LETS: Journal of Linguistics and English Teaching Studies

Developing Writing Skills through Video-Based Contextual Teaching and Learning

Rabiah Adawiyah — 2023-12-30

This research aims at developing writing skill of the tenth-grade students of MA Muhammadiyah Palu through Contextual Teaching and Learning video-assisted based. Another aims at student’s achievement in developing writing skill because the process of CTL video-assisted based. The subjects of this research were the students at the tenth grade of MA Muhammadiyah Palu that consisted of 15 students. This research was Classroom Action Research (CAR) covering plan, action, observation and reflection. This research was carried out into two cycles. The first cycle focused on explanation of the materials through the seven principles of CTL; 1. Constructivism, 2. Inquiry 3. Questioning, 4. Learning Community, 5. Modeling, 6. Reflection and 7. Authentic Assessment. The second cycle was focused on the examples of language features in procedure text. The data of this research were obtained from observation, field notes and writing test. The individual test results in cycle 1 showed that 40% of the students had not reached the criteria of success because they had not been able to write procedure text, while the results of the cycle 2 87% of the students showed that the implementation of the CTL video-assisted based was able to develop students’ writing skills. Students’ problems in writing procedure text can be diminished by implementing CTL video-assisted based.

Students' Learning Needs Analysis in Learning English at SMAN 1 Campalagian Polewali Mandar

Hernawati Bt Ibrahim — 2023-12-30

In SMAN 1 Campalagian, many students are not receiving an education that meets their diverse learning needs, as many teachers continue to use a "one size fits all" approach that fails to accommodate individual needs. This "one size fits all" approach can negatively impact academic achievement. The aim of this research is to identify senior high school students’ learning needs, specifically learning interest. The method of the research was a mix-method, integrating quantitative and qualitative data. The instruments of the research were questionnaires, which consisted of closed-ended questions such as voting surveys for getting the quantitative data and open-ended questions for getting the qualitative data. The sample for this research were the students in the eleventh grade of SMAN 1 Campalagian. In analyzing the data, the researcher applied two kinds of techniques, including quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis. Based on the data analysis, the most preferred topics among the students were legends, fairy tales, and fables. For the interest areas, the most preferred areas were music, fine art, and historical sciences. Additionally, regarding the mode of expression, the most preferred expressions are written, oral, and design. The reasons they chose these preferences were various. The findings indicate that the students have a variety of learning interests with their own reasons. They showed interest in various topics areas and modes of expression.

Nigerian Undergraduates’ Awareness of Self-Regulation Strategies in ESL Academic Writing

Muhammad Muhktar — 2023-12-30

This research focuses on investigating the awareness and perception of self-regulation strategies in academic writing among undergraduate students. Specifically, it aims to explore the level of undergraduates' awareness in various aspects of self-regulation, such as goal setting, adopting powerful strategies, self-monitoring, restructuring social and physical context, time management, self-evaluation, attributing causation to results, and adapting future methods. The study adopts a cross-sectional survey research design and includes a sample of eighty-seven (87) third-year undergraduates majoring in English in Nigeria. To collect data, a questionnaire was employed as the primary research instrument. The data collected were analyzed using the SPSS software to address the research questions of the study. The findings indicate the respondents’ moderate level of awareness regarding self-regulation strategies in ESL academic writing. This moderate level of awareness cuts across all aspects of self-regulation analyzed in this study. Based on the study's findings, several recommendations are proposed for both practical implementation and future research. These recommendations aim to enhance undergraduates' awareness of self-regulation strategies in ESL academic writing and improve their overall writing skills. Further studies are also suggested to delve deeper into the effectiveness and impact of various self-regulation strategies on undergraduate students' academic writing performance.

Exploring English Learning on Non-Formal Education as an Effort to Enhance Students Speaking Ability

Muhammad Danial — 2023-12-30

Non formal education can improve learners’ capacity in any skill. This study is aimed to reveal the implementation of English learning in MOEC Majene as a non-formal education unit and how students’ perception toward its learning were. This study used quantitative method with descriptive data. The participants of this study were students of English Education from Unsulbar University and STAIN Majene who were selected using a purposive sampling technique in which they are students in MOEC Majene who wish to develop their English capacity even though they are English education students in university. The research data was obtained by using observation, interviews, and questionnaires. The results of this study indicated that English education students from Unsulbar University and STAIN Majene had low speaking ability before enrolling in the MOEC Majene. The findings showed that MOEC Majene gave powerfull impact on speaking skills of English education students in Unsulbar University and STAIN Majene. The researchers also discovered that learning environment at MOEC Majene could assist students in improving their communication skills. Students’ responses draw the description of how MOEC Majene has impressed learners there.

The Use of Code Mixing in English Language Teaching (A Study at the Senior High School in Bone Regency)

Wahyu — 2023-12-30

The objective of this research is to investigate the utilization of code mixing by both teachers and students during the instructional and learning activities, as well as to understand the underlying rationales behind their use of code mixing within the context of English classes. This study employs a qualitative approach and utilizes a case study design. The research was conducted among eleventh-grade students at SMAN 1 Bone. Data collection methods included the use of observational field notes and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed three distinct forms of code mixing employed by both English teachers and students during the teaching and learning process: intra-sentential code mixing, intra-lexical code mixing, and code mixing involving changes in pronunciation. Intra-sentential code mixing emerged as the predominant form utilized by both teachers and students, with 37 instances of intra-sentential code mixing, eight instances of intra-lexical code mixing, and five instances of code mixing involving changes in pronunciation. The reasons underlying students' utilization of code mixing during the teaching and learning process were primarily attributed to their limited vocabulary and their difficulty in speaking English fluently.

An Analysis of Transitivity in Analytical Exposition Texts Written by Eleventh Grade Students

Yulia Nur Septianti — 2023-12-30

While studies on ideational metafunctions have been widely reported, research on transitivity analysis on students’ analytical exposition texts in EFL contexts is under-explored. The aims of this study are twofold: scrutinizing the process types and investigating the most dominant process in analytical exposition text as guided by Systemic Functional Linguistics theory. This study applied descriptive qualitative design focusing on experiential metafunction, comprising the processes of material, mental, verbal, relational, behavioral, and existential. The results show that among the six processes, the material process had the highest frequency of occurrence (45.6%), followed by the processes of relational (43.6%), mental (6.8%), verbal (1.94%), and finally, existential (1.94%). To conclude, the linguistic features of analytical exposition text, which is mental processes, are not accurately employed in the texts. The pedagogical implications of this study are: 1) encouraging students to study analytical exposition text and 2) helping students to think critically. Based on the findings, we suggest that the teacher is required to teach the text explicitly. In this context, explicit teaching can be done using a genre-based approach. Therefore, the students can comprehend the analytical exposition text as a whole.

Digital Ethnography of Students’ Communication on WhatsApp: An Empirical Study of Native Bantenese

kheryadi kheryadi — 2023-12-30

This study delves into understanding the distinctive communication behavior within a specific speech community established on WhatsApp. Employing communication ethnography and utilizing Dell Hymes' Speaking Model for analysis, the research employs observation techniques and in-depth interviews for data collection. Findings reveal that speech events primarily unfold within designated group accounts, centering on common topics. Notably, not all community members actively engage, and communication encompasses both textual and visual formats, in line with the application's features. Despite adherence to the application's conversational structure, community members demonstrate a robust comprehension of diverse speech forms exchanged within the group. The abstract concludes by underscoring the pedagogical implications of the results, offering insights for comprehending and potentially enhancing communication behaviors in chat applications, contributing to the broader discourse on digital communication

An Analysis of Students’ Positive and Negative Politeness Strategies Conducted in Learning Process

Sidratul Muntaha — 2023-12-30

The research is derived from the politeness issue happened during teaching and learning process in the research location. The researcher found out that the students showed lack of awareness on communicating and interacting politely and formally to the teacher. This research aimed to find out the types of politeness strategies of students at SMA Negeri 1 Tinambung in learning process. The researcher applied qualitative research in order to know the students’ politeness strategies. The researcher focused on the students' 12 th-grade science at SMA Negeri 1 Tinambung. The subject of research consisted of 30–35 students from XII MIA 1 and one English teacher. The researcher did classroom observation who used politeness strategies in the classroom. In doing the classroom observation, the researcher took video to record all the activities in the classroom to see the types of politeness strategies based on Brown and Levison’s theory of Politeness Strategies. The researcher found that politeness strategies appeared in the learning process, they were positive politeness strategies. Positive politeness strategies happened to minimize the distance between the teacher and the students.

Gadgets and English Vocabulary Acquisition of Rural Preschool Children in Malang

Ula Robbithotul Rohmah — 2023-12-30

Gadgets are often considered to interfere with early childhood development, but gadget technology benefits children's language acquisition. This study aims to determine the English vocabulary acquisition of children aged four to six years from their habit of accessing entertainment through gadgets. The participants in this study were 53 children aged 4-6 years in a rural preschool in Malang. This research used a qualitative method with a descriptive explanation. Data collection techniques were conducted through class observation and interviews with teachers and parents. The results of this study showed that the subjects' foreign language proficiency in English was seen from the acquisition of vocabulary and understanding of the content they watched repeatedly. Second language mastery is also seen in the subject's ability to mention colors, simple verbs, nouns, and adjectives in English. The children acquired their foreign language of both expressive and receptive English vocabulary through their gadgets with the support of parental guidance. It implies that gadgets with controlled screen time and supervision can positively impact children’s foreign language acquisition.

Classroom Discourse Analysis in Code Switching Used by the Lecturers at IAIN Parepare

Munawir Sabolla — 2023-12-30

Most of the lecturers in IAIN Parepare uses two or more languages in explaining some topics. This research was conducted to find out the types of code switching that the lecturers produce in the teaching process, and to find out the reasons of the lecturers in using code switching in teaching. The researchers applied descriptive qualitative research. The subject of this research was the lecturers of English Department at IAIN Parepare consisted of 2 male and 2 female lecturers. The data of this research were collected by observation checklist and interview. The obtained data were analyzed in three major phases namely data reduction, data display, and data verification. The result of this research shows that the types of Code-Switching used by the lecturers (both male and female lecturers) of English department are Situational Code-switching and Metaphorical Code-switching. About the factors or reasons, they use Code-switching because of many reasons namely: lack of knowledge, attending of a person that do not know the language, Stylistic device, and to impress another people. Besides the four factors, English lecturers also use Code-switching based on the other three factors that freshly identified by the researchers they are: to regain the students’ attention/focus, to clear up the explanation, and to create a different learning atmosphere.