The Students’ Learning Styles in Learning English at SMPN 1 Wonosari
| Main Author: | Yayang Rinastalia Madika; Study Program of English Language Education, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang. Advisor: Dr. Suharmanto, M.Pd. |
|---|---|
| Format: | PeerReviewed |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2009
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
http://karya-ilmiah.um.ac.id/index.php/sastra-inggris/article/view/616 |
Daftar Isi:
- The success of teaching-learning process is not only determined by howthe teachers teach but also, most importantly and principally is determined by howthe students learn. Language learning styles is one of the main factors that helpdetermine how the students learn a second or foreign language. However, thestudents have different personalities so they learn in many ways or styles.Moreover, the match between the students’ learning styles and the teachers’teaching styles can enhance an effective teaching-learning process. Thus, it isimportant for teachers to be aware of their students learning styles.It is clear then that one factor which can lead to the success of a languageteaching-learning process is the match between students` learning styles and theteaching methods used by the teachers. Due to the importance of knowing thestudents` learning style and limited number of studies done on identifying thestudents` learning style difference, this study is conducted. This study investigatesthe learning styles preferences of the SMPN 1 Wonosari students according to twovariables: gender and levels of the study whether the differences are significant.The students’ learning styles preferences to be measured are visual, auditory,kinesthetic, tactile, group and individual.The design of this study is principally descriptive quantitative. Adescriptive study is aimed at describing the current phenomena that is the realsituation at the time of conducting the research. This study is a Replication of theprevious studies by Reid (1987). However, this study only uses two variables:gender and levels of the study. The other variables such as cultural background,English ability are omitted because of the homogeneity of the subjects.There are 351 students at SMPN 1 Wonosari which consist of 180 malesand 171 females. For a practical reason, this study takes only one class of eachgrade as a sample. As a result, VII-A, VIII-A, and IX-C classes were chosen asthe samples of this study. VII-A class consists of 38 students, while VIII-A classis comprised 44 students, and IX-C class has 37 students. Therefore, there are 119students as the subjects of this study.The instrument used to collect the data is the perceptual learning stylesquestionnaire, designed by Joy M Reid, consisting of 30 items that the studentsrate on a five-point scale from 4 to 0. These items are randomly arranged sets of 5statements on each of the six learning styles preferences to be measured. Tofacilitate the learners’ response and to avoid misinterpretation, the questionnaire istranslated into Indonesian by Sari (2001).For the data analysis, first, the writer collects data from the questionnairesfrom the students. Then, the data from the questionnaire is then classifiedaccording to each of the students’ variables. The students’ scores on each learning6style for each variable are then classified into three categories set up by Reid:major, minor, and negative learning styles preferences. Then, to find thesignificant differences among the variables, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) wasapplied.The study indicates that the students of SMPN 1 Wonosari preferred tohave group and auditory as their major learning styles, visual, kinesthetic, tactileand individual as their minor learning styles and they do not have any negativelearning styles. The result of the study also shows that according to gender,females prefer group and auditory as major learning and visual, kinesthetic,tactile, and individual as their minor learning styles. Auditory and group aremale’s major learning styles and their minor learning styles are visual, kinesthetic,and tactile, while individual is their negative learning styles. Analysis of variance(ANOVA), using SPSS for windows, of each style shows that there is significantdifferences at the .05 level at the auditory learning styles; it shows that femalestudents are more auditory than male students.The students’ learning styles preferences means of three levels of studyshows that the first graders prefer group, visual, and auditory as their majorlearning styles Whereas, kinesthetic, tactile, and individual are their minorlearning. Group and auditory are the second graders’ major learning styles andvisual, kinesthetic, tactile, and individual as their minor learning styles. Auditoryand group are the third graders’ major learning styles and their minor learningstyles are visual, kinesthetic, and tactile. ANOVA finds significant difference atthe .05 level at the auditory learning style. It is found that the first graders are theless auditory than the other levels, while the most auditory is the second graders.ANOVA also shows that there is a significant difference at the visual learningstyle; it is found that the first graders are the most visual than the other levels.The results also showed that the first graders are likely to be successfullearners since they have multiple learning styles and they do not have anynegative learning styles so they seem not to have any difficulties in learning sincethey can process information in whatever way it is presented.Based on the finding the writer suggests that English teachers help theirstudents identify their learning style preferences. Then, Identification of thestudents learning styles should also be followed by applying various ways ofteaching. The writer also suggests that the students be aware or their learningstyles so they will be aware of their strength and weakness. After that, they canfind the most suitable strategies for their learning. This school is also expected todo any efforts to support the students by providing such learning facilities, such astape recorder and cassettes or other medias that can help the students learnEnglish well.