The Materials

1. Folklore/ Folktales
With the rapidly increasing emphasis upon the functional objectives of the
curriculum, many teachers are seeking for material which is closely related to the
interests and experiences of students. Teachers of English in the Junior High School
will find the use of folklore one effective means of meeting their present needs. Folk
tales contain simple language and generally has a universal theme and it offers an
amusing and deductive lesson to the readers and audience. Therefore using folktales
is a wonderful method of language teaching. It is possible to teach all the four skills
of LSRW through the use of folktales.
Taylor (Danandjaya, 2003: 31) folklore are materials that are inherited from
tradition, through word of mouth or from traditional practices. In other words,
folklore is basically a form of culture that is passed down or passed down from
generation to generation orally.

The examples of Folktales :

1) Timun Mas
2) Sangkuriang
3) Bawang Merah dan Bawang Putih
4) Malin Kundang
5) Tangkuban Perahu

From the examples of the folklore above, the teacher can use it as learning materials
for students especially in the Junior High class to learn English through literary works.

2. Poem

“A poem is a piece of writing in which the words are chosen for their beauty and
sound and are carefully arranged, often in short lines which rhyme” (Collins Cobuild,
2001).

Many teachers agree that poetry promotes language acquisition, they will also add
that poetic concepts and cultural assumptions are usually too difficult for EFL
learners to take on. While this might be true of poetry as a reading activity, the use
of poetry in the writing class can provide an effective and collaborative means of
language learning and of personal expression. In teaching poetry, teacher could build
the language awareness to students because the vocabularies used in poetry could
improve the effectiveness in the learning process (Baki & Behood, 2012). Khansir
(2012) mentioned that by using poetry in language classroom, teacher could teach
the structure, grammar and vocabulary. However, vocabularies of target language in
EFL classroom become one of the problem for students. The use of poetry in
classroom could encourage students to create a new word or translate the poetic
word that they never knew before. Students can imagine as much as they can to
write a poetry. Teacher as the facilitator in class could review the structure and
grammar based on their poetry task
 The examples of Poems :
1) Still I Rise – Maya Angelou
2) The Invitation – Oriah Mountain Dreamer
3) The Charge of the Light Brigade – Lord Alfred Tennyson

3. Song
One way to attract the attention of language learners is to use song lyrics as material
to be taught to students, especially for students who live in non-English speaking
countries. As a good teacher, teaching English must be guidable and facilitating
the language learners because it can improve their achievements. Then, teacher
must know what the language learners need in learning a foreign language.
Language learners can learn the target language optimally if the methods maintain
the characteristics of them. Language learners are interested when they do more
activities because they have huge learning potential. Besides, the language
learners are more often enthusiastic and lively as learners. Language learners in
Junior high School are generally very enthusiastic about songs. The teachers have to
provide lots of encouragement and positive feedback. This means learning through
songs can be used to incorporate the classroom activitiy effectively into English
lessons as a good practice in teaching pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and all
four skills.

The example of Songs’ Title :

1) Strong – One Direction
2) Something Just Like That – The Chainsmokers ft. Coldplay
3) Memories – Maroon 5
4) 7 Years – Lukas Graham
5) It’ll be Okay – Shawn Mendes