THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING COOPERATIVE LEARNING

STRATEGY IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION

OF THE 2nd GRADE OF STUDENTS OF SMA NEGERI 1 KEBUMEN
OF 2009/2010 ACADEMIC YEAR

A Thesis Proposal

Written by:

Barkah Tri Anggono

NIM 05202244074

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPERTEMENT

LANGUAGES AND ARTS FACULTY
YOGYAKARTA STATE UNIVERSITY
 JUNE 2009
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Problem

A language is a systematic means of communication by the use of sounds or

conventional symbols. It is the code we all use to express ourselves and communicate to others.
It is a system for communicating ideas and feelings using sounds, gestures, signs or marks. A
language is the written and spoken methods of combining words to create meaning used by a
particular group of people.

For various historical and economic reasons, English has become the dominant
language of the world in the twenty-first century. English is the language of science, air traffic
control, and tourism, the Internet and to a very large extent of trade and export. So that is why
improving the quality in teaching English is very important to prepare the learners of English as
a Foreign Language can be competitive as the human resource in their life.

There are infinite procedures teachers use to achieve desired effects from their
students, but there are general patterns these motivational tools follow. In order for teachers to
communicate with their students, they must identify with their needs on an individual basis
(Gawel, 1997). It is important to think about motivation as the essence of language teaching
because of the stark realities of learning English. The condition which happens in class is the
students feel afraid of English as one of their subject. It is because they feel that English is very
difficult to learn. So that, most students do not have enough motivation to learn and to get
involve in the activity of learning. Because of these adverse conditions, the students have to have
extraordinary motivation in order to succeed at learning English.

In teaching learning process, students’ motivation is very essential. Students’

motivation in learning English can be a good modal for enhancing the teachers’ objectives in
their class.

Because of the importance of motivation, the teacher should be more

creative in order to enhancing students’ motivation in the class. It’ is necessary to
apply an affective learning technique remembering learning strategy is one of the
important tools which bring the significant role in the learning process.

B. Identification of the Problem

According to Prayitno (1989: 94) there are some aspects on teaching which can influence
students’ learning motivation. They are teacher, student, material, media, method, and
evaluation.
Based on the Prayitno statement above, method brings also the significant influence in
the success of the process of teaching learning, especially in terms of improving students’
motivation in the class. So that, the effective strategy should be applied by the teacher in
achieving class objectives. There are some strategies in learning. According to Johnson &
Johnson (1991), there are four types of learning. They are Competitive Learning, Individualistic
Learning,
Collaborative Learning and Cooperative Learning
1). Competitive Learning
Competitive learning exists when one student goal is achieved; all other students fail to reach
that goal. (Johnson & Johnson,1991). Competitive learning can be interpersonal (between
individuals), where rows are most important or intergroup (between groups), where a group
setting is appropriate. Competitive learning can also be a cooperative activity when the
students formulate their own term and rules of the contest, giving them ownership of the
activity (Johnson & Johnson,1991).
2). Individualistic Learning
This type of learning exists when the learning or achievement of one student is independent
and separate from the achievements of the other students in the class
(Johnson&Johnson,1991). Individual learning implies that knowledge and cognitive skill are
assets that teacher can transfer to the learner (Saloman & Perkins, 1998). This learning can be
described as teacher-centered; that is, the teacher provides the major source of information,
assistance, criticism and feedback. Students work alone and are not expected to be interrupted
by other students. In this regard, students may be seated as far from each other as space
permits.
3). Collaborative Learning
Collaborative learning takes place when students cooperate to construct a consensus to an open-
ended activity. Collaborative learning shares many of the same traits as cooperative learning. It
differs from cooperative learning by being more students centered than teacher centered.
Collaborative learning provides a vehicle for social constructivism, where students are in control
of their own learning and ultimately, the outcome of their learning. Cooperative learning is more
concerned with a specific outcome based on teacher facilitation and knowledge transition
(Panitz, 1996). Collaborative learning is best suited to an arrangement of groups, where students
can freely interact with each other and construct their ideas together.

3). Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning occurs when students work collaboratively towards a common goal
(Panitz, 1996). Achievements are positively correlated with the other cooperating students.
Students work together in small clusters or groups.
C. Limitation of the Problem

The problem of this study is limited to the effectiveness of cooperative learning as

a strategy in English learning to increase students’ motivation for 2nd grade students of SMA
Negeri 1 Kebumen of 2007/2008 Academic Year.

D. Formulation of the Problem

From the identification and limitation above, the problem of this research is “Is
the any significant difference between learning motivation of students who are taught using
cooperative learning and those who are taught without it?”

E. Objectives of the Research

The objective of this research is to find out whether there is any significant
difference between learning motivation of students who are taught by applying Cooperative
Learning and those who are taught without it.

F. Significance of the Research

1). For the teacher, it can be useful information about the effectiveness of applying the
Cooperative Learning strategy in the class.
2). The school can see how far Cooperative Learning influences the process of English
learning in improving students’ motivation.
3). The significance for English Education Department of Yogyakarta State University is
enriching and enlarging the knowledge of English Education practitioners in making
policies and arranging curriculum or lecturers’ method in teaching
 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED THEORIES
A. Literature Review
1. Motivation
a. The Definition of Motivation

Motivation is internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in
people to be continually interested in and committed to a job, role, or subject, and to exert
persistent effort in attaining a goal. Motivation is the energizer of behavior and mother of all
action (Business Dictionary, 2002).

Motivation is the internal condition that activates behavior and gives it direction;
energizes and directs goal-oriented behavior (Wikipedia). The term is generally used for human
motivation but, theoretically, it can be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well.
This article refers to human motivation. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted
in the basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific
needs

such as eating and resting, or a desired object, hobby, goal, state of being, ideal,
or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, morality, or avoiding mortality.

b. Types of Motivation
c. The Measurement of Motivation
2. Cooperative Learning
a. Definition of Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning is defined as a system of concrete teaching and learning

techniques, rather than an approach, in which students are active agents in the process of learning
through small group structures so that students work together to maximize their own and each
other’s learning (Kagan, 1995).

Richards, Platt & Platt (1992) stated that cooperative learning is a system of
teaching and learning techniques in which students were active agents in the process of learning
instead of passive receivers of the product of any given knowledge. They also pointed out that
cooperative learning activities were often used in communicative language teaching.

Cooperative learning occurs when students work collaboratively towards a common goal
(Panitz,1996). Achievements are positively correlated with the other cooperating students.
Students work together in small clusters or groups.

With so many similarities in essence, cooperative learning was used as a set of

teaching methods or techniques to embody the spirit of communicative language teaching by
activating the students to work together in small group.

b. The elements of Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each

with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their
understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is
taught but also for helping

teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Students work

through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it.
Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members:
• gain from each other's efforts. (Your success benefits me and my success benefits you.)
• recognize that all group members share a common fate. (We all sink or swim together here.)
• know that one's performance is mutually caused by oneself and one'steam members. (We can
not do it without you.)
• feel proud and jointly celebrate when a group member is recognized for achievement.

Kagan (1995) shown that cooperative learning techniques:

• promote student learning and academic achievement

• increase student retention
• enhance student satisfaction with their learning experience
• help students develop skills in oral communication
 • develop students' social skills
• promote student self-esteem
• help to promote positive race relations
He also stated that in principle, cooperative learning stuck to the following five elements,
(1) Positive interdependence
a. each group member's efforts are required and indispensable for group success
b. each group member has a unique contribution to make to the joint effort because of his
or her resources and/or role and task responsibilities
(2) Individual accountability
a. keeping the size of the group small. The smaller the size of the group, the greater the
individual accountability may be
b. giving an individual test to each student
c. randomly examining students orally by calling on one student to present his or her
group's work to the teacher (in the presence of the group) or to the entire class
d. observing each group and recording the frequency with which each member-
contributes to the group's work
e. assigning one student in each group the role of checker. The checker asks other group
members to explain the reasoning and rationale underlying group answers
f. having students teach what they learned to someone else
(3) Group processing
a. group members discuss how well they are achieving their goals and maintaining
effective working relationships
b. describe what member actions are helpful and not helpful
c. make decisions about what behaviors to continue or change
(4) Face-to-face interaction
a. orally explaining how to solve problems
b. teaching one's knowledge to other
c. checking for understanding
d. discussing concepts being learned
e connecting present with past learning
(5) Interpersonal and small group skills
 Teaching social skills such as leadership, decision-making, trust-building,communication,
and conflict-management skills.
c. Implementing Cooperative Learning in Teaching English
Cooperative learning as an effective teaching method in foreign language education is the
essential part in teaching English. Further examinations on cooperative learning and language
acquisition could be inspected through three vital variables of input, output, andcontext, which
contributed to language acquisition to a great extent (Krashen, 1985; Kagan, 1995). An
investigation revealed that cooperative learning had a dramatic positive impact on almost all of
the factors critical to language acquisition (Kagan, 1995).
B. Conceptual Framework
The concept of this study is shown by this following diagram.

MOTIVATION

Teacher
Student Material Media Method Evaluation

Strategy

Cooperative learning

C. Hypothesis

Based on the above stated theory, the hypothesis can be formulated as follows:
“There is a significant difference between motivation of students who are taught using
Cooperative Learning and those who are taught without it”.
 CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHOD
A. Research Type

This research is a quantitative research. This study can be classified into a quasi-
experimental study. The design used is an in tack group pretest- posttest design that involves a
group of students who belong to the experimental group and the one belong to control group. In
this study, the treatment which is given is applying cooperative learning in teaching learning
process.

B. Variables of the Study

There are two variables. They are independent and dependent variable. The
independent variable of this study is cooperative learning. This variable is represented by X. The
dependent variable is students’ motivation which is represented by Y.

The design of the research can be shown in this table

Group Independent Dependent

Experiment X Y
Control - Y
C. Research Population and Design
The population on this study is two classes of the 2nd grade students of SMA Negeri 1
Kebumen of 2009-2010 Academic Year.

No Class Casiffication ( Group ) Number of Student

1 2A 40 Student
2 2B 40 Student

The selection group for the experiment and non-experiment (control group) will use coin
toss. The experiment group will be given cooperative learning activities and notreatment for the
second group. Here are the distribution of treatment in the research.
 Group Class Treatment Number of Student
Experiment 2B Cooperative Learning 40
Control 2A - 40
D. Research Instrument
1. Instrument of the research
This study will use questionnaire as the instrument of the research to gain data to see the
significant result of students’ motivation.
2. Validity of the instrument
To see the validity of the instrument, the researcher usesProduct Moment Correlation
formula

3. Reliability of the instrument

The researcher uses Alpha Formula to check the reliability of the instrument

E. Data Collecting Technique

Data collection in this study uses the motivational questionnaire in order to

understand the students’ motivation toward learning English before and after the treatment, a
questionnaire containing some items was developed by the researcher.

F. Data Analysis Technique

The technique of data analysis is examining the effects of the results of the
motivational questionnaire. As for the analysis of the motivational questionnaires, each student’s
responses to the some items in the questionnaire are scored with the help of the computer
software of SPSS. The statistical results of the questionnaire are compared for experiment and
control group analysis