By: Subur Laksmono Wardoyo Ririn Ambarini Dwi Destriani

A. Title Natural Ways of Learning Applied in Teaching Grammar to Young Learners in the Third Grade of SD Supriyadi Semarang in the Academic Year 20112012 B. Introduction Teaching grammar to young learners requires an extensive knowledge of a great number of issues. Not only is it crucial to be aware of various teaching methods and approaches but also it is fundamental to be familiar with the principles of the development of childrens intelligence. If an English teacher would like to have the output of his/her student is satisfying, he or she should be able to use the right method of teaching grammar to young learners. The general output of students in learning English is that they are able to use the English language that they have already learned for communication. This communication may happen inside or even outside class. The communication may occur between students and teachers or even between students and students. And the perfect outcome of learning English is that the students are able to use English as a means of communication in society. To reach that ideal, it is important for the English teacher to improve the quality of teaching learning at the point of teaching grammar to young learners. (Graham, 2003) In teaching grammar to young learners especially in Elementary school , it is suggested that English teachers do not use the activities in the form of grammar formula, sentence patterns, or even sentence structures that have to be memorized by the students. Grammar is supposed to be taught to young learners in a kind of nature ways that students will not be aware that they are learning grammar. The approach that can be applied in teaching grammar to young learners is using game-like activities, role-playing/drama, and TPR. Those methods of teaching can be used in the process of teaching learning so that it can make the English lesson become fun and exciting for young learners. (Graham, 2003:45).

This research is quite urgent as the technique of teaching grammar that has already been applied in English class is still using the conventional technique. At present, most of the English teachers prefer giving the presentation of grammar theory to giving grammar activities that will enable students to learn without they are aware that they are studying grammar. In order to change the presentation of the materials that stil uses the conventional techniques in teaching grammar, it is important for English teachers to make the use of natural ways of learning techniques applied in teaching grammar to young learners.

C. Problem Statements Based on the illustration above, the problems of the research can be stated as follows: 1. What natural ways of learning can be applied in teaching Grammar to young learners in SD Supriyadi Semarang? 2. How effective are natural ways of learning methods applied in teachig Grammar to young learners in SD Supriyadi Semarang? D. Aims of the Study In specific way, the study is aimed to find out the information about: 1. To find out the fun listening activities that are created to solve problems in a big and noisy class, for grade 3 students in SD Supriyadi Semarang 2. To find out the effectiveness of fun listening activities created to solve problems in a big and noisy class applied for grade 3 students in SD Supriyadi Semarang.

E. Benefits of the Study The result of the study will hopefully be useful for: 1. Lecturers Lecturers as one of the important elements in the process of teaching learning are hoped to be able to give the description even the support to their students so that in the future when the students have become teachers

they will be able to make the implementation of the technique in English teaching for young learners that are based on fun and exciting atmosphere. 2. Students Students will be able to improve their capability in teaching training or microteaching maximally so that later on when they have been a teacher, they will be able to make the implementation of the qualified English teaching in the real work that is in the education field. 3. Teachers Teachers will be able to make the improvement in their capability and skills of English teaching, especially related to the design or creativity in listening activities for their students in school. They will be much more creative in providing students with fun and exciting Grammar activities for young learners.

F. Review of Related Literature 1. The Nature of Child Development We tend to take children as minor copies of adults. Not only is this approach definitely wrong, but it also can cause severe damages. That is the reason why it is important for parents and mainly teachers to try to understand the specific development of childrens behaviour. This work deals with the ways how to present and teach grammar to young learners. Learning, acquiring new pieces of information and using new skills in practice is strongly connected with mental abilities of children. Fully developed mental skills are not inborn. They are influenced by many factors, such as personal abilities of a child, family, both physical and mental health etc. What we are interested in is the development of intelligence itself. Intelligence and its development have been tackled by a considerable number of authors. Vygotsky, Bruner and Piaget made enormous progress in the research of how people think and learn. Their theories are still considered as fundamentals of educating children and although new discoveries have been made, e.g. some of Piagets opinions are still applicable to education. According to Nunan, he said that while the learning of a second language has unique aspects,

it is not so unique as to have nothing to gain from general educational theory, practice and research. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p.1, originally: Nunan, p. 180) 2. Piaget and his Theory Piagets theory is based on the fact that it is possible to divide the development of intelligence into three stages. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p. 2) Each of those stages has some specific features and applies to a particular period of a childs life. If we approach to study the problem, we can generally say that according to Jean Piaget, the development of intelligence is based on the incorporating of lower intellectual stages into higher stages. Such a development is a gradual process and no stage can be omitted from the process. That is why each period of intellectual development influences the following stage of intelligence and only on the condition that the succession of stages is preserved, a child can reach the full development of his/her intellectual abilities. The first stage in children development is the sensori-motor stage. The sensori-motor stage proceeds from birth to the age of 18 months. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p.2) It is just for our orientation to mention the exact age group and it is always very individual and easily influenced by various factors. There are various specifications about children development, for example the sensori-motor stage is sometimes taken as a period lasting till the age of 24 months. The sensori-motor stage precedes the development of language itself. It is a period when cognitive substructures are acquired and become a starting point of further intellectual acquisition. (Piaget, Inhelderova, 1997, p. 11) Children at the beginning of the sensori-motor stage are able to use their senses and their limbs but they are not able to do it on purpose. This means that they look at things and people, they can hear sounds and voices, they move their legs and arms and they definitely enjoy the movement but if they want to take a toy, they do not know yet how to do it. They actually play with their senses, legs, arms and hands and that is the process of acquiring new information and experience. The concrete operational stage starts at the end of the sensori-motor stage and lasts until the age of 12 approximately. The concrete operational stage includes two parts and these are the pre-operational stage and the operational

stage. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p.2). The pre-operational stage lasts till the age of 7. We should emphasize that one of the crucial activities of this stage is a game. Children spend most of their time playing which is possible because of the fact that their imagination and fantasy have undergone important changes. The underlying factor is the ability of symbolic thinking. Children bake cakes of sand and then they want their parents to taste them, they take a brick from a box of bricks and use it as a telephone etc. It is absolutely unavoidable to enable them to play as often as they need because a game is one of the most important factors of learning. This stage is actually a stage of symbolic (semiotic) functions and according to Piaget, this is a crucial stage for further development of mental operations. (Kohoutek, 2005, p.14) 2. Vygotsky and his Theory Vygotsky introduced a concept of speech as a formative factor of human intellect. Speech and its importance for the development of childrens thinking were just the issues on which Vygotsky and Piaget did not agree. Jean Piaget considered action to be the most significant aspect influencing the development of childrens thinking, learning and understanding. Children assimilate their new experience into the existing structures. The approach of Vygotsky is therefore different from that of Piaget. Vygotsky argues that not only is speech a fundamental factor at the beginning of thinking but it influences the whole development of ones thinking, learning and understanding. It is possible to take speech as a tool which enables the growth of our intellect. According to Vygotsky speech is necessary for the development of the basic level of intellect as well as of much higher mental processes. If we want to use abstract reasoning, develop the ability of evaluating and memorising, we have to be able to use speech. We actually could say that the relation between speech and intellect is reciprocal and one cannot develop without the other. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p.3) 3. Bruner and his Theory We learn new information and gain new skills because we do something concrete in practice. Such a type of learning is obviously used by young children. As soon as they start to move, stand, sit and manipulate with objects, they get a

considerable number of information. As children grow up, they are gradually learn to read, they understand the meaning of texts, pictures and diagrams and finally they are able to discuss and compare what the texts are about, what they have in common, they can express their ideas and opinions etc. Provided that a teacher is acquainted with all these regularities, he/she can offer his/her pupils and students such teaching methods which lead to successful learning. If an English teacher wants to teach the present continuous tense. Is it possible to use all the three modes (enactive, iconic and symbolic)? The answer is positive and there are many tools how to reach it. We can describe a picture and then encourage children to act what they can see in the picture. They divide themselves into two groups. One group say to the other group where they should be and what they should do and the people in the second group do it, e.g. Peter is sitting on a chair and he is holding a cup of tea etc. Then children describe the life picture once more and finally they are said to discuss the whole story again, they can add their new ideas. Not only is such a way of teaching extremely enjoyable but it is also useful, children are not bored, they are able to pay their attention for a longer time. Of course, one has to take into account such aspects as the age of the children and their intellectual abilities, nevertheless there are many advantages of such teaching methods both for the teacher and for his/her pupils. Bruner was strongly influenced by Vygotsky and he stressed the importance of social interaction between children and adults. He introduced a concept of LASS (Language Acquisition Support System). As far as this concept is concerned the language development is reached through innate learning and social abilities together with the support offered by adults. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p.3). 4. Childrens Abilities, Skills And Instincts Children are creative. This is not a set phrase, it is a fact that teachers should use in their lessons. Although their vocabulary is quite limited, it is enough for them to be able to communicate. Pupils do not have problems to ask and answer set phrases but it is much more difficult for them to construct sentences in unpredictable situations. Therefore games are so important and useful. If a teacher prepares games (activities) where children are made to communicate, he/she creates such unpredictable moments when children have to use their vocabulary

and grammar as much as it is possible. It does not matter at all that the children make mistakes. What is important is the fact that they have to be creative in the foreign language they learn, which naturally leads to the development of their communicative skills. (Halliwell, 1992, pp. 4-5) Children learn although they are not aware of it. This ability is called indirect learning. If we want to teach our pupils some new phrases and grammatical structures, the best way is to use the method of guessing. Children ask and answer questions in order to find out some information. They are not actually interested in the structures and phrases which we want them to use, they are impatient to find the answers and they are very happy if they succeed. Some of the children prefer indirect subconscious learning. Such pupils are usually more talkative, they do not mind making mistakes and for them it is crucial to be able to communicate, they are not so interested in avoiding making mistakes. On the other hand, there are children who want to express their thoughts accurately and such children usually prefer direct learning. A good teacher should be able to coordinate both methods and offer the child what he/she really needs. The teacher should try to encourage the thoughtful children to be more relaxed and not to be afraid of speaking and making mistakes and at the same time he/she should persuade the easy-going children to think more before they start speaking. Nevertheless, we can say that generally the capacity for indirect learning is developed more than the capacity for direct learning. Young learners are not able to pay their attention for more than 10 - 20 minutes and after that they start to be bored and tired. Therefore we should be able to take childrens capacity for indirect learning and their instinct for games and fun as a great advantage. We cannot spend so much time on real direct conscious learning as if we teach adults but with adults it is exactly the opposite and we cannot use so many games and activities based on fantasy and imagination. The reason is obvious, children have the extremely developed sense of imaginative thinking. (Halliwell, 1992, pp. 5-7) 5. Game-like Activities For children at primary school, a game is one of the crucial activities. They enjoy playing games but what is more, games are important as they serve as

tools of socialisation. Children learn to communicate with their friends, they have to accept others opinions and they learn how to present their own ideas. In our English lessons we can use games for the development of communicative skills as well as for the revision of vocabulary and grammar. Nevertheless, activities presented in our classrooms are not typical games. If we use the term game, we usually mean just playing for fun and it is something completely different from the activities we do with young learners. Although we have fun, the main purpose is educative and therefore it is better to call such activities game-like activities. (Ur, 1991, pp.289-290) Although a game-like activity seems to be a very easy and natural way of learning, it is not an easy task for a teacher to prepare a good activity. We have to be aware of two basic aspects. Firstly, what we expect from the particular activity. We should consider whether the game-like activity is for children only to make the lesson more attractive and protect them from being bored or whether we tend to revise and practise some particular part of grammar, vocabulary etc. Secondly, it is important not to waste our time. Some activities have too complicated rules or on the other hand, some activities are too simple and both the cases make children speak their native language, which we definitely want to avoid. (Brumfit, Moon, Tongue, 1995, p.33)

G. Research Methodology 1. Research Setting SD Supriyadi Semarang or Supriyadi Elementary School is the institution that becomes the object in this action research. It is located on Jl. Supriyadi no. 1113 Semarang. There are some good facilities that support the process of teaching learning in that school such as TV, CD player, air conditioner, library, LCD, OHP, teaching aids according to the subject matter, etc. 2. Research Design In every research, there are data to be studied and anylised. A researcher can get the data from many sources, people, or even things. The data source in every research is basically the subject from which a researcher gets. (Arikunto, 2006: 129).

Groups Experimental Group

Pre-Test T1

Treatment X1

Post-Test T2

In the design above, the sample is assigned to the experimental group. The qualities of the subject are checked firstly by doing pre-test on them. Then the experiment is given to the experimental group. The groups are taught with a topic that is different from the teaching techniques that are usually given by their English teacher. 3. Subjects of the Research The subject of this study is the students of SD Supriyadi Semarang. The purposive sampling was used in this research. Purposive sample is the sample which has the purpose to take the subjects that are not based on the degrees of stratum, but based on the same characteristics to reach certain purpose. This technique is done for some consideration, like the limitation of time, place, and fund. The purposive sampling in this research is the 41 students of grade three in SD Supriyadi Semarang as the sample in this research. 4. Method of Data Collection In conducting the study, the writer will use two kinds of method of data collection. They are library activities and field activities. 1. Library Activities 2. Field Activities

D. Instrument of the Research In this study, the writer used some kinds of instrument in gathering the data needed for the research. Those are pre-test, post-test, questionnaire, and field note. 1. Pre-test and post-test 2. Questionnaire 3. Field Note E. Technique of Data Analysis After getting the result of each test, the next is putting the data into T-test formula. The intention is to know whether there is any significant improvement of

Grammar especially in contructing positive, negative, and interrogative sentences of the third grade students in SD Supriyadi Semarang by using the techniques of teaching learning that are considered natural and exciting. After the deviation is found, the writer searched the sum of quadrate deviation ( k x 2d), finally the writer put the data into T-test formula: t (t-test) =

(Arikunto, 2006: 306-308) Where: t Md xd N = t-test = Mean of deviation between pre-test and post-test = Deviation difference = Number of subject After finding out the t-test, the writer uses t-table to compare the t-test. If the value of t-test is more than the value of t-table, it can be concluded that there is significant improvement of the students achievement in learning Grammar to some activities that are natural and exciting for them. The criteria of the test score: Score 86-100 76-85 60-75 55-50 0-54 Category A B C D E Excellent Good Fair Poor Fail (Arikunto, 2006:245)

F. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION a. Research Findings 1. The Result Of The Students Mastery On Constructing Positive, Negative, And Interrogative Sentences In starting the data collection, the writer conducted the pre-test. The purpose of the pre-test was to check the students mastery on constructing positive, negative, and interrogative sentences before the techniques of natural

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ways in teaching Grammar was applied in the classroom. The mean of the pretest scoring is 72.19 (Xi). It means that the studentss mastery on constructing the sentences into the positive, negative, and interrogative forms is fair. 2. The Result of the Sudents Mastery on Constructing Sentences in Positive, Negative, and Interrogative Forms after the Treatment After the techiques of teaching Grammar applied in the classroom practice by using the four natural activities that are mentioned above, the next step done in the sixth meeting in the class was evaluating the students mastery on

constructing sentences in positive, negative, and interrogative sentences by giving them a post-test. The mean of the post test scoring is 80.12 (T2). It shows that the students mastery on Grammar especially on constructing sentences in positive, negative, and interrogative sentences is Good. 3. The Significant Difference of the Sudents Mastery on Constructing Sentences in the Form of Positive, Negative, and Interrogative. After the writerr got the data from pre-test and post-test scoring, the writer finds out the improvement of the students mastery on Grammar by following ttest formula: T-test formula: t (t-test) =

(Arikunto, 2006: 306-308) Where: t Md xd N = t-test = Mean of deviation between pre-test and post-test = Deviation difference = Number of subject

t (t-test) =

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t (t-test) =

t (t-test) =

t (t-test) =

t (t-test) = 6.5338959
In the t-table, t 0,975 = 2,035 (Arikunto, 2006:363), and because the result of t is 6.53, so 6.53 2,035, it can be concluded there is a significant difference of the students mastery on Grammar at the point of constructing sentences in the form of positive, negative, and interrogative. Besides the pre-test and post-test, the writerr used questionnaire to find out the validity of the data that is to describe the significant difference and to minimize the intervening variable. The writer gave the questionnaire after the post test was given to the students. There were 43 students in the third grade who joined and did the questionnaire in the research. The questionnaire was in the form of yes/no questions with five items in it. From the result of the questionnaire, it can be seen that most of the students gave the yes answered and this was completed by the improvement of the students score on their post-test. So, it can be concluded that the natural techniques of teaching chosen by the researcher gave the improvement for the students mastery on Grammar in this case constructing sentences in the form of negative, positive, and interrogative. After evaluating the result of the questionnaire, the writer uses the field note. The field note was used to find out the situation in the classroom practise and the students eagerness in participating the activities during the research. Eventhough, there were few students who were less active in joining the activities in the research, generally, most of the students were active and excited in doing the four treatment in the research. When the students got difficulties in understanding some difficult words both reseracher team and the English teacher

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were ready for help and this condition made the process of teaching learning in the research went smoothly.

G. Discussion It can be seen from the data presented above, that: 1. The Students Mastery on Grammar in Constructing Positive, Negative, and Interrogative Sentences. From the previous computation, the result of the mean score of the students mastery on Grammar at the point in constructing positive, negative, and interrogative sentences in their pre-test is .... it shows that the studentss mastery in understanding Grammar is fair. The researcher found out that there are some problems faced by the students in understanding how to contruct sentences in the form of positive, negative, and interrogative sentences. They still felt confused about the format used to construct among positive, negative, and interrogative sentences. 2. The Students Mastery of Grammar in Constructing Positive, Negative, and Interrogative Sentences after Being Given the Treatment of the Natural Ways of Teaching Grammar Techniques. The result of the students mastery of Grammar in constructing the positive, negative, and interrogative sentences was found out by calculating the mean score at the post-test that was 80.12 it shows that the students mastery of Grammar in constructing postitive, negative, and interrogative sentences got much more better after they got the four treatments related to activities that can improve their capability in constructing sentences in the forms of positive, negative, and interrogative sentences. And throught the result of pre-test and post-tests score, the students mastery of Grammar is different before and after getting the treatment of natural ways of teaching Grammar techniques. 3. The Significant difference in the Students Mastery of Grammar in Constructing Positive, Negative, and Interrogative Sentences. After Analysing the data, the writer found that there is significant difference in the students mastery of grammar in concstructing positive, negative, and

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interrogative sentences before and after the treatment was given. It was found that the mean of the post-test scores of constructing positive, negative, and interrogative sentences was higher than the mean of the pre-test scores. It means that using the natural ways of teaching Grammar techniques; puzzle in chain words, one word story game, literature in reading and writing story game, and TPR game was able to improve the students ability in mastering Grammar at the point of constructing positive, negative, and interrogative sentence that can be seen from the average of the pre-test score (72.19) and the post-test score (80.12). The result of the pre-test score was lower (72.19) than the post-test score (80.12).

H. Conclusions And Suggestions a. Conclusions Based on the data analysis which has already been done, the writer comes to the following conclusion: 1. The students mastery of Grammar in constructing positive, negative, and interrogative sentences improved much more better after they had got the four treatment in the natural ways of teaching Grammar techniques. It could be seen from the average of the post-test score that was 80.12 is higher than the mean of the pre-test score (72.19). 2. The significant difference of the students can be seen in the questionnaire sheet. The result of the questionnaire shows that most of the students said that the four treatments applied in the classroom practice gave great contribution in the improvement of students mastery of Grammar in constructing positive, negative, and interrogative sentences. Besides that, the games applied in each of the treatment can improve the students motivation in learning English Grammar. 3. Based on the field note during the research was being conducted, the students showed great entusiasm during the process of teaching learning. It can be concluded that the activities using the natural ways of teaching Grammar techniques made the students more active in participating in the classroom

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activities. On the other hand, those techniques are also be used to avoid boredome in the classroom. 4. The anwers of the statement of the problems in this study are that it is effective to use the natural ways of teaching Grammar techniques so as to improve the students mastery of Grammar in constructing positive, negative, and interrogative sentences and it is also useful to use the natural ways of teaching Grammar teachniques so as to overcome the students boredome in the classroom practice if the activities in the class were dominated by textbook activities. Besides that, the implementation of the natural ways of teaching Grammar techniques also improved the students Grammar achievement in constructing positive, negative, and interrogative sentences so that it can be applied more naturally later on in their real communication.

b. Suggestions In accordance with the result of the research, the writer gives some suggestions as follows: 1. To English Teachers The teacher should be active in creating the atmosphere that is able to challange the students so that they will be more active in participating all the activities in the English class. It means that by applying the four treatments of the techniques used to create activities that are natural for the students to learn the English Grammar can improve the students ability to construct sentences in the form of positive, negative, and interrogative sentences. English teachers should be able to create his/her own techniques and methods in teaching so as to raise his or her students interest in joining and participating the activities in the classroom practice. The last but not the least, an English teacher should be able to choose the media, techniques, and methods in teaching that are appropriate with the needs of the students, the education level and interest. 2. To the students

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The elementary school students should be able to motivate themselves so as to be more active in participating in all of the English class activities. 3. To the readers The writer hopes that there will be many readers who will get some inspiration and motivation to improve their mastery on Grammar so that it will make them able to communicate better in the society. Besides that, the writer also hopes that there will be many readers who are able to take the benefit after reading this researcha and conduct the other similar researches that make the use of some techniques that will be valuable to improve students or even childrens capability in using the English language for communication.

I. Bibliography Arikunto, Suharsimi. 2006. Prosedur Penelitian: Suatu Pendekatan Praktik. Jakarta: Rineka Cipta. Brumfit, Christopher, Moon, Jayne and Ray Tongue. Teaching English to Children: From Practice to Principle. London: Longman Group UK Limited, 1995. Halliwell, Susan. Teaching English in the primary Classroom. London: Longman Group UK Limited, 1994. Kohoutek, Rudolf. vod do vvojov psychologie. Brno: Institut mezioborovych studii,2005. Piaget, Jean. Psychologie inteligence. Praha: Statni pedagogicke nakladatelstvi, 1961. Piaget, Jean and Barbel Inhelderova. Psychologie dtte. Praha: Portal, 2000. Ur, Penny. A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Internet sources: Schutz, Ricardo. Vygotsky and Language Acquisition. 1 October 2011. < http://www.sk.com.br/sk-vygot.html > Boulic, Ronan. Enactive Interface. 2 October 2011. <http://vrlab.epfl.ch/Projects/enactive.html> Hollyman, David. Jerome Bruner. 2 October 2011. <http://au.geocities.com/vanunoo/Humannature/bruner.html> Budden, Jo. One Word Story. 2 October 2011. < http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/speaktry/snowball.shtml> Asher, James J. Total Physical Response. 2 October 2011. <http://www.tpr-world.com/what.html>

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