CHAPTER II - Asfi Aniuranti

6
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Participation
1. Definition of Participation
Several definitions of participation are stated by some experts.
According to Dusseldorf in Nurachman (2010), participation is an
activity or condition of taking a part in reaching a benefit optimally. In
addition, Svinicki in Tanireja et.al, (2010: 96) states that participation
is students’ active involvement in creating ideas and information, so
the learning chance and the material progress are able to become
longer. In conclusion, students’ participation is students’ involvement
in every teaching activity. It means that the students attend the class
not only physically but also emotionally. They really give their thought
or ideas in the classroom.
2. Kinds of Participation
According to Tanireja et.al, (2010: 96), there are two kinds of
participations. They are contributive and initiative participation.
Contributive participation is the participation that encourages an
activity to join learning well, do the structured assignment well both in
class and home. While initiative participation aims more in
autonomous activity in doing unstructured assignment. In this case, the
students have their own initiative in learning the material which has
An Effort to Improve Students..., Asfi Aniuranti, FKIP UMP, 2013

7
not been taught, writing resume, and having an initiative to ask a quiz.
These two types of participations will form the students to become
active and creative, so they will realize that knowledge and technology
can be accessed through hard work. They will also realize the
important meaning of learning.
According to the previous explanation, indicators of students’
participation can be known, and those indicators have been used as a
guideline to find out the most reliable student observation sheet from
another source in order to measure students’ participation. Here are the
final indicators in student observation sheet:
Table 2.1
Indicators of Students’ Participation
Contributive Participation Initiative Participation
Ask questions Take part in class or group
Answer teacher or student discussions
questions
Listen when student or teacher
speaks
Make constructive or positive
comments to the teacher or other
students
Become involved in planned

8
activities
Avoid interrupting a lesson or
student presentation
(Adopted from: www.edu.on.ca. Effective Elementary Assessment and
Evaluation Classroom Practices)
B. Tense
1. Definition of Tense
Tense is a form of a verb used to indicate the time, and sometimes
the continuation or completeness, of an action in relation to the time of
speaking. Tense is a method that is used in English to refer to time -
past, present and future. Many languages use tenses to talk about time.
Other languages have no tenses, but of course they can still talk about
time, using different methods. In short, we talk about time in English
with tenses (http://www.englishclub.com/).
2. Kinds of Tense
According to Baehaqi (2011: 23), there are sixteen tenses in
English. Those are present tense, past tense, present future tense, past
future tense, present perfect tense, past perfect tense, present
continuous tense, past continuous tense, present future continuous
tense, past future continuous tense, present future perfect tense, past

9
future perfect tense, present perfect continuous tense, past perfect
continuous tense, present future perfect continuous tense, and past
perfect future continuous tense.
3. Tenses in This Research
This research will only focus in learning four kinds of tenses. They
are simple present tense, present continuous tense, simple past tense,
and past continuous tense. The brief explanation about those tenses is
as follows:
a. Simple Present Tense
1) Signal words
Every day, sometimes, always, often, usually, seldom, never,
and first ... then
2) The use
Something happens repeatedly, how often something happens,
one action follows another , things in general, with the
following verbs (to love, to hate, to think, etc.), and future
meaning: timetables and programmes.
3) Form
infinitive he/she/it + -s
is, am, are + complement

10
4) Examples
Examples
Kinds of Sentence
1. Laura and Sally go to the town every
week.
Affirmative 2. She goes to the town every week.
3. He is an English teacher.
4. They are children.
1. Laura and Sally do not go to the town
every week.
Negative 2. She does not go to the town every week.
3. He is not an English teacher.
4. They are not children.
1. Do Laura and Sally go to the town every
week?
Interrogative 2. Does she go to the town every week?
3. Is he an English teacher?
4. Are they children?
1. Where do Laura and Sally go every
week?
WH-Q 2. Where does she go every week?
3. Who is he?
4. Who are they?

11
b. Present Continuous Tense
1) Signal words
Now, at the moment, look!, and listen!.
2) The use
Something is happening at the same time of speaking or around
it and future meaning: when you have already decided and
arranged to do it (a fixed plan, date).
3) Form
to be (am/are/is) + infinitive + -ing
4) Examples
Examples
Kinds of Sentence
1. I am working now.
Affirmative 2. He is working at the moment.
5. They are playing football now.
1. I am not working now.
Negative 2. He is not working at the moment.
3. They are not playing football now.
1. Am I working now?
Interrogative 2. Is he working at the moment?
3. Are they playing football now?
1. What am I doing now?

WH-Q
2. What is he doing at the moment?

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3. What are they playing now?
c. Simple Past Tense
1) Signal words
Last ..., ... ago, in 1990, and yesterday.
2) The use
Action took place in the past and mostly connected with an
expression of time (no connection to the present).
3) Form
regular: infinitive + -ed
irregular: 2nd column of table of irregular verbs
was, were + complement
4) Examples
Examples
Kinds of Sentence
1. I worked yesterday.
Affirmative 2. He went to school last week.
3. They were sick two days ago.
1. I did not work yesterday.
2. He did not go to school last week.

Negative
3. They were not sick two days ago.

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1. Did I work yesterday?
Interrogative 2. Did he go to school last week?
3. Were they sick two days ago?
1. When did I work?
WH-Q 2. Where did he go yesterday?
3. When were they sick?
d. Past Continuous Tense
1) Signal words
While and when
2) The use
An action happened in the middle of another action, someone
was doing something, and at a certain time (in the past) - you
do not know whether it was finished or not.
3) Form
was/were + infinitive + -ing
4) Examples
Examples
Kinds of Sentence
1. I was working.
Affirmative
2. They were going to the city when I came.
Negative 1. I was not working.

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2. They were not going to the city when I
came.
1. Was I working?
Interrogative
2. Were they going to the city when I came?
1. What was I doing?

WH-Q
2. Where were they going when I came?
Adapted from: http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/
4. The Importance of Tense
Tenses as part of component in English need to be learnt by every
learner because of several reasons. Baehaqi (2011: 20) says that an
action or event really relates with the time, so the use of tense in
understanding, especially constructing an English sentence is very
essential. Guntari (2011) also argues that the proper use of tenses
makes it possible for the speakers of English to recognize whether an
action or an event occurs at the time at, during, or over the time
denoted by a verb change. Thus, understanding English tenses is an
essential thing in mastering English. As a part of English grammar,
tenses should be learnt well in order to communicate correctly.
5. Difficulties of Using Tense
According to Sharpling (2012), there are many difficulties in
learning tenses. Some of them are as follows:

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a. Some languages (unlike English) do not have a tense system; time
in those languages may, for example, be indicated with time
markers such as 'yesterday' or 'tomorrow'. If your language does
not have a tense system, it will be harder for you to use tenses
correctly in English.
b. There is no direct relationship in English between tense and time
reference. For example, the present simple tense ('I meet') can be
used to talk about both the present and future.
c. It is difficult to get all the different parts in a sentence correct : for
example, if you want to use the present perfect continuous tense,
you need to correctly use the subject, the 'have been', then the verb
plus V-ing (I have been living in Coventry for three years).
d. The passive and active voice are often confused by students.
e. It is hard to know whether to use the 'simple' or 'continuous' forms
of the tenses.
In conclusion, the difficulties mentioned previously often become
the cause of students’ low participation. That is why songs have been
chosen as the medium for learning tense. Songs can be used as the
medium for learning tense and boosting students’ participation because
songs have a power as a teaching medium.

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6. Tenses Evaluation
a. Type of Evaluation
There are several types of evaluation. According to
Gronlund and Linn (1990: 18), there are four types of evaluation
based on the sequence in which evaluation procedure are likely to
be used in the classroom. They are as follows:
1) Placement Evaluation
a) Function of the Evaluation
Placement evaluation is used to determine the
prerequisite skills, degree of mastery of course
objectives, and/or best mode of learning.
b) Illustrative Instrument
Readiness test, aptitude test, pre-tests on course
objectives, self-report inventories, and observational
technique.
2) Formative Evaluation
The formative evaluation’s function is to determine
learning progress, provide feedback to reinforce
learning, and correct learning error.
b) Illustrative Instrument
Teacher-made mastery tests, custom-made tests,
from test publisher, and observational technique.

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3) Diagnostic Evaluation
Diagnostic evaluation is used to determine causes
(intellectual, physical, emotional, environmental) of
persistent learning difficulties.
b) Illustrative instrument
Published diagnostics tests, teacher made
diagnostics tests, and observational techniques.
4) Summative Evaluation
Summative evaluation’s function is to determine
end-of-course achievement foe assigning grades or
certifying mastery of objective.
b) Illustrative instrument
Teacher made survey tests, performance rating
scales, and product scales.
In conclusion, the type of evaluation in this research is
formative evaluation. That is because the purpose of this evaluation
is to monitor the students’ progress of tenses mastery from one
meeting to the other meetings.

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b. Type of Test Item
Test item is typically divided into two general categories. They
are the objective and essay item. Here is the short explanation
about those types of test item:
1) The objective item
Objective item is highly structured and requires the pupils to
supply a word or two or to select the correct answer from a
number of alternatives. There are two kinds of objective item
test. They are supply type which consists of short answer and
completion and selection type which consists of true-false,
matching, and multiple-choice.
2) The essay item
Essay item permits the pupils to select, organize, and present
the answer in essay form. There are two types of essay item.
They are extended and restricted response type.
(Gronlund and Linn, 1990: 121-123)
c. Type of Test Item in This Research
This research will use multiple-choice item as a tool to evaluate
the students’ tenses mastery. Here is the glance explanation about
multiple-choice item:

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1) Definition of Multiple-Choice Item
According to Gronlund and Linn (1990: 166-167),
Multiple-choice item consists of a problem and a list of
suggested solutions. The problem may be stated as a direct
question or an incomplete statement, and it is called the stem of
the item. The list of suggested solutions may include words,
numbers, symbols, or phrases and are called alternative (also
called choices or option). Thus, multiple-choice item is a part
of objective test item which consists of stem (question) and
alternative (choice or option).
2) The Advantages and Disadvantages of Multiple-Choice Item
a) Advantages
According to Gronlund and Linn (1990: 174-175), there
are several advantages in using multiple-choice item to test
the pupils. They are as follows:
(1) Multiple-choice item can effectively measure various
types of knowledge and complex learning outcomes.
(2) Multiple-choice item is free from common
shortcomings characteristics.
(3) In multiple-choice item test, the pupils cannot receive
credit for simply knowing that statement is incorrect;
they must also know what is correct.

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(4) Multiple-choice item has a great reliability because of
its alternatives. The number of alternatives in multiple
choice items is two to four or five. It can decrease the
opportunity of guessing the correct answer, and the
reliability is correspondingly increased.
b) Disadvantages
Despite its superiority, the multiple-choice item has
some limitations. They are as follows:
(1) As with all other paper-and-pencil tests, it is limited to
learning outcomes at the verbal level. It means that
multiple-choice item, like the other paper-and-pencil
tests, measures whether the pupil knows or understand
what to do when confronted with a problem situation,
but it can not determine how the pupil actually will
perform in that situation.
(2) Multiple-choice item requires a selection of the correct
answer, and therefore it not well adapted to measure
some problem-solving skills in mathematics and science
or to measure the ability of construct and present ideas.
(Gronlund and Linn, 1990: 177)

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3) The Suggestions in Constructing Multiple Choice Item
There are many suggestion from Gronlund and Linn (1990:
177-183), but this research only mentions five suggestions.
They are as follows:
a) The stem or the question of the item should be meaningful
by itself and should present a clear problem.
b) The item stem or question should include as much of the
item as possible and should be free of irrelevant material.
c) All the alternatives should be grammatically consistent with
the stem of item.
d) An item should contain only one correct or clearly best
answer.
e) All distracters should be reasonable.
C. Song
1. Definition of Song
A song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.
A choral or vocal song may be accompanied by musical instruments,
or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs. The
lyrics (words) of songs are typically of a poetic, rhyming nature,
though they may be religious verses or free prose (en.wikipedia.org).
This research will use songs that are sung by a singer and accompanied
by musical instrument.

22
2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Song in Learning
a. Advantages
An article in www.tefltunes.com mentions many merits in
using songs in learning English. They are as follows:
1) Most students are highly motivated by song-based activities,
which they perceive to be fun.
2) You can create lessons around songs that can be used to
practice any of the main language skills.
3) Grammar can be surreptitiously presented or practiced through
songs.
4) Music can relax and simultaneously stimulate students. These
affective responses to music are optimum for learning.
5) Playing a song immediately affects class atmosphere.
6) There is often a lot of repetition in songs, which can aid long-
term memory. Just think about all those lyrics that get stuck in
your head.
7) The rhythmical aspect of music also aids rote memorization.
8) Research shows that students may retain more vocabulary
when it is presented through a song.
9) Pop music is a highly accessible source of authentic language.
Music is not scary; it is part of students' lives outside the
classroom. Even your beginner level students probably listen to
music with lyrics in English.

23
10) Bringing pop music to class can help break down barriers,
enabling students to better relate to their teacher and
classmates.
11) Students may feel more fluent singing along to song lyrics than
they do speaking a foreign language, so this builds confidence.
12) Music with lyrics engages both sides of the brain so becomes a
powerful learning tool.
13) A range of colloquial language can easily be introduced
through songs.
14) Most lyrics need to be interpreted, and regular practice of this
may improve prediction and comprehension skills.
15) Pop songs cover a wide variety of general interest topics so are
perfect for theme-based lessons.
16) References in lyrics provide a means to integrate cultural
dimensions in a lesson.
17) Music can help language learners to learn good pronunciation.
Melodies and rhymes guide learners to speak in a native
cadence.
18) Students may learn to segment new words more effectively
when learning through song. This could be especially
beneficial in the first phase of language learning.

24
19) Using songs in your lessons is a great way to encourage
students to do so outside of class, providing essential extra-
curricular listening practice.
b. Disadvantages
Songs as a medium of learning have a lot of benefits, but
several disadvantages of using song in teaching English should be
paid attention to minimize the negative effect. Here are some
disadvantages of using songs:
1) Many English songs have inappropriate content for the
students. The same argument is stated by Terhune in Keskin
(2011: 379). They say that in songs, there may be embarrassing
parts which can not be explained to the students.
2) Choosing songs which is suitable with the students’ level is not
an easy job. As Keegan states that there is the issue of whether
or not the language is a suitable level of difficulty, and the
language (and the subject matter) itself should be suitable. As
stated in www.teachingenglishgames.com that most English
songs have too many words as they are written for native
speakers, so young ESL beginners have no hope of being able
to sing along.
3) Choosing a song which the students are going to like is not
easy. Keegan states that finding the songs which are liked by
the students and have useful language-wise is difficult. What

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you really want is a song with some useful language in it, of
course.
3. Songs in This Research
In this case, there will be four songs which will be used in this
research. They are Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion (for
learning simple past tense), First Love by Nikka Costa (for learning
simple present tense), Sailing by Rod Steward (for learning present
continuous tense), and Jealous Guy by John Lennon (for learning past
continuous tense). Those songs are chosen because of several
considerations. They are as follows: the songs use familiar words that
can be understood easily by the students, those songs have a slow
rhythm, and of course each song is really possible to teach tense.
4. Song to Improve Students’ Participation
English songs have ability in boosting students’ participation in
learning tenses. The explanation about that statement is as follows:
a. Song can create a fun atmosphere in learning.
One way which can be used to increase students’ participation is a
fun atmosphere in teaching and learning process, and a song clearly
can be used to do that thing. As Lynch (2005) utters that the
students think songs are natural and fun. In addition, Kramsch in
Keskin (2011: 378) states that the amusing and relaxing mood
brought by songs to the class eases the effects of certain emotional
cases such as excitement, anxiety, lack of self-confidence and the

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feeling of being threatened, in addition to influencing learning
process positively or facilitating it by stimulating the student
emotionally.
b. Song is a motivation tool.
Motivation really relates with students’ participation. There is an
assumption that high motivation will encourage high participation,
and songs have that power. As Saricoban and Metin (2000) state
that songs are highly memorable and motivating. Murphey in
Salcedo (2002: 75) also states that an interest in music and related
movement is a strong motivator for language learning.
c. Many English songs can be used to teach tenses.
Songs can be used as a medium in learning tenses. This argument
is supported by Shen (2009: 92). He states that the nature of songs
is fairly repetitive and consistent. For example, Lemon Tree by
Fools Garden, provide sample opportunities for students to focus
on the study of the present progressive tense in English grammar.
“I’m sitting here in a boring room”, “I’m wasting my time”, “I’m
hanging around, I’m waiting for you”, “I’m driving around in my
car”, etc. After listening to this song, students will easily memorize
these simple sentences, tend to use them in their own conversation
and even correctly produce their own sentences of the present
progressive tense.

27
In conclusion, English songs can be used to boost students’
participation in learning tenses because a song is a fun and motivated
thing for the students, and these things can be used to increase students’
participation in teaching and learning process. In addition, songs clearly
can be used to teach tenses.
D. Basic Assumption
English tenses as a part of grammar is a quite complicated thing for
many learners in Indonesia. That is why low students’ participation often
occurs in learning tenses. Songs as the combination of music and lyric
have a deniable power to create a fun atmosphere in teaching and learning
process and motivate the students to participate actively. In addition, songs
can help the students to understand more about English tense because
many English songs have repetitive and consistent tense. In short, English
songs are assumed as a good medium for increasing students’ participation
in learning English tenses.
The basic assumption mentioned previously is supported by several
previous researches. Jolly in Salcedo (2002: 74) utters that students in two
Japanese conversation courses were asked to rate songs usefulness. The
result showed that 80 and 91% of students rated songs as being “very
useful”. Students commented that songs created a relaxed and enjoyable
atmosphere and that they felt more receptive to the lessons. This research
shows that the comfortable atmosphere can encourage the students to

28
participate actively. In addition, according to Bartle in Salcedo (2002: 76),
some songs lend themselves to the incidental revision of grammatical
points or of verb tenses. Songs are a definite advantage in memorization of
phrase constructions. They are more easily learned and tend to ‘stick’
longer than straight-out grammatical examples. This research proves that
English songs can be used as a medium to learn tenses.
E. Hypothesis of the Research
English songs are able to improve students’ participation in learning
tenses at X.6 class of SMA N 1 Rembang in academic year 2012/2013.

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6

Several definitions of participation are stated by some experts.

According to Dusseldorf in Nurachman (2010), participation is an

activity or condition of taking a part in reaching a benefit optimally. In

addition, Svinicki in Tanireja et.al, (2010: 96) states that participation

is students’ active involvement in creating ideas and information, so

longer. In conclusion, students’ participation is students’ involvement

or ideas in the classroom.

According to Tanireja et.al, (2010: 96), there are two kinds of

participations. They are contributive and initiative participation.

Contributive participation is the participation that encourages an

activity to join learning well, do the structured assignment well both in

class and home. While initiative participation aims more in

autonomous activity in doing unstructured assignment. In this case, the

An Effort to Improve Students..., Asfi Aniuranti, FKIP UMP, 2013

These two types of participations will form the students to become

important meaning of learning.

According to the previous explanation, indicators of students’

participation can be known, and those indicators have been used as a

another source in order to measure students’ participation. Here are the

final indicators in student observation sheet:

Indicators of Students’ Participation

Contributive Participation Initiative Participation

Ask questions Take part in class or group

Answer teacher or student discussions

Listen when student or teacher

Make constructive or positive

comments to the teacher or other

Become involved in planned

An Effort to Improve Students..., Asfi Aniuranti, FKIP UMP, 2013

Avoid interrupting a lesson or

(Adopted from: www.edu.on.ca. Effective Elementary Assessment and

Evaluation Classroom Practices)

Tense is a form of a verb used to indicate the time, and sometimes

the continuation or completeness, of an action in relation to the time of

speaking. Tense is a method that is used in English to refer to time -

time, using different methods. In short, we talk about time in English

with tenses (http://www.englishclub.com/).

According to Baehaqi (2011: 23), there are sixteen tenses in

future tense, present perfect tense, past perfect tense, present

continuous tense, past continuous tense, present future continuous

An Effort to Improve Students..., Asfi Aniuranti, FKIP UMP, 2013

future perfect tense, present perfect continuous tense, past perfect

continuous tense, present future perfect continuous tense, and past

perfect future continuous tense.

3. Tenses in This Research

a. Simple Present Tense

Every day, sometimes, always, often, usually, seldom, never,

and first ... then

Something happens repeatedly, how often something happens,

one action follows another , things in general, with the

following verbs (to love, to hate, to think, etc.), and future

meaning: timetables and programmes.

is, am, are + complement

An Effort to Improve Students..., Asfi Aniuranti, FKIP UMP, 2013

1. Laura and Sally go to the town every

Affirmative 2. She goes to the town every week.

4. They are children.

1. Laura and Sally do not go to the town

Negative 2. She does not go to the town every week.

3. He is not an English teacher.

4. They are not children.