Program Studi S3 ING 153

Kumpulan Abstrak Disertasi

Semester Gasal 2008/2009
Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris (ING)
154 KUMPULAN ABSTRAK TESIS & DISERTASI 2008/2009

Spoken Error Correction as Perceived by Indonesian EFL Learners in Speaking Class

Hairus Salikin

Abstract
As part of an FL learning and teaching process, error corrections often exist in the instructional
setting, particularly in speaking classes. Despite the fact that effectiveness of error corrections is far from
clear, it is worth noting that in FL settings, particularly in speaking classes, error corrections are usually
provided by the teachers (Ur, 1996:247). This is understandable based on the fact that one of the functions of
the teachers is correcting the learner errors. However, it is worth considering that teachers should be careful
when providing spoken error corrections. This is because if they fail to manage spoken error corrections
carefully, the effect could be harmful to learning. The study intends to obtain an in-depth understanding of
spoken error corrections from the students perspective.
The study meets the characteristics of qualitative research focusing on spoken error corrections
which exist naturally in speaking classes and using the researcher as the key instrument of the study. The
subjects of the study are nine Indonesian university students majoring in English. They are interviewed one
by one from the first to the ninth subject applying a snowball sampling technique. The interview, which is in
Indonesian, consists of three phases of interviews focusing on different points, and the results of each
interview is transcribed to be analyzed. The data of the study are analyzed on the basis of the procedures
suggested by Miles and Huberman (1994) which consist of the concurrent flow of activities: data reduction,
data display, and conclusion drawing.
The results of the study suggest some important notions related to error corrections in speaking
classes. First of all, it is not advisable to interrupt FL learners in mid-talking. This means that spoken error
corrections should be provided after the learners have talked in their TL. It is found that if spoken error
corrections are provided in mid-talking, they will destroy the flow of communication. Moreover, if the
learners are interrupted in mid talking, error corrections will offend their feelings and the learners cannot
focus on what they are going to say. Eventually the learners might lose their willingness to try speaking the
language they are learning.
When focusing on which spoken errors should be prioritized for corrections in speaking classes, the
findings reveal that mispronunciation, grammatical errors, and errors in vocabulary are important to be
considered when the learners are speaking in the TL. Among the three, mispronunciation is considered the
most essential errors to be taken into account. This is due to the fact that in oral communication
mispronunciation could result in misinterpretation or misunderstanding. Grammatical errors and errors in
vocabulary are not considered as important as mispronunciation in speaking.
In relation to the method of correcting errors in speaking classes, the results suggest that spoken
error corrections should be provided in such a way that they do not confuse the learners. Providing the right
answers is the method of spoken error corrections that the learners like best. In this case, the teachers or
classmates correct the learners by giving the right answers of the utterances that the teachers consider wrong.
The subjects found this method not upsetting. Other findings reveal that teachers and classmates are the
appropriate persons for providing spoken error corrections. Teachers are considered more appropriate
compared to other learners due to the fact that they are more experienced. It is believed that teachers are more
proficient in the TL compared with the learners. This is why they are expected to be able to provide error
corrections in speaking classes. This is understandable because in teaching a FL, teachers are considered
having a superior position which is manifested through the error corrections provided (Bartram and Walton.
1999:8).
Other findings reveal that FL learners could benefit from error corrections. If errors in FL learning
and teaching are not corrected they will become fossilized. In the end, the study presents some theoretical
implications of the study in the EFL learning and teaching process. This means that the results could be
applied to EFL teaching, particularly in speaking classes. By applying the results, learning and teaching
speaking classes could be more fruitful and meaningful.

Keywords: errors, error corrections, spoken error corrections, speaking classes

153
 Program Studi S3 ING 155

Portraying The Ways of Learning of Two Successful Learners of English Viewed from Their
Learning Styles and Strategies

Kartika Nuswantara

Abstract
This study aimed to portray two successful learners of English and viewed their learning process in
terms of their selected learning styles and strategies. In order to attain the objective of the study, that is to
provide a description of how these learners learn the language, the study, beginning with identifying the
learning styles of the learners, aimed to see the predisposed characteristic manners of the learners. Then, the
study was carried out to investigate the strategies these learners employ. The learning styles were seen as
consistent capacities triggering success, that from this, the study attempted to figure out the ways the
successful language learners use selected learning strategies in learning English. There have been a great deal
of earlier studies on similar issue; however, amongst those studies, only a list of learning strategies has
become the main concern of the researchers. Therefore, this study becomes more meaningful since it does not
only deal with the strategies selected by the learners but also concerns the learning styles that have long been
known as an embedded factor that needs to be considered when investigating ones learning strategies.
The study is qualitative in nature since it contains mainly a description of the phenomena. This
qualitative study focuses on investigating the phenomena of a specific case; therefore, a case study is selected
as the method of the study. The case is based on the temporary findings that reveal unique characteristics of
two successful English learners. From the first stage of the study it was found out that both learners were able
to recognize their own learning styles, and the various types of learning styles used by each learner were also
identified. In the next stage, the subjects learning strategies were broadly described. From this stage, the
learning strategies of each learner were identified and deeply investigated by means of three series of
interview. From these series of interviews, data could be well confirmed and more detailed elaborations could
be obtained since each series had a different objective to attain. The first interview established the context of
the subjects experience. Thus, in this interview the whole language learning experience, starting from the
past experience of learning the language through the present when the proficiency has been achieved, is
captured. The second allows the subjects to reconstruct the details of their experience within the context in
which they occurred; the context in this case was framed within the strategies that have been so far selected
and employed by the subjects. Moreover, the third encouraged them to reflect on the meaning their
experience holds for them. The analysis of data in the study was done not only after the data collection
sessions were completed, but also during the data collection process without waiting for all the data to have
been obtained. The analysis of the data enabled the researcher to sort or reduce the unnecessary data so that
they were suitable for the setting or context of the study.
The data analysis led to a discussion of the learners learning styles as innate as well as nurtured
personal attributes. The analysis focused on the affective and cognitive learning style domains and revealed
that in cognitive domains, impulsivity and flexibility control indicated the capacities that grew not due to a
process of conscious learning or habit forming, but they were inborn so that learners themselves could not
deny these styles that were attached to them. In addition, extroversion and ambiguity tolerance in the
affective domains were also confirmed by this study as subconsciously developed personal attributes. On the
other hand, perceptual modality in cognitive domain, perseverance and level of anxiety in affective domain
were developed more consciously rather than subconsciously. It is possible that these attributes exist as gifted
or inborn capacities; however, the study revealed that they were established and developed consciously by
exposing the learners to the learning situations that had led the learning styles to grow. In order to nurture the
capacities so that they can finally become consistent attributes of the learners, this study shows that both
learners receive continuous and consistent reinforcement so that they can well modify their learning habits
into consistent learning styles.
Based on the above description, the discussion about learners learning strategies is held. Then, it is
revealed that these two learners have employed direct and indirect strategies that they choose to tackle the
learning problems. In direct strategies, both learners have selected appropriate strategies that deal with
memory, cognition, and compensation. Meanwhile, metacognitive, affective, and social strategies are
employed to tackle the learning problems that deal indirectly with the language problems.
Henceforth, the description of the strategies they have chosen based on their predisposed learning
styles leads to a conclusion that, firstly, without taking differences in learning styles into account, the two
successful learners of English employ reviewing strategy to store and lock new knowledge in their memory,
use guessing game as a mental process for approaching meanings, develop high learning perseverance by
intensifying preferred learning activities, control their learning by keeping themselves focused when a
156 KUMPULAN ABSTRAK TESIS & DISERTASI 2008/2009

learning task is being done, and are willing to labor in a certain amount of time to accomplish a learning task.
Then, secondly, by making a connection between their learning styles and strategies, the researcher can figure
out that these successful learners of English use their perceptual ability to decide the accessible activities
suitable for their learning resources, use their reflectivity/impulsivity to choose the way to accomplish every
learning task and to help them to decide how learning limitations should be diminished, use their
constricted/flexible control to choose appropriate learning media and comfortable learning settings, use their
extroversion/introversion to decide how interactions should be put in learning, and use high/low inhibition to
control their learning process. In short, in order to be successful both learners do not necessarily use the same
strategies, but they employ different strategies for success.
Based on the data analysis, the study finally proposes that (1) in order to be successful in language
learning students should be free to choose different learning styles and strategies because learning styles and
strategies are personal, and (2) the more the learning styles and strategies the learners apply in language
learning, the higher the possibility they will succeed. There are two theories pertaining to learning styles and
strategies. The former theory shows the subjective nature of learning styles and strategies so that to succeed,
learners do not need to use others strategies, and if they have to use them as models, adaptations and
adjustments should be made so that the new strategies become congruent with each learners learning styles.
The later theory confirms the necessity for the learners to try out various strategies so that the possibility for
success is more.
From the findings, the study recommends the five parties -- that is the learners, their parents, the
teachers, the institutions, and the Government -- to consider the various uses of learning strategies to
complement the already existing learning styles, so that foreign language learners will be able to succeed
more easily. Specifically, this study encourages the learners to carry on their language learning by means of
recognizing their own learning styles and developing more preferred learning strategies; and to the parents,
this study urges them to shift their expectation of the learners from outcome-oriented to process-oriented, so
that they no longer insist the learners to instantly achieve good marks in every learning, but they should
encourage their children to get continuously involved in trial and error process until they find the most
appropriate strategies that can be employed in their learning. Then, to the teachers as the party who can help
learners facilitating their learning, they are required to provide learners with various learning tasks to elicit
the use of various learning strategies. Another important party that can help learners facilitating their learning
is the institution, the study proposes the institution should give the learners some credits for learning
strategies offered as one of the compulsory subjects. Finally, the Government as the policy maker should
insert learning strategy training as one of the subjects offered to the learners at all levels.

Keywords: learning styles, innate, nurture, learning strategies, direct strategies, indirect strategies

Asking and Responding to Question in Teaching and Learning Writing at the State
University of Malang

Muliati M

Abstract
A classroom, in an EFL teaching and learning, is a place to provide exposure as well as language
practice for learners. To maximize its function, a mutual relationship between the teacher and students in
classroom interaction is required. One important part of a classroom interaction is asking and responding to
questions by the teacher and the students. A number of studies show that asking questions has essential roles
in teaching and learning English as a second or foreign language (Long and sato, 1983; Brock, 1986;
Chaudron, 1988). Questions can be used as a guide for students writing (Karniyani, 2003). Writing, one
among other language skills, which is nowadays developed through process-oriented approach, may be seen
as comprising four main stages: planning, drafting, revising, and editing. During these stages, interaction,
more specifically asking and responding to questions between the teacher and the students and among the
students themselves is required. To show a comprehensive picture of how asking and responding to questions
is done in teaching and learning writing and to find its pedagogical implications, the present study is
conducted.
The current study investigates the phenomena of asking and responding to questions in teaching and
learning writing at the State University of Malang. The objectives are to find 1) how questions are asked by
the lecturer; 2) how the lecturers questions are responded by the students; 3) how questions are asked by the
 Program Studi S3 ING 157

students; 4) how the students questions are responded by the lecturer; and 5) how asking and responding to
questions facilitates the learning of writing.
The study employs a case study design with qualitative approach. Observation field-notes,
transcripts of the classroom verbal interaction, and transcripts of the interview with the subjects (1 lecturer
and 11 students) were analyzed using interactive model of analysis involving: 1) data reduction 2) data
display 3) tentative conclusion and verification, through which the findings are triangulated, and 4) final
conclusion drawing.
It is found that questions are asked by the lecturer for the purpose of checking for comprehension,
communicating, introducing new material, clarifying understanding, and leading students to complete or
revise answers. Furthermore, questions are formulated in various forms to an individual student and to whole
students. The questions are prompted, focused, and simplified to promote correct response. The responses to
questions are treated differently based on the level of correctness. Questions are asked in three types:
convergent, divergent, and evaluative questions. The lecturers questions mostly contain about study of
language and writing conventions to fulfill certain functions in the writing process to improve the writing
product.
The lecturers questions are responded for the purpose of communicating, showing respect, and
confirming ideas. The responses are words, phrases, and simple sentences to give information, display
knowledge, and confirm understanding of an idea for the learning tasks. Furthermore, it is found that
questions are asked by the students for the purpose of getting new or additional information. The questions
are addressed directly to the teacher in convergent and divergent types. The questions function as an
anticipatory learning strategy. Questions are also used to fulfill curiosity, encourage interactive classroom
atmosphere, and share relevant information. The contents of the students questions are about study and
procedure.
The students questions are responded by the lecturer for the purpose of giving information or
explaining certain items. The questions are responded to by the lecturer directly by using simple expressions,
such as a word, a clause, and a sentence, followed by explanation or further questions. The contents are about
vocabulary items and writing conventions.
In addition, it is found that question-response facilitates the students learning of writing in terms of
motivation to learn to write, comprehension as well as writing process and writing product.
It is concluded that questions are raised by the lecturer and the students by employing certain
strategies based on different purposes through different types and content to fulfill different functions.
Further, responses to questions are given directly and indirectly, using a word, a phrase, a sentence, or further
question. In addition, asking and responding to questions facilitates the teaching and learning of writing in
four aspects: motivation to learn, comprehension of writing convention, writing process, and writing product.
Based on the conclusions, it is suggested that question-response is used appropriately in teaching
writing, more specifically at the planning (pre-writing) and drafting stages to empower interactive classroom
learning.

Keywords: asking, responding, questions