TEACHERS TEACHING STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH CLASSROOMS

(A Descriptive Study on the Eleventh Grade Students of State Vocational High School
in District Banyumas in the Academic Year 2013/2014)
A JOURNAL
By:
Fara Citra Ghossani
1001050048
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
TEACHING AND TRAINING EDUCATION FACULTY
THE UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH PURWOKERTO
2014
JOURNAL
TEACHERS TEACHING STRATEGIES IN ENGLISH CLASSROOMS
(A Descriptive Study on the Eleventh Grade Students of Public Vocational High School in
District Banyumas in the Academic Year 2013/2014)
Fara Citra Ghossani
Lutfi Isthikharoh, M. Pd.
ABSTRACT: A Descriptive Study, entitled Teachers Teaching Strategies in English
Classroom which was conducted at eleventh grade of SMKN 1 Purwokerto, SMKN 2
Purwokerto, and SMKN 3 Purwokerto, revealed the teachers teaching strategies in English
classroom. This study was based on five mainparts of teaching strategy proposed by Majid
(2013) and Hamruni (2013): direct teaching strategy, indirect teaching strategy, interactive
teaching strategy, experiential teaching strategy, and independent teaching strategy.
The participants of the study were five teachers as the main participants and 140 students as
respondents in completing questionnaire. The data, which were collected and analyzed from
interview, observation, and questionnaire, showed that direct teaching strategyand interactive
teaching strategy were the most strategy that were frequently used by the teacher. Teacher
used direct teaching strategy since the students of High School still needed guiding from the
teacher to understand the learning material. Teacher also used interactive teaching strategy in
English classroom since the students were more participative in teaching learning process.
Keywords: Teaching Strategy, Direct Teaching Strategy, Interactive Teaching Strategy
INTRODUCTION
A learning process is a mental activity to study learning material or experience
which influenced by internal and external factors. According to Dimyati et al (1994: 228)
internal factors which influenced the learning process are attitude towards learning,
motivation, concentration in learning, storing the learning, show the learning, confident,
study the learning material, digging the results of the study, and students goal. On the other
hand, the external factors which influenced the learning process like students environment in
school, such as teacher, facilities in learning activity, policy of assessment, the curriculum in
school and the environment in house.
One of the external factors which can influence teaching learning process is a
teacher. The teachers role as an informant needs a right step in delivering the learning
material. Most of the teachers in deliver the material by explaining it and only asking the
students to listen to the teacher and write the material in their book. Teaching learning
process by using this conventional way will make students feel bored quickly and students
will not pay attention to the material that is taught. However, teacher should arrange their
own teaching strategies to teach a certain lesson material. Teacher who expects the good
students achievement will apply a strategy to reach out that goal. Wena (2009: 2) explains
that the use of strategy in teaching learning process is much needed because to ease learning
process so it can achieve optimum result. Teaching strategies is one of the important things in
teaching learning process to maintain efficiency and effectiveness of learning activity that is
done by students, thus article will reveal what teaching strategies that are commonly used by
teacher in English classroom.
THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK
Learning is an instructional system that refers to a set of component that depend
each other to reach the goal. Teachers should make a plan how teachers will teach the
material, what method and learning media that teachers will use before they teach the
students. Teacher should arrange their own teaching strategies to teach a certain lesson
material.
Teaching Strategy
Teaching strategies is comprehensive approach in a learning system which forms of
common rule and activity plan to achieve the common learning objective. Teaching strategies
is ways that will be used by teacher to choose learning activity during teaching learning
process.
Seels and Richey (1994: 31) and Moore (2005: 3) in Yamin (2013: 3-4) have the
same idea of what teaching strategy is. They define it as a specification for selection and
arranging the events and activities in a lesson with plan it to teach the lesson that there is a
method and steps to follow to do the teaching learning process.
Moreover, Majid (2013:7) and Kemp (in Majid) add that teaching strategy is a
learning process that should be done by teacher and students in order that learning objective
can be achieved effectively and efficiently. Kozmain Sanjaya (2007) supports the theory of
teaching strategy that is an activity that can be chosen, that can give facility to students to
achieve the certain learning objective. Gerlach and Ely (cited in Harmuni, 2013: 2) explain
that teaching strategies is chosen ways to deliver the lesson material in certain learning
environment. While Dick and Carey (1994) tell that teaching strategies contain of all element
of learning material and procedure or step of learning process that is used by teacher to help
students to achieve certain learning objective. According to Cropper (1998) in Harmuni
(2013: 3) teaching strategies is the selection of certain exercise which appropriate with
learning objective that will be achieved.
The Elements of Teaching Strategy
Dick and Carey (2005) in Yamin (2013: 5), teaching strategies has common
elements and procedures that will be used together to produce certain learning outcome in
students. There are five elements of teaching strategies: First, pre-instructional or
introduction learning activity, it is as a part of a learning system hold an important role in
whole (Sunhaji: 2008). Pre-instructional activity that is delivered attractively will improve
students motivation to study. This activity can be done by explaining the particular learning
objectiveexpected to be achieved by all students in the end of the teaching learning process,
and doing an apperception, it is an activity that connects between previous knowledge with
new knowledge that will be studied. Second, explaining lesson material, considered as one of
the most important activities in the teaching learning process, whereas this part is only one of
the elements of teaching strategies (Sunhaji: 2008). This activity will be meaningless when
there is not any interesting pre-instructional activity or teacher cannot motivate students in
learning activity. Third, students participation or students active learning (SAL) which
means is the learning process will be more successful if the students actively do an exercise
directly and relevant to the purpose (Dick and Carey, 1987 cited in Sunhaji, 2008). There are
some important things that relate to students participation: (a) Exercise and practice should
be done after students given the information about knowledge, behavior, or certain skill, and
(b) the teacher gives feedback as soon as the students show their learning outcome. Fourth,
evaluation is the systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting information to
determine the extent to which pupils are achieving instructional objectives (Ground and Linn,
1990). A series of tests used by teacher to find out whether the purpose of learning objectives
has been achieved and whether a knowledge attitude and skill has really owned by students.
They often asked their students to do discussion activity in a group or with their desk mate.
The teacher also asked students to ask question related to the topic they are discussed. In
addition, the teacher also gave their students a chance to share their idea or opinion of the
material in teaching learning process. By sharing the idea or opinion, students could find the
other alternative think about the topic that they discussed. After they discussed the topic with
their friend, they presentedtheir discussion result in front of the class. It was done in order to
makethe other students who were in the different group know other group answer and they
could give an argument or compare it totheir own answer. Then, teacher would give resume
from the answer of all of group. The students would think again about what they have already
got from the teaching learning process. Fifth, follow-up activity is needed by teacher to notice
students mastery level. This activity is to optimize students learning outcome. Following-up
activity can be done through (a) giving homework, (b) discuss again the lesson material that
has not been mastered by students, (c) read the material from other source, (d) give
motivation or tutoring, and (e) inform the topics that will be discussed next meeting.
The Components of Teaching Strategy
As Harmuni (2013: 11) said that the components of teaching strategy consist of ten
components. First, teacher is a learning doer, so in this case teacher is an important factor.
Teacher component cannot be manipulated or engineered by others component, but teacher
can manipulate or engineer other component to be varied. Teachers aim to manipulate is to
build students environment in order to appropriate with the environment that is expected
from students learning process, that eventually students get learning outcomes as expected.
Second, students are the component that does the learning activity to develop skill potential
become real to achieve learning purpose. Third, purposeis the basis that used as a foundation
to determine the teaching strategy, material, media, and evaluation. In teaching strategy,
deciding the purpose is the first component to be chosen by teacher, because learning purpose
is a target that will be achieved in teaching activity. Fourth, learning material is a medium to
achieve learning purpose of material arranged systematically and dynamic in accordance with
the aim of purpose and science development and society demand. Fifth, learning activity is
needed to determine teaching strategy which learning activity is appropriate with standard of
learning process thus learning purpose can be achieved optimally. Sixth, methodis a way that
is used to achieve the learning purpose that has been set. Determining the method that will be
used by teacher in teaching learning process will very determine whether the learning is
success. Seventh, instrument that is used in teaching learning process is a thing that can be
used to achieve learning purpose. In teaching learning process, instrument has function as
complement. Eight, learning sourceis a thing that can be used as a place or referral where the
learning material can be obtained. Ninth, evaluation is a component that functions to know
whether the set purpose has been achieved or not. Evaluation can be function as afeedback to
improvement strategy that has been set. Tenth, situation and environment influence to teacher
in determining teaching strategy. Environment here means situation and physical condition
(such as climate, school, school place, etc), and human relationship, like relationship with
friends, students, and other people.
Types of Teaching Strategies
Based on Majid (2013: 11) and Hamruni (2013: 8) teaching strategies can be
classified into five categories, they are:
1. Direct teaching strategy is a strategy that is directed by teacher and it is often used by
teacher in teaching material to students. Lectures methods, didactic question, explicit
teaching, practice and exercise, and demonstration are included in direct teaching
strategy. The advantagesof this strategy are easy to plan and easy to use, but this strategy
has a major weakness in developing capabilities, processes, and attitudes required for
critical thinking and interpersonal relationship as well as study in groups.
2. Indirect teaching strategy is also called as inquiry, inductive, problem solving, decision-
making and discovery. The teachers role shifts from a lecturer to a facilitator. Teacher
manages the learning environment and gives students opportunity to engage in learning
activity. The advantages of this strategy are encouraging students interest and curiosity,
creating alternative and problem solving, encouraging creativity and developing
interpersonal and others skill, students have better understanding of the material, and
expressing understanding of the material. Meanwhile, the weaknesses of this strategy are
it takes a long time and learning outcomes are difficult to predict.
3. Interactive teaching strategy emphasizes in discussion and sharing between students.
Those give opportunity to students to react towards other students or teachers idea,
experience, approach, and knowledge to build thinking and feeling alternatively. The
strengths of this strategy are students can learn from his teacher and his friends to build
social skill and other skills, and organized thinking and build a rational argument.
However, this strategy really depend on teachers skill in arrange and develop group
dynamics.
4. Experiential learning is oriented in inductive activity, student-centered, and activity-
based. Improving students participation, improving students critical character, and
improving students analysis are the strengths of this strategy. Meanwhile, the
weaknesses of this strategy are the emphasis only on the process. There are some kinds
of experiential teaching strategy: (a) Case method is learning activity that discusses a real
case, or reconstructed case which have certain principle of a problem, (b) Problem-based
learning is learning activity which has background that human as a life being always
have problem to be solved, and (c) games, simulation, and role play.
5. Independent teaching strategy is a strategy which purpose to develop individual
initiative, independency, and self-improvement. The strength from this strategy is to
make independent and responsible students. Moreover, the weakness of this strategy is
this strategy cannot be applied with immature students.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research used descriptive qualitative in this research. Qualitative research is to
describe the real phenomenon either a natural or unreal phenomenon. This research
investigates form, activities, characteristics, alteration, correlation, similarity, and difference
between a phenomenon and other phenomenon (Sukmadinata, 2010: 74).
This research was conducted in SMK Negeri 1 Purwokerto, SMK Negeri 2
Purwokerto, and SMK Negeri 3 Purwokerto. The participant of this research was five
teachers from three schools as the main participant and 140 students as the respondent of
questionnaire. This research conducted two interviews with different purposes to the teacher
before and after teaching learning process, the first interview conducted to find out teachers
basic knowledge of what teaching strategy they used while the second interview was to
clarify the result of first interview and observation. This research also used check list to get
data from teacher by observing teaching learning process in the classroomto find out what
teaching strategy that is used by teachers and also distributed questionnaire to get the data
from the students to support the result of interview and observation.
RESULT
The results of data analysis were obtained from interviews, observations, and
questionnaire. Indeed, the main data of teachers teaching strategies were collected through
observation, while interview and questionnaire were collected to support the main data.
1. Direct Teaching Strategy
Five teachers who were observed used direct teaching strategy in teaching
English. They said that they used direct teaching strategy because High School students
still need teacher explanation about the learning material that will be taught. They
explained the learning material that would be taught that day to their students. They
always gave question to their students related to the material. It was done to know
whether their students already knew about the material or not. Besides, sometimes
teacher asked their students to do exercise related to the material. Four of five teachers
asked their students to do exercises in order that the students are more understand about
the material that has taught. Moreover, the teachers who were observed rarely guided
their students to understand the material through a dialogue or text and connected it with
the daily life. They usually just guided their student without connectingit with the daily
life. On the other hand, they were seldom practice a dialogue or demonstrate an activity
that related to the material before ask the students to practice. They just did it if the
learning material coversspeaking skill or if the material was taught usinggames.
2. Indirect Teaching strategy
Three from five teacher used indirect teaching strategy in teaching English. They
said they sometimes used indirect teaching strategy because there were some students
who were active in teaching learning, other students sometimes became passive when the
teacher taught use this strategy, and also they looked what learning material that will be
taught. From the observation, three of five teachers sometimes gave teaser question to
their students. Teaser question was given by teacher to emerge students idea about the
material that was taught. They didnt always give teaser question to their students in each
learning material that was taught. From three times observations, each of them gave a
teaser question once. Besides, they are sometimes role as a facilitator in teaching
learning process; they are always role as an informant in teaching learning process.
However, they were very rarely in asking their students to find a problem from the topic
that have taught, either in asking their students to find the solution from the problem.
3. Interactive Teaching Strategy
Four from five teachers often used interactive teaching strategy in English
classroom because the students could share their idea with their friend through discussion
activity. Besides the students could share their idea, they could also learn to respect other
people when talking and learn how to find the best solution by discussing with their
friend. They often asked their students to do discussion activity in a group or with their
desk mate. The teacher also asked students to ask question related to the topic they are
discussed. In addition, the teacher also gave their students a chance to share their idea or
opinion of the material in teaching learning process. By sharing the idea or opinion,
students could find the other alternative think about the topic that they discussed. After
they discussed the topic with their friend, they presented their discussion result in front
of the class. It was done in order to make the other students who were in the different
group know other group answer and they could give an argument or compare it to their
own answer. Then, teacher would give resume from the answer of all of group. The
students would think again about what they have already got from the teaching learning
process.
4. Experiential Teaching Strategy
Three from five teachers sometimes used experiential teaching strategy in English
classroom because the students more remember the learning material from the activity
that they have done of the learning material that have taught. There are three kinds of
experiential teaching strategy: First, Case Method. In case method, teacher gave students
a case in form of a text. The students were asked to make a group to find the solution
towards the case. The students could ask when they found some difficulties in discuss the
case. After the students finished discuss, they present they result in front of the class by
typing their answer in their teachers laptop which connected with projector. Second,
Problem-based Learning. In problem-based learning, the teacher would decide the
problem from the learning material that was taught. Then, the teacher asked the students
to find out the information that related to the problem. The students found out the
solution of the problem and make the limitation of the solution. It is done to find the best
solution from the problem. Third, games, simulation, and role play. These three kinds of
activity, games, simulation, and role play, were the activities that can make the students
fun in teaching learning process. From three times observation, most of the teachers who
were observed, were did role play activity. They asked their students to make a role play
based on the learning material that taught and perform it in front of the class. The teacher
gave feedback, like the correct pronunciation or their grammar.
5. Independent Teaching Strategy
The entire teacher said that they never used independent teaching strategy in
teaching English because the students still could not study alone without their teacher.
They could not understand about the material without their teachers deeply explanation
about the material.
DISCUSSION
There are some kinds of teaching strategy based on the theory: direct teaching
strategy, indirect teaching strategy, interactive teaching strategy, experiential teaching
strategy, and independent teaching strategy. Some findings were revealed from the result of
interview, observation data, and questionnaire to investigate the teachers teaching strategy in
English classroom.
From the interview session, it revealed that the teachers often used direct teaching
strategy and interactive teaching strategy. They used direct teaching strategy because the
students still need their teachers guidance in understanding the learning material. The
teacher still explained the learning material clearly to their students in order to make the
students understand about the material. While, by using interactive teaching strategy students
were more participative in teaching learning process. The students could share their idea to
their friends. They were also critical in asking questions when they found difficulties in
comprehending the material.
From the observation, it showed that the teachers often used direct teaching strategy
and interactive teaching strategy. The teachers explained the learning material that they
would be taught to their students that day. Besides explaining the learning material, they also
gave some questions related to the material to the students. It was done in order to make their
students active in teaching learning process. In addition, teachers also asked their students to
do an exercise related to material. It was given to make the students more understand to the
learning material that have taught. Sometimes, the teacher guided their students to understand
the learning material by giving attention to dialogue or text and connect it to the daily life. By
explaining the material and connecting it to the daily life, the students were easily to
remember the learning material. The teachers also demonstrated or practiced first the activity
that would be done by students. It was done to make the students understand clearly about
what activity that they would do. It is stressed by Majid (2013: 73) that the center of direct
teaching strategy is teacher. Teacher should explains the learning material, guiding the
students activity, and test the students skill through exercises under teachers guiding. Also,
the teacher often asked their students to do discussion activity in a group or with their desk
mate. By asking the students to do discussion activity, the teacher gave them a chance to
share their idea or opinion of the topic that they were discussed. It is stressed by Seaman and
Fellenz (1998) in Majid (2013: 83) that discussion and sharing provide learners with
opportunities to react to the ideas, experience, insight, and knowledge of the teacher or of
peer learners and to generate alternative ways of thinking and feeling. They also asked their
students to ask question related to the topic that they are discussed if the students find
difficulty. Moreover, the students were given a chance to come in front the class to present
their discussion result. The teacher would give resume of the presentation so the students
could know the entire result of their discussion.
Based on the questionnaire result, 97.59% respondents said their teacher often use
direct teaching strategy in teaching English. 69.13% said that their teacher often use indirect
teaching strategy. Also, 77.44% respondents said that their teacher often used interactive
teaching strategy in English classroom. 53.34% respondentssaid that their teacher often used
experiential teaching strategy. While, 45.45% respondents said that their teacher sometimes
used independent teaching strategy in teaching English. From the result, it showed that direct
teaching strategy and interactive teaching strategy were the strategy that commonly used by
the teacher in English classroom.
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
Based on the result, it shown that the teachers investigated use five types of teaching
strategies; they are direct teaching strategy, indirect teaching strategy, interactive teaching
strategy, experiential teaching strategy, and independent teaching strategy. Among five
strategies, direct teaching strategy and interactive teaching strategy are commonly used by all
teachers. They usually explain the material and ask the students to complete exercises to
deepen their comprehension. The teachers also ask the students to have discussion activity
withtheir friend to improve their critical thinking by discussing the topic.
Knowing the result of this research, it is revealed that there are two kinds of
teachers teaching strategies which frequently used by the teachers, those are direct teaching
strategy and interactive teaching strategy. Through applying appropriate teaching strategies in
English classroom, it can improve students participation of the learning process and it can
achieve the optimum result for students. Therefore, applying appropriate teaching strategies
is considered important for all teachers. If the teachers do not apply appropriate teaching
strategy, it causes the students participation decrease in teaching learning process.
Furthermore, the teacher can improve their strategy in teaching English, thus teacher can
awaken and motivate students involvement and participation towards English lesson and
create more interactive and effective learning atmosphere in achieving the learning objective.
On the other hand, the implementation of appropriate teaching strategy will help the
students in improving their learning achievement. This achievement can be gained through a
good learning process where there is appropriate teaching strategy.
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