Improving Students’ Listening Ability Through Eclectic Method (A Classroom Action Research at the Twelfth Grade Students of SMK Negeri 1 Miri-Sragen in Academic Year 2008/2009)

Oleh :
Rahayu Wijiastuti - S890306010 - Sekolah Pascasarjana

The general objective of this research is to improve students’ listening ability of the twelfth grade students of SMKN 1 Miri-Sragen in the Academic Year of 2008/2009. The research is aimed at finding out (1) whether Eclectic Method can improve students’ listening comprehension ability; (2) what happens in the classroom when the teacher applies Eclectic Method to teach listening. The researcher conducted a classroom action research. The action research was conducted in three cycles. Each cycle consisted of six steps: identifying the problem, planning the action, implementing the action, observing, and revising the plan. There are two types of data in the research, namely the numerical and non numerical data which were collected by observation, interview, questionnaire, and test. The numerical data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, finding out the mean scores in the tests. The non-numerical data were analyzed using Constant-comparative technique proposed by Strauss and Glasser consisting of the following steps: (1) comparing incidents applicable to each category; (2) integrating categories and their properties; (3) delimiting the theory; (4) writing the theory The result of the study showed that: (1) the use of eclectic method in the class improved students’ listening ability in terms of: (a) the improvement of predicting the meaning of functional text; (b) the improvement of responding of interpersonal expression; (c) the improvement of finding the specific information of transactional expression; and (d) the improvement of understanding the main topic of monolog text. (2) Eclectic method can improve classroom atmosphere: (a) improving students’ participation in the class and (b) improving students’ motivation. Related to the research findings above, the researcher wanted to propose some recommendations for the English teacher to apply eclectic method to teach listening. Eclectic Method can be a highly effective teaching method. Eclectic Method can motivate the students, make them pay attention and take part in teaching learning process. Teaching listening using eclectic method can attract students’ interest in learning English.