furthermore,
Media in teaching English is very useful as a tool that can teacher deliver their
material. “Media in teaching is divided into three types of media namely
printed media, visual media, and electronic media”, (James : 2010). James
stated on the leaner that visual media could make visual impression to the
leaner and can illustrate meaning more directly and quickly then through verbal
explanation.
One
of visual media is picture. Picture is important for teachers to use
instructional methods such as picture to increase motivation of young leaner
generally feel frustrated and afraid to learn English. Based the statement, the
writer argue that improving the motivation of young leaner to study English can
be done by using media such picture in the process of learning English. In this
case, the writer aim to give chance at the young leaner to study English by
interesting.
In
this paper, the writer tries to discuss about “Media to Improving the
Motivation of Young Leaner to Study English”. The writer want to apply and examine using picture media to
improve the motivation of young leaner to study English in vocabulary learning
at the elementary school.
Motivation of Young Leaner
In the classroom, the young leaner
do learning process. They have motivation in learning, especially English.
“Motivation is something that
energizes, directs, and sustains behavior; it gets students moving, points them
in a particular direction, and keeps young leaner going. The teacher often see students’ motivation
reflected in personal investment and in cognitive, emotional, and
behavioral engagement in school activities”, (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, &
Paris, 2004; Maehr & Meyer, 2004; Reeve, 2006). They have
high curiously for the ask question about the lesson in learning. It make
appear the motivation of young leaner to study English.
Michael Hines stated that motivated
young leaner to apply principles more frequently and express themselves in
English more fluently compared to young leaner who proper motivation.
Early leaner are naturally curious and are often compelled to explore
and engage their environment. As people grow older, however this young leaner
curiously tapers off substantially, such as that many young leaner in a
conventional classroom environment find it hard to on the English lesson.
As demonstrated in countless
studies, motivation in very young children is almost always very high. This
allows for cognitive, associative, assimilative and imitative learning at an
unparalleled rate. At this stage, language learning is among the areas where
children exhibit unusual affinity and learning speed.
Therefore, the young learner is difficult to study
English. And also, the teacher is still using monoton media in teaching the
young learner. Such as, teacher is still using white board as written media. It
is make young leaner feel boring and not interesting to study English.
Kinds of
Motivation of Young Learner
1.
Intrinsically motivated
Young learner who are intrinsically
motivated get involved in a learning interaction for its own sake.
Intrinsically motivated young learner genuinely enjoy the learning interaction
and feel some form of achievement once the learning process is completed.
2.
Extrinsically motivated
Young learner who are extrinsically
motivated participate in a learning interaction primarily as a result or in
pursuit of an external factor. Commonly, this factor is some variant of the
reward-punishment principle. This is clearly established in the training of
animals, where rewards (such as food or tangible expressions of
affection/affirmation) and punishment (whip lashes, electric shocks, and
confinement) are used to goad an animal into performing an activity or task
designed by its human trainer.
3.
Motivated to learn
Students who are motivated to learn
are propelled to participate in a learning interaction by a blend of intrinsic
and extrinsic factors. Ordinarily, students who are motivated to learn are more
mature in terms of their awareness of the value of learning something and tend
to pursue learning regardless of whether a subject elicits personal enjoyment
or not. In one research, being “ motivated to learn” implies in depth
involvement and a strong commitment to
learning a specific subject.
Media
in Language Teaching
A.
Types
of Media
Media
or instructional media can be defined as a tool that can help teacher to
deliver their material. James (2010) Categorized media inteaching into three
types of media, namely printed media, visual media and audio-visual media.
·
Printed Media
These
include text books, magazines, newspaper, journal, bulletins, web page, blogs,
etc. They help learners to get more information through reading widely and
provide more enjoyment from various cources of facts.
·
Visual Media
These
include of photographs, graphics, pictures, maps, models, spacemen, game
puzzle, wall charts, etc. This kind of media will be elaborated in the next
sections.
·
Audio-Visual Media
These
include video and film.Because of the visual element is attractive and commands
attention, the sounds produced are much easer to understand by the facial
impressions, gestures, pysical background shown. These bring learning becomes closer
to real a life situation.
B.
Visual
Media in English Learning
James
(2010) stated on his journal that visual media could make visual impression to
the leaner. They attract students’ attention and concentration as they
illustrate meaning more directly and quickly than through verbal explanation.
He also stated that a single picture was equivalent to 1000 words in meaning to
listener. Picture could cut down unnecessary talking time hence supplement the
voice. Visual impacts the leaners in enhacing their ability to make the
language associated with an object more memorable.
Likewise,
Canning-Wilson (2001) argues that leaners prefer visuals that are coloured,
contain story, related to previous experiences and that can be associated with
places, objects, persons, events or animals of which they are they are
familiar. In this case, picture can be a choice.
Picture
A.
The Definition of
Picture
“A picture is worth a thousands words, that is a cliché that has yet
to be proved false, especially in today fast-paced language classroom. Where
well-conceived and efficiently handle visual stimuli frequently create the
different between dynamic, high-yield instruction and static monotonous and
static opposite”, (Kenton, 1999:7)
B.
The Types of Picture
According to Grazyna Szkyke, “Visual Aids in Language Teaching as
a Second Language”, English Teaching Forum, XIII, (London: Hunter College,1982.
p. 265) “There are two kinds of pictures that are useful in teaching learning
process as teaching aids: pictures of individual's persons and object and
pictures of situations in which persons and objects are in action.
a. Pictures of
individual
1)
Pictures of individual person or things may be used,
mainly at the elementary level, to introduce or test vocabulary items.
2)
Portraits, which are pictures that show a person in
close detail, are useful for intermediate and advance learners. The students
can be asked questions about the age and proportion of the person, whether
she/he is married, her/his interest and traits of character.
The pictures have enough cues, so that the students can figure out the
meaning of a new word and sentence structure. The students understand and
retain the meaning of a word better when they have seen or have touched some
object associated with it.
Composite picture
Composite
images are pictures that are electronically built up using multiple layers to
hopefully produce convincing looking fake pictures. This technique is a
computer version of using scissors to cut out parts of one picture to paste
into another. It is effectively an electronic version of collage making.
Composites are used to supplement a reconstruction wherever authentic visual
material is not available.
At
the basic level, cutting out a character and pasting them into the correct
setting for a scene would be a typical scenario for making a composite. This
would of course only be necessary if appropriate authentic pictures do not
exist for the scene or if we wish to supplement authentic pictures to add
variety to the reconstruction. In the more advanced case, composites consist of
very many layers, one for each of the independent sources being used. The
background layer could be a set, an appropriate costume as one layer, the
correct actor's head as another layer, etc, etc.
Whenever
possible the likeness of the correct actor is used for these types of
composites. As a typical example, for the Mission to the Unknown
reconstruction, this process was necessary for every single shot featuring the
main cast as no telecast or authentic pictures of them survive at all. The
composites use whatever source material
is suitable in.
Teaching
Vocabulary
As Goebel (2001:
16) stated that, “teaching vocabulary should not only consist of teaching
specific words but also aim at equipping students with strategies necessary to
expand their vocabulary knowledge”.
Learning more
and more vocabulary items does not necessarily increase a person’s fluency. By
definition, the extra items are less and less useful. Despite this obvious
fact, teachers and even more and more students, feel that increasing their
vocabulary will increase their fluency-either in speech or in writing. This is
very far from the truth. Knowing a vocabulary item is not a simple process – it
means much more than simply memorizing the word.
Teaching
vocabulary is clearly more than just presenting new words, because vocabulary
plays an essential role in learning language. Vocabulary teaching can help the
students to learn the meaning of the words, understand the connection between
form and the meaning and how to use it.
Young
learner always deal with vocabulary in learning
English because it appears in any language skills. Having enough vocabulary can
make them able to listen, speak, read, and write. Therefore, vocabulary should
be developing in order to achieve their language skills.
Meanwhile
vocabulary cannot be taught separately but it should be taught in context, which
may not relate to the young learner
environment. As stated by McMillan, which quoted by Nation (2001: 85) that, “we
should also give precedence to vocabulary which is related to environment and
experience of pupil whether or not it is found in our textbook or high on a
word”. It is clear that teaching vocabulary in context and creating a good
environment to help the young learner’s
members the words easily can improve learner’s
vocabulary.
Teaching
Vocabulary Using Pictures
Vocabulary is, according to Hatch
& Brown (1995), “the list of words that
speakers of a particular language use”. As language
teachers we use different types of teaching aids to explain the meaning of new
words. Using pictures is one of the teaching aids that teachers depend on in
their teaching. Harmer (2001:134) states that “Teachers have always used
pictures or graphics – whether drawn, taken from books, newspapers and
magazines, or photographs – to facilitate learning”. In Harmer’s experience, English teachers tend to feel that using
pictures in teaching new words makes the process enjoyable and memorable. They
also feel that pictures attract pupils’ attention and deepen their
understanding of vocabulary.
Pictures can also help learners with
abstract words, as associating the words with a concrete object makes these
words easier to remember. Harmer (2001:135) states that “one of the most appropriate
uses for pictures is for the presenting and checking of meaning. An easy way of
explaining the meaning of the word aeroplane, for example, is to have a picture
of one”. Of course, not all new words can be taught using pictures but most
concrete vocabulary can.
Nation (1990:51) lists a number of
basic techniques through which teachers can explain the meanings of new words,
all of which can be used in the young learner classroom. Some of these
techniques involve the use of pictures from a variety of sources - pictures
from computers; photographs; drawings or diagrams on the board; and pictures
from books. It will be interesting in this study to see which techniques
teachers use. Of course, pictures must
be chosen carefully and it is hoped that this study will shed some light on how
teachers make these choices.
According to Harmer (2001), “pictures
should be appropriate not only for the language to be learned but also for the
classes they are being used for; if pictures are too childish young learner may
not like them and if they are culturally inappropriate they can offend people”.
Pictures also need to be visible –
especially if they are being shown to the whole class they need to be big
enough for everyone to see. And it also helps if pictures are durable – that is,
strong enough to be used several times.
As noted above, although it is
generally accepted that pictures can play an important role in supporting
vocabulary learning, that it know little about teacher and learner perspectives
on this issue. His study aims to address this topic in the context of
elementary classrooms in Oman.
Study English using
Picture Media
Picture flash cards
Each of young learner to study
English
using picture flash cards that it is given by their
teacher.
Some of students are experiential learners that they learn by doing. They listen and learn. Sometimes the lesson determines the nature of
the learning. Colleen said that learning a new language especially English, for example, frequently requires young
learner can to
adopt an entirely new way of thinking and learning. Like any language, English
has its own nuances and challenges for the English language learner.
The flash cards
can be used at the beginning of a unit to present and practice new vocabulary. Flash cards are useful
for teaching of grammar and vocabulary especially at the
meaningful/communicative step. If carefully used flash cards can form material
for the drill part of the lesson, to present patterns of the drill.
The teacher can
prepare flash cards easily and store them easily in well grouped packs. These
should easily be retrievable when the occasion arises for their use in line
with the syllabus or course material. Flash cards need not be larger than a
specific size. Flash cards can be displayed casually and easily by the teacher
or by the students in group work.
In other hand, with the picture
flash cards, young learner be able like to the picture, to increase their
motivation to study English. And also they can be predicted about what is the
picture about.
The ways
of teaching English to the young learner
using picture flash cards
1. Create flash cards.
This works especially well as a
vocabulary builder. Cut pictures from magazines, catalogs or newspapers or
download pictures from the web. Attach one picture to one side of a blank 3x5
index card. On the other side of the card, write the English word that
describes the picture. Use your dictionary to check your spelling.
2. Start with individual words.
You can combine singular
("shoe") and plural ("shoes") forms of nouns on a single
card, but you may find it more helpful to create a separate card for each.
Don't forget adjectives (e.g. "red," "tall" and
"short").
3. Combine words and concepts.
This works well if you can create
comparative scenarios, e.g. "blue shirt" and "yellow
shirt." In this way, you'll learn both the noun and the adjective that
describes it.
4. Create cards that illustrate action
words.
On one side, write the infinitive form of the
verb, along with the present-tense conjugations: "to run: I run, you run,
he/she runs, we run, they run."
5. As you become more proficient, make
your lessons more challenging by combining words to make sentences.
To do this, make stacks of cards
grouped by part of speech: noun, adjective, verb. Select one noun picture, one
adjective and one verb to create an instant sentence.
6. As your skills become more advanced,
step up your learning.
Line up the pictures and their
associated words to tell simple stories. Make silly stories that will reinforce
your learning. Make stories that describe special events and holidays.
Teaching
Vocabulary through Flash Card
Teacher as
facilitator should accommodate their students by finding out some interesting
ways of teaching, in order to make the students interested to the lesson,
teachers can use teaching aids for teaching grammar since most children like
pictures there is an advantages to teach them using visual aids, so that they
are interested to the lesson.
Moreover, they
are eager to learn more about English grammar. Some of the examples of teaching
aid’s advantages are: to attract student’s attention to the lesson, visual aids
are easy to prepared (so that everyone can make flash cards by drawing any
illustration according to the purpose teaching), visual aids cards are easy to
be carried around as they are only a stack of cards, and the last one visual
aids are easy to be used (as they are only transferred of flash from back to
front).
The
writer
stated before that, since most children like pictures and visual aids. Teacher
can use them to make the student interested to the lesson. Therefore is
motivated to provide an input of teaching irregular English verb using flash
cards. First of all the writer explains about flash cards .
Flash cards are
a great language learning tool. As the old saying goes, “one picture is worth a
thousand words”. But how do you use them effectively? Here are some of the
ideas along that line. If you are using the flash cards to drill vocabulary
start off by sitting in front of the class so that the whole class can see the
cards easily and go through the drill.
After the
students start to get an idea of what the cards are, you can start to just
flash the cards for a second and the students have to tell you what the card
is. That is why they are called flash cards.
As the students
become more familiar with the cards, you can shorten the time of the flash
(Yang Zhihong, 2000: 115). Sightseeing by great picture is shown by flash
cards, students are invited in learning, and it can create class activities
fresher.
Examples
of Vocabulary learning using Picture Flash Card :
.
The
advantages of using flash cards are as follows :
1.
The system is effective
to use for distinguishing tenses
2.
The cards are easy to
be prepared (everyone can make flash cards by drawing any illustration
according to the purpose of teaching)
3.
The cards are easy to
be carried around (as they are only a stack of card, it is easy to be carried)
4.
The cards are easy to
be used (cards are only transferred or flash from back to
front)
On the other
hands flash cards have some disadvantages such as: this system is only
effective for small class (the number of students up to 5 or 10 students), and
because the system in using pattern drill, it is quite possible than they are
not able to use sentences out of the pattern drill.
So, in acquiring
vocabulary students should not be told more about the meaning of words than
they need to know to understand the context so that they do not get confused.
In this case, the writer takes flash cards as the media to conduct the
students.
Conclusion
In this paper the writer try
to present an idea that with using picture media to improve motivation of young
learner to study English especially for elementary school in vocabulary
learning with picture flash card. In order to the young learner are not boring
when the teacher teach them. And also the learning media is not monoton, but
more variation and creative.
Therefore, teacher need
using picture to improve motivation of young learner to study English. In
addition, the young learner will be happy when their teacher teach by using
picture and they can do more ease to memorize the words, if using picture media
with flash card.
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