Improving students’ ability in the concept of past perfect tense through queue technique (A collaborative classroom action research to the third year students of SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan)

I.     INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background of the Research

English grammar is the body of rules describing the properties of the English language. A language is such that its elements must be combined according to certain patterns. English grammar is concerned and restricted to morphology, the building blocks of language; and syntax, the construction of meaningful phrases, clauses and sentences with the use of morphemes and words.

In addition, as a part of grammar, the past perfect is used to express the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past. The past perfect tense in English is composed of two parts: the past tense of the verb to have (had) + the past participle of the main verb. The past perfect refers to a time earlier than before now. It’s function is to make it clear that one event happened before another in the past. It does not matter which event is mentioned first - the tense makes it clear which one happened first.

This kind of tense is very important to the students who still learn English at the third grade of Senior High School. Therefore, the teacher has to use the suitable method in teaching past perfect tense. Winkle (1987:34) said that among other things that greatly influence the result of English teaching is method. It is often considered that the most important thing is the process of teaching. The student found the difficulties caused by the unsuitable method used by the teacher; both teacher and students will get unsatisfactory result. To anticipate the problem above, a serious attention in presenting the suitable method in teaching skill is needed.

However, based on the preliminary study conducted by the researcher in SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan while researcher was on teaching practice, the researcher found that the teaching and learning process of this tense is still run by using usual method. The teacher just gave the formula and the example of past perfect tense on textbook to students and then the students is asked to compose their own past perfect tense. The students seemed unmotivated and uninterested in learning reading. They did not active and seemed bored in the class.

Therefore, the teacher should consider making the students active in learning. One of the alternatives is using the technique that actively involved all of students in the class. The technique that could be used by the teacher is queue technique. In this technique of learning, the students learned together to accomplished the task given by the teacher. They can discuss the questions with their friend by making some groups in the class. In accomplishing the task, they make the queue to come to the board in front of class. If one student failed to answer the question, he/she could be help by another student in his or her group. The student who had the turn came to the back of the queue line. Through this way, the students were more interested in teaching and learning process (Kagan, 1992:256).

Based on the explanation above, the researcher interested to conduct the research dealing with one aspect of English teaching and learning. The research title is: “Improving students’ ability in the concept of past perfect tense through queue technique (A collaborative classroom action research to the third year students of SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan). It is hoped that the result of this research can help teachers and students of in teaching and learning past perfect tense.

1.2  Problems of the Research

Based on the background presented above, the researcher formulated the problems of the research as follows:

1.      How does queue technique increase the students’ ability in mastering past perfect tense to the third year students of SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan?

2.      How is the classroom’s atmosphere when the queue technique applied in teaching past perfect tense to the third year students of SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan?

1.3  Purposes of the Research

Based on the problems of the research above, the purposes of the research are in the following:

1.      To know how the queue technique increases the students’ ability in mastering past perfect tense to the third year students of SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan.

2.      To find how the classroom’s atmosphere is when the queue technique applied in teaching past perfect tense to the third year students of SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan.

1.4 Significance of the Research

This research is hoped to give meaningful knowledge both for theoretically and practically concerns.

-          Theoretically, the research gives logical advantage in describing the students’ achievement in mastering past perfect tense through queue technique, especially to the third year students of SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan.

-          Practically, the finding of the research is expected to give a priority measures in teaching reading for teacher. Meanwhile for the students, it is hoped to be able to enrich their competence in mastering English grammar, especially past perfect tense.

1.5  Scope of the Research

In this research, the researcher would like to gives the scope of the research for limiting the focus of the research. This research focuses on improving students’ ability in mastering past perfect tense  through queue technique to be implemented to the third year students of SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan.

1.6  Definition of Key Terms

1.      Past perfect tense is a tense to emphasize that an action in the past finished before another action in the past started. This tense is also used in reported speech, third conditional sentences, or to show dissatisfaction with the past (http://www.englishtenses.com/tenses/past_perfect). In this research, the researcher will teach past perfect tense through queue technique to the third year students of SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan.

2.      Queue technique is a technique of teaching that is the practice activity designed gets students to finish the task given by the teacher in a queue line to come to the board in front of class (Harmer, (2007:65). In this research, it means the technique used by the researcher in the teaching and learning process of past perfect tense to the third year students of SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan.

II.      REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This part focuses on the review or related literature in the present study. The discussion includes the concept of past perfect tense and using queue technique in improving the ability of mastering past perfect tense.

2.1  Definition of Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense is often used in English when we are relating two events, which happened in the past. It helps to show which event happened first (Nilsson, 1989:98). Besides, we use the past perfect tense to emphasize that an action in the past finished before another action in the past started. This tense is also used in reported speech, third conditional sentences, or to show dissatisfaction with the past.

The basic form of past perfect tense is: “Subject + Had + Verb (past participle form)”. The example of past perfect tense in sentences is as follows:

·         I had written the letter before you came home.

·         If she had studied hard, she would have passed the English language exam.

·         I wish I had been brave enough.

·         Mary looked as if she had not slept for 48 hours.

The function of past perfect is that the past perfect refers to a time earlier than before now. It is used to make it clear that one event happened before another in the past. It does not matter which event is mentioned first - the tense makes it clear which one happened first.

In these examples, Event A is the first or earliest event, Event B is the second or latest event:

Event A	Event B
John had gone out	when I arrived in the office.
I had saved my document	before the computer crashed.
When they arrived	we had already started cooking
He was very tired	because he hadn't slept well.

Past perfect + just. 'Just' is used with the past perfect to refer to an event that was only a short time earlier than before now, e.g.

a.       The train had just left when I arrived at the station.

b.      She had just left the room when the police arrived.

c.       I had just put the washing out when it started to rain.

2.2  The Use of Past Perfect Tense

Past perfect tense is used to emphasize that an action in the past finished before another action in the past started. This tense is also used in reported speech, third conditional sentences, or to show dissatisfaction with the past (Sullivan, 1979:267). The explanation of each use are in the following.

-       A completed action before another action in the past

The first use of this tense is to emphasize that one action in the past happened before another action in the past.

• I had finished my homework before I went playing football.
• John had never been to London before we went there last year.

For good information to know, people (especially native speakers) do not use the Past Perfect in above sentences very often. For example, they will say:

• After I washed my car, I went to fill up.

Rather than:

• After I had washed my car, I went to fill up.

This is because "after" and "before" tell the listener which action happened first. Still, keep in mind that it is better to use the Past Perfect, especially in written English or when writing exams.

-        Third Conditional

Use the Past Perfect with third conditional sentences.

• If we had gone by taxi, we wouldn't have been late.
• If Mary had studied harder, she would have passed the exam.

This use is the so-called hypothetical past: we are talking about things that never happened.

• I wish I had fixed my umberella. (but I didn't)
• If only I had known the answer to that question. (but I didn't)

-        Reported Speech

Use the Past Perfect with sentences in reported speech.

• Mary said she had already seen this film.
• He asked if I had read Harry Potter.

-        Dissatisfaction with the Past

We often use the Past Perfect to show our dissatisfaction with the past. Such sentences typically start with "I wish ..." or "If only ...".

• I wish I had taken more food. I'm hungry now.
• If only I had taken more food. I'm hungry now.

The Past Perfect is also used with expressions such as "as if" and "as though":

• John looked as if he had done something terrible.
• She looked as though she hadn't slept all night.

2.3  Using Queue Technique in Improving the Ability of Mastering Past Perfect Tense

There are many ways in teaching English grammar, especially Past Perfect Tense. One of them is by using queue technique. The queue technique is one of the technique in teaching English grammar. Its function is to make the concept of English grammar understandable or easy to memorize the pattern. In this practice activity, the instruction material designed to get students using the language of description, and also an artificial information gap is created by getting the students to look at the different sentences (Harmer, 2007:235).

The teacher starts by explaining the pattern of Past Perfect Tense and its use. The students pay attention to what is being taught by their teacher. They can ask te question to the teacher if they get the problem in understanding the teaching instruction. After the students comprehend the concept of Past Perfect Tense, the teacher give a task to them to compose a sentence in form of Past Perfect Tense to each student.

The next step after the students accomplish the task is applying the queue technique in improving the mastery of Past Perfect Tense. The teacher divided the class into four groups. Each group have the task to complete the sentences in form of Past Perfect Tense in the board. The board were made in four parts. In each part of board, the teacher have written the question of completing the Past Perfect Tense.

In addition, the students make a queue line in each group. Therefore, there are four queue lines in class because there are four groups formed by the teacher. In each group, a student came to the board to complete the question in their own part of board. If the student fails to complete the sentence, he/she go back to the line of the queue. His/ her friend will come to the board to try accomplishing the sentence.

When the student have answer the question correctly, then they continuo to the next question in their own part of the board. The teacher will give a good appreciation to the group who can finish the task as quick as possible. What the students can get from this technique is the togetherness value. They work in group to accomplish the tasks given by the teacher. Thus, this technique will improve the ability of the students in mastering the English tense of Past Perfect.

As a conclusion, it is known that the queue technique makes the foreign language immediately useful to the students. It brings the target language to life. Finally, the students need more list of verb in their mind but it would not be easy for them to increase their ability if the teacher does not use the suitable technique in the teaching and learning process. Finally, it can be concluded that the queue technique should be one of alternative ways to improve students’ grammar acquisition, especially Past Perfect Tense.

III.        METHODOLOGY

The part focuses on the research methodology employed in this research. The discussion includes the research design, the setting and the subject of the research the data collecting technique and the data analysis and reflection.

3.1  Design of the Research

            This research is designed as Classroom Action Research (CAR).  Asrori (2008: 100) says that there are some steps in this research. The first is planning an action. In this step, the researcher will design lesson plan for teaching past perfect tense through queue technique, prepare instrument and prepare the criteria of success. The second is implementing the action. In this step, the researcher will teach English grammar, especially past perfect tense to students by using queue technique. This step will be done in three meeting for each cycle.

Moreover, the third is observing the action. In this step, the researcher will observe and collect the data about the implementation impact of the action. And the final step is analyzing and reflecting the research findings. In this step, the researcher will analyze the result of the observation. If the result of the research has met criteria of success, the researcher will stop the action. Otherwise, if the result of the research has not been satisfied, the researcher will implement the action in the next cycle.

To be more detail, the researcher in includes a figure of the procedure in classroom action research as follows:

RECONNAISSANCE ·    The teaching and learning problems in past perfect tense.

ANALYSIS AND FINDING ·    The students have low ability in past perfect tense ·    The strategic used in the teaching and learning process are still in conventional way.

PLANNING THE ACTION ·    Designing a lesson plan for teaching past perfect tense through queue technique ·    Preparing instrument, field notes and criteria of success.

IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN Carrying out the teaching and learning process on the lesson plan.

OBSERVING Observing and collect the data about the effect of implementations of the action.

REFLECTING ON THE ACTION ·    Analyzing the collected data ·    Determining whether the action is successful or unsuccessful

Successful

Report

Revised Plan

Conclusion

Unsuccessful

Figure 1.6.1 Classroom Action Research Model (adapted from Kemmis & Taggart, 1998)

 

1.8.2. The Population and

3.2 Setting and the Subject of the Research

            This research is conducted at SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan which is located in Peusangan Selatan Sub-District, Bireuen District. The sum totals of the class in the school are nine classes. It has four classes for first grade, two for second and three for the third. The subjects of the research were the third year students of SMA N 1 Peusangan Selatan. The researcher chose class XII/IPA₁ as the subject of the research. This class consisted of thirty students. The reason why the researcher chose one class only is that classroom action research is conducted in one class. Classroom is the place where a group of students in the same time receives the same lesson from the teacher (Suharsimi in Asrori, 2008:5).

3.3 Technique of Data Collection

In order to collect the data, there were some techniques used by the researcher. The researcher had observation (both for teacher and students), questionnaire and test. The researcher and collaborative teachers implement all the techniques for each meeting in each cycle.

3.3.1 Observation

To get the data about the process of teaching and learning English, students’ observation sheets and teachers’ observation sheets were made. Observation sheet is a list of things that an observer is going to look at when observing a class. This list may have been prepared by the observer or the teacher or both. Observation sheet give an observer a structure and framework for an observation to get specific information on aspects of the class. In this research observation sheet is used to obtain data about how the practitioner implement the action and gather data about the students’ activity during the teaching learning process.

In addition, students’ observation sheets and teachers’ observation sheets were made to get the data about the process of teaching and learning English. Each observation sheet consisted of some items or aspects to be observed. Each item consisted of four columns categories. The categories were:

0 = Very poor  (No one did)                           (with the percentage level of 0%)

1 = Poor          (Only some students did)       (with the percentage level of 25%)

2 = Fair            (About half of students did)   (with the percentage level of 50%)

3 = Good         (Most of students did)                        (with the percentage level of 50%)

4 = Very good (All of students did)               (with the percentage level of 100%).

3.3.2 Questionnaire

In order to get the data about the students’ impression towards the implementation of the strategy used in teaching and learning process, the questionnaire is used. It consists of 10 items. It is prepared and distributed to the students at the end of the learning process. The aspects observed is divided into three forms of answer. The students only tick one of some categories; there were like or yes, dislike or no, and no comment. To make students easy in answer the questions, questionnaire is written in Indonesian language.

3.3.3 Test

Test is sequence or list of questions to measure, skill, ability, intelligence, owned by individual or group. Test is given to the students to know their improvement in mastering past perfect tense. There are two test in this cycle, namely test in cycle I and test in cycle II. The test is written test in completion form. There are 20 (twenty) items of question in the test. The students answered the question by completing the blank in the sentences in the answers sheet. The details of scoring system are as follows:

1.      The score for each correct answer = 5;

2.      Maximum score = 100;

3.      The students’ score =   x 100

4.      The class’ average score =  

           = the class’ average score

        = the total of students’ score

n               =  the number of students

This test is given to the students in order to know the progress of students and the success of the queue technique application in teaching and learning process of past perfect tense. The students’ achievement of the two tests is compared. The researcher expected the students’ score in cycle II would be higher than the score in cycle I.

3.4 Data Analysis and Reflection

In the data analysis the researcher compared the results of the action during the teaching and learning process. The data obtained through test and observation then collected and analyzed them. In reflection, the researcher evaluated the result of the action in the first cycle in order to know whether it has met the criteria of success or not. There are three major indicator of success formulated, namely the improvement of the students’ achievement in each cycle of the process, the student’s final products, and the student’s responses toward the implementation of the action.

3.5 Criteria of Success

The criteria of success reflected the areas of concern that is emphasized in research. The criteria were set up in order to judge whether the implementation of the action is effective or not dealing with the objective and the scope of the research. There are some criteria of success formulated by the researcher and collaborator teacher, namely:

-          the improvement of the students’ ability of mastering past perfect tense in each stage of the process is significant,

-          the student’s final products that has to be achieved by the students is 70,

-          the teaching  and learning process is conducted based on the good lesson plan,

-          the teacher has a good performance in implementing queue technique and carried out the procedure as planned at previous step, and

-          the students are enthusiastic and actively involved during the learning and teaching process of past perfect tense.