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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. Method of the Research

The researcher used Classroom Action Research (CAR) in this study to solve

the problems which are faced by the students in pronouncing English words.

According to Sagor in Nilawati (2009), class action research is conducted by

people who want to do something to improve their own situation. Action researchers

undertake a study because they want to know whether they can do something in a

better way. Therefore, people who do action research are people who want changes of

what they have done during the time and want it better. There are some procedures

that are made by the teachers to improve the ability of their teaching.

Harmer in Nilawati (2009) states that classroom action research is the name

given to a series of procedures teachers can engage in, either because they wish to

improve aspect of their teaching, or because they wish to evaluate the success and or

appropriacy of certain activities and procedures.

Wibawa (2004: 3) stated that classroom action research is a particular research

which focuses on problems related to actual problems occurred in classroom that is

countered by teachers in actual field.

Referring to those explanations above, the researcher concludes that Class

Action Research is conducted by teacher who wants to solve problems which happen

in the classroom in terms of teaching and learning process. The main purpose of
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Classroom Action Research is to identify and solve the students’ problem in the

classroom. In the other words, it is done by the teacher order to get the better result.

B. Research Design

There are many models of Classroom Action Research (CAR), e.g. Kurt Lewin

model, Kemmis and Taggart model, Hopkins model. Each model has strengths and

weaknesses. The models of Classroom Action Research are explained as follow:

1. Lewin Model described by Kemmis

Kemmis in Wiriatmadja (2006: 62) described this model start from

identification of idea, reconnaissance, compiling the general planning, improve the

first step, implementation of the first step, evaluation and make better the general

planning. If the researcher need more research, they can do second implementation.

2. Spiral Model by Kemmis and McTaggart

Kemmis and Taggart in Wiriatmadja (2006: 66) described the model or the

procedure of Classroom Action Research into four steps. They are; (1) planning, (2)

acting, (3) observing, and (4) reflecting. The relations among them is called a cycle. It

means that a cycle consists of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting.

3. Ebbutt Model by Hopkins

Hopkins in Wiriatmadja (2006: 68) described this method start from: 1). the

first thinking of research, 2). reconnaissance, 3).the planning of entirety, 4). Action5).

Observation

From three models above, the researcher decided to use the spiral model by

Kemmis and Taggart in conducting this research by considering that it is simple and
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easy to understand. Kemmis and Taggart model is the development of Kurt Lewin

model. It has the same basic in their activities.

This research conducted in three cycles. Each cycle consists of three meetings.

Each cycle consists of four steps as in Arikunto (2006) drawn as follow:

Figure 1. Steps of Class Action Research

Based on the model above, there are four stages in Kemmis and Taggart model.

They are planning, act, observation and reflection. The relation among them is called

cycle. Lewin in Arikunto (2006: 90) describes the four steps procedures of classroom

action research as follow:

1. Plan

In this step, the researcher prepares all things should be done in the action step.

Researcher prepares all of the instruments to get valid data, such as material for

pronunciation test, guidelines of observation, and questioner. The researcher also

plans the lesson plan.

2. Action

In general, the procedures of the action in each cycle are:

a. The researcher gives a brief explanation about pronunciation.

b. The researcher introduces Audiovisual Media.

c. The researcher played a video of a pair of waiter and waitress serving a

customer.

d. The researcher asks the students to watch and listen the video.

e. The researcher gives the students the video script.

f. The researcher asks the students to follow the conversation.

g. The students practice just like the video.

h. The researcher evaluates the students’ pronunciation at the end of the class.

There are 50 words on the evaluation test. From these 50 words, the

researcher examined the students’ in pronouncing 5 words in each meeting,

and evaluate 15 word in the first and second cycle, and 20 word in the third

cycle. After that, the researcher evaluated all the words at the end of all

treatment.

3. Observation

In a Class Action Research, the researcher was assisted by an observer, in this

research the observer is the real English teacher of the class. In this stage, the

observer observes all the process of teaching and learning. Observer checks the

observation sheet made by the researcher to what happened in the classroom, what

the students do in the classroom, and to analyze the learning process. He has to
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observe also the weaknesses of the learning process. The observer writes down all the

students’ activities during the teaching and learning process. The writing or the note

is evaluated for the next step.

4. Evaluation and Reflection

In this step, the researcher and the observer sit together and analyze the

weaknesses during the learning process. After analyzing the weaknesses, they look

for the problems causing the weaknesses. The researcher and the observer think

together to decide what should be done in the next cycle to solve those problems in

order to get the better result.

C. Place and Time of Conducting Research

This research was conducted in Madrasah Aliyah Negeri Baranti, Baranti Sub

District, Sidrap District. This research is done for five months from June 9 th to

October 16th.

D. Research Subject

The subjects of this research was all the students of XI IPA 1 of the academic

year of 2014/2015. The class consists of 19 students.

E. The Position of Researcher in the Research

In this research, the researcher was an instructor and the teacher of the class

was an observer during the learning process.

F. Research Participant

The participants of research are:

1. English Teacher

English teacher was a colaborator or observer. The pattern of research is a

collaborative research. The duty of observer was to observe the learning process

with an observation sheet in order to give reference to the researcher for the

next cycle.

2. Students

The role of students in this research was the subject of research. hopefully

after all treatment, the students ability in pronouncing English words can be

enhanced.

G. Research Instrument

There are two kinds of instrument those are pronunciation test and observation

sheet.

1. Pronunciation Test

The pronunciation tests consist of 50 words that should be pronounced by

the students.

2. Questionare

The students were asked to answer five questions. There are certain

techniques to analyze the questionnaire items. They will be discussed in

this chapter.

H. Method of Data Analysis

Syakur in Henny (2007: 35) states that there are nine possible methods that can

be used in research. One of them is descriptive method. This kind of method is used
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to describe what actually happens in a certain situation or condition. It provides the

analysis of certain facts, for instance, the analysis of test result. The research

conducted by the writer in this study is a descriptive research. Arikunto (2006: 102)

states that a descriptive research can be carried out at school, factory, family, hospital,

society, etc. The objective of the test was used to identify the students’ achievement

in pronunciation related to intelligible pronunciation through spoken words. Harmer

(2000: 184) states that if intelligible is the goal then it suggests that some

pronunciation features are more important than others.

The writer made the analysis on three important pronunciation features; vowels,

consonants and word stress. The writer did analysis on vowels, consonants and word

stress. The standard pronunciation used in this study was the standard pronunciation

of Longman Advance American Dictionary. The data analysis of this study went

through the following steps:

1) Transcribing the students’ pronunciation.

This step, the writer made the transcription of the students’ sound by

listening to their voice several times to make it clear. To get the empirical data,

the writer playing the recording several times to make the transcription of

tudents’ pronunciation and the teacher of the school where he conducted the

research. The teacher’s educational background is S-1 degree of English

Education Departement. and then compare whether there was difference on the

transcription. When there were some differences, then, the writer listened the

recording sounds again.

2) Comparing the transcription

After getting the transcription of students’ pronunciation, the writer

compared it to the standard pronunciation transcription. The standard phonetic

transcription used in this study was taken from Longman Advanced American

Dictionary.

3) Marking Students’ pronunciation

To mark pronunciation can be based on the close similarity of the

students’ pronunciation with the native’s. From this suggestion, the writer drew

criteria in analyzing the students’ pronunciation. If the students’ pronunciation

was intelligible and acceptable (do not offer meaning changes) it means that the

students made good pronunciation. On the other hand, students made poor

pronunciation if their pronunciation of the words were unintelligible and offer

different meaning.

4) Analyzing questionnaire

The writer analyzed the questionnaire through the following steps:

(a) Grading the Items of the Questionnaire.

(b) Determining the Grade Score.

(c) Tabulating the Data of Questionnaire.

(d) Finding the Mean.

The formula used for computing the mean is as follows:

Where,

M = the mean

Σx = the sum of the item score, and

N = the number of the students

5) Interpreting the data findings

The interpretation was used to describe the improvement of the students’

achievement in pronouncing English words.

I. Procedure of Collecting Data

The procedures of collecting data are performed as follows:

1. Preliminary Study

Before conducting this research, the researcher has done a pre-research in the

school. The researcher asked some of second year students to pronounce some

English words. The researcher found out that the students have a problem with

pronunciation and then decided to conduct this research.

2. Test

The test consists of pre-cycle and competence test. Pre-cycle test was used to

find out the pronunciation quality of the students. Pre-cycle test was conducted

before the researcher did the cycle. It was a consideration of the first cycle’s plan.

Meanwhile, competence test was given at the end of each meeting and cycle. It was

used to know the improvement of the students’ pronunciation ability through

audiovisual media.

3. Observation
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In observation, the researcher was helped by the English teacher of the class as

an observer or collaborator in observing what happen in the class during learning

process. The observer observed the all teaching step of the researcher, included

preparation, presentation, method and the personal character of the researcher during

the learning process.

J. Technique of Data Analysis

After colleting data, the researcher analyzed them to get valid data. In this

research, the researcher used quantitative technique in analyzing the data. The

quantitative data are obtained from the result of the test (achievement data) that

was carried out at the end of the cycles.