31

CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH FINDINGS

The results of the data analysis show that there are some constraints in the

English teaching and learning process at SD Muhammadiyah Girikerto. They are

constraints faced by the students, the teacher, and concerning the materials, time

and space.

A. Constraints Faced by the Teacher.

From the data analysis showed that there were three constraints faced by

the teacher. There were difficult students, low motivated students, and the class

size.

1. Difficult students.

Difficult students were students who always made the teacher feel

uncomfortable in the teaching and learning process. They were the kind of

students who always made the noise with their friend rather than paying attention

to the lesson. This situation could be found in grades four, five, and six. In one of

the field notes, the following quotation can be found:

… saat siswa membaca satu per satu suasana kelas sangat ramai yang
disebabkan oleh siswa yang belum mendapat giliran membaca ke depan,
mereka saling bercanda. Untuk mengkondisikan kelas sesekali guru
memukul meja dengan penghapus agar siswa tidak ramai.
(Field note I)

…when the students read the text one by one the class is going noisy
because of the students who haven’t had turn to read they are talking to
each others. To get the class under control the teacher hit the table with the
whiteboard’s eraser.
(Field note I)
 32

The field note described that the students were difficult to manage. They

ignored what the teacher asked them to do, and were noisy when the teacher asked

them to read. From the data analysis there were three types of difficult students:

a. Naughty students.

According to Hornby (1995: 562), naughty students means wrong, bad,

disobedient, and causing problem. From the interview with the English teacher, it

was known that the naughty students were difficult to be organized. She stated

that she found a difficulty in teaching English if there were students who did not

pay a full attention to the lesson. They become naughty and disturb their friends.

Here is the quotation:

“… kesulitannya kalau ada anak yang sudah merasa bisa perhatiannya

menjadi kurang, ia menjadi ribut dan mengganggu teman yang lain”.
(Interview III)

“…the difficulty if there is student that feel understand and then she/he did
not pay a full attention, he/she become noisy and disturb her/his friends”.
(Interview III)

The naughty students were found more among male students than among

female students. The observation showed that male students tended to be naughty

although some of the female were also naughty.

The naughty students also influence the teacher in teaching English in the

class. It is known that the naughty students are difficult to be managed.

b. Uncooperative students.

There were several kinds of students who were not cooperative with the

teacher. They ignored the teacher’s talk and did not pay full attention to the

teacher’s explanation. They were busy with their own activities. For example,
 33

when the teacher asked them to do exercises, students even drew pictures on their

book. They did not pay attention to what the teacher asked them to do. Here is one

of the quotations to show this situation:

…ada satu siswa yang sedang asik menggambar. Setelah peneliti

perhatikan, siswa tersebut sama sekali tidak memperhatikan apa yang
diperintahkan oleh guru. Saat giliran siswa yang belum mengerti latihan
mana yang harus dijawab guru mulai beranjak dari tempat duduknya….
(Field note IV)

…there is student drew the picture. The student ignored what the teacher
asked them to do. The teacher walks from her chair when the students do
not understand what he/she should do...
(Field note IV)

As Kauchack, Eggen, and Jacobson (1989: 183) pointed out that it was a

problem if there was a student who did not seem to want to cooperate. This kind

of problem could be frustrating in terms of the time and the energy that the teacher

had taken.

c. Noisy students.

From the observation and interview it was found that the male students

were often noisy. This condition made difficult for other students to concentrate

on the lesson well. Here is the quotation:

R: Kenapa di kelas suka ramai?

A: Main sama teman, kan ada yang mengejek itu membuat saya marah.
(Interview VII)

R: Why in the class always noisy?

A: I’m playing with my friend, and one of my friends embarrassed me,
that’s make me angry.
(Interview VII)

The noisy students’ behavior would influence the teaching and learning

process negatively. The teacher has to spend much time to manage them. For
 34

example, when the class becomes noisy the teacher tries to make the students stop

talking by beating an eraser on the table.

In the case of students who were always noisy in the classroom, the

researcher noted several reasons why they noisy. The first one was boredom. The

students were bored with the situation in the classroom. They were bored mostly

because they did not have good understanding of the lesson. Second, they wanted

to learn while playing. Third, they wanted to go out of the class. Here is the

transcript of the interview:

R: Kalau di kelas pelajarannya membosankan tidak?

S: Membosankan.
R: Membosankan kenapa?
S: Lama, Sulit.
(Interview VII)

R: Are the subject boring or not?

S: Boring.
R: Why?
S: Too long and difficult.
(Interview VII)

This is the transcript of another interview:

R: Belajar di kelas terus bosan tidak?

G: Iya, bosan.
R: mau belajar di luar kelas tidak?
G: Mau, bisa belajar sambil main.
(Interview VII)

R: Do you feel bore when learn English only in the class?

G: Yes. I do.
R: Do you want to learn in the outside of class?
G: Yes, because I can learn while playing.
(Interview VII)
 35

2. Low motivated students.

From the interview, it was revealed that students found difficulties with

spelling. They became lazy to study English because they did not like it. Here is

the quotation:

R: Yang tidak suka materi apa?

E: Membaca.
R: Kenapa:
E: Soalnya tulisan dan bacaannya beda.
(Interview VI)

R: What kind of material you don’t’ like?

E: Reading.
R: Why?
E: It’s because the spelling and the pronunciation are different.
(Interview VI)

The transcript above indicated one of the constraints that the students face.

However, students reported that they had tried to solve the problem. They

memorized, repeated, and learned the lesson. Here is the quotation to show this

situation:

R: Fatonah, dulu kan menemukan kesulitan dalam mengartikan, untuk

mengatasinya itu bagaimana?
F: Belajar, mengingat-ingat, dan sering dilakukan berulang-ulang.
(Interview VI)

R: Fatonah. You said that you face difficulty in translate, and what did you
do then?
F: Studying, remembering, and repeating it.
(Interview VI)

Some of them also stated that learning English was difficult. It made them

lazy to read the lesson. Here is the quotation:

R: Kalau disuruh membaca ke depan keberatan tidak?

A: Keberatan.
R: Kenapa?
A: Karena sulit.
 36

(Interview VII)

R: Do you feel lazy when the teacher asks you to read in front of the class?
A: Yes.
R: Why?
A: It’s difficult.
(Interview VII)

One of the students stated that he actually realized that he had difficulties

in English, but he did not want to study. At home he did not study either. They

found difficulty to do English homework. They prefer doing other homework to

the English homework. This is one of the transcripts of the interview:

R: Aziz, pernah tidak mengerjakan PR?

Z: Pernah karena ada PR lain.
R: Kenapa Bahasa Inggris tidak dikerjakan.
A: Susah.
(Interview VIII)

R: Aziz, have you ever not doing your homework?

Z: Yes, because there are other homework.
R: Why you not doing the English homework?
A: It’s difficult.
(Interview VIII)

Another student reported:

R: Suka belajar Bahasa Inggris?

B: Suka.
R: Kesulitannya apa?
B: Baca sama mengartikan.
R: Kalau gurunya waktu mengajar pakai Bahasa Inggris tidak?
B: Kadang-kadang pakai, kadang-kadang tidak.
R: Kalau pakai ngerti tidak?
B: Nggak.
(Interview VIII)

R: Do you like learn English?

B: Yes, I do.
R: What is the difficulty?
B: Reading and translating.
R: Does the teacher use English when teaching?
 37

B: Sometimes.
R: Do you understand what your teacher saying?
B: No, I don’t.
(Interview VIII)

The low motivation to learn also influences learners in getting good

achievement. For example, the average of English scores for each student who

had low motivation in learning English was six or seven.

The teacher faced difficulties in classes with different needs of learning.

On the other hand, the students who have good achievements in learning English

want to go to the next lesson. On the other hand, there are some students who find

difficulties in learning English. It causes the differences of motivation.

3. The Class Size.

As mentioned before, the average number of students in a classroom was

30 students, while the size of each classroom was 6X7 metres. The class size was

too narrow for the students to move (Field note I, II, III). Ideally the class size in a

classroom was up to 25 students.

The class size became one of constraints for the teacher. It made hard for

the teacher to organize the class activities. As a result, the teaching and learning

process became inefficient.

The teacher reported that the class size really influenced how he would

organize the class. It influenced the choice of the activity and how organized it.

He states:

R: Apakah sistem belajarnya berkelompok?

G: Kami selama ini klasikal untuk dibuat berkelompok tidak mungkin,
karena kelasnya penuh dan waktunya hanya habis untuk ramai, jadi
 38

nggak mungkin dibuat kelompok

(Interview III)

R: Is the type of learning process in a group?

G: We use classical because if we make group it will be impossible,
the class is full and the time will not be efficient.
(Interview III)

In this conversation the teacher pointed out that giving activities such as

games or group works would only make students noisy. In the same way, using

games as a technique would make it difficult for the teacher to control the class.

The teacher also explains why the teaching and learning process never

takes place outside the classroom.

R: Apakah pelajaran juga dilakukan di luar kelas?

G: Kami di dalam kelas karena anaknya banyak, paling sering
duduk. tetapi kami sering menyesuaikan materi kalau ada
conversation maju, reading maju, writing maju, kalau conversation
berdua, ya berdua
maju, kalau bertiga, ya bertiga maju, disesuaikan dengan materi
hari itu.
R: Waktu ada materi mengenal benda atau lingkungan tidak dibawa
keluar?
G: Mengenai benda cukup kami tunjukkan kepada yang
bersangkutan,
ya menunjukkan saja atau mencontohkan benda yang bersangkutan
apa yang ada di kelas, karena kondisi tadi memang tidak cukup
mendu-
kung untuk dibawa ke luar kelas. Anak-anak lepas dan menganggu
kelas lain.
(Interview III)

R: Is the teaching and learning process also in the outside of the class?
G: We only in the class because there are so many students, just sit in the
on the chair, but we always depend on the materials, if there is a
conversation the students read the conversation in front of the class,
write in the whiteboard, the activities are in group, depend on the
materials.
R: Are the students learn in the outside of class when there is a materials
about environment?
G: About the object we just show to the students. Just show and give the
examples, it is because the condition is not support. The students noisy
 39

and disturb the other class.

(Interview III)

So, she cited two reasons for not taking the students outside the classroom.

First, she was afraid that students would go wild. Second, she was afraid that

students would disturb other classes.

B. Constraints Faced by the Students.

From the collected data, there are two constraints in the English teaching

and learning process faced by the students. They are the teacher’s method and the

learners’ socioeconomic background.

1. The teacher’s method.

The constraints of the teacher’s method are divided into four parts. They

are the teacher’s position, lack of variation, lack of media, and the teacher’s

English.

a. The teacher’s position.

In the teaching and learning process, seating arrangement of the students is

never changed. The teacher is seated in front of the class. The students who sit in

front row can easily talk to the teacher when they face difficulty. However, the

students who sit at the back row find difficulties in asking the exercises because

they have to walk forward to talk to the teacher.

In several observations, the researcher noted that the teacher’s activities in

the teaching process were often done in front of the classroom whether to explain

the lesson or to discuss the exercise. This is the transcript of the field note:

Guru meminta siswa untuk menuliskan percakapan dan mengartikannya

 40

ke dalam bahasa Indonesia. Guru duduk di kursinya untuk memeriksa PR

siswa, guru sibuk dengan kegiatannya sendiri dan tidak memperhatikan
apa yang dikerjakan oleh siswa. Saat siswa menemui kesulitan, siswa
yang duduk di barisan depan dengan mudahnya bertanya kepada guru,
akan tetapi siswa yang duduk di barisan belakang harus berjalan
menghampiri guru. Siswa yang duduk di barisan belakang menjadi
merasa malas untuk berjalan ke depan, akhirnya siswa hanya bercanda
dengan teman-temannya yang sama-sama duduk di belakang. Hal tersebut
menyebabkan suasana kelas menjadi ramai.
(Field note I)

The teacher asked the students to write the dialogue and translate it into
Indonesia. The teacher checked the students’ homework and didn’t pay
attention to students’ activity. The students who sit in front row can easily
ask the teacher about their difficulties, however, the students who sit in
back row just talking and playing because they lazy to ask the teacher who
sit in front the class. This caused the class noisy.
(Field note I)

Some students especially those who sit in the middle to the back row often

complain about this problem. When they have to ask questions they have to shout.

As a result, the students become lazy to ask questions and the class becomes

noisy.

b. Lack of varieties.

The observations showed that the English teacher always used drill

method in teaching English. Here is the quotation from interviews with some

students:

R: Suka ada permainan tidak?

S: Tidak.
(Interview VII)

R: Is there any games or not?

S: No.
(Interview VII)

Another student stated:

 41

R: Kalau mengajar gurunya suka menggunakan gambar?

L: Nggak.
R: Kalau memakai gambar suka?
L: Kadang-kadang suka, kadang-kadang tidak.
(Interview VIII)

R: Does the teacher use English when teaching?

L: No.
R: Do you like when teacher use pictures to teach?
L: Sometimes.
(Interview VIII)

Another student said that in the English teaching and learning process the

teacher always asked the students to translate the words. It was difficult for them

to find the meaning of the word. There is the quotation:

R: Solichah sulitnya di mana?

S: Menterjemahkan.
R: Apa setiap pelajaran selalu menterjemahkan?
S: Iya.
(Interview VII)

R: Solichah, where is the difficulty?

S:Ttranslating.
R: Is every teaching process always translating?
S: Yes.
(Interview VII)

Another student reported:

R: Kalau di kelas pelajarannya membosankan tidak?

S: Membosankan.
R: Membosankan kenapa?
S: Lama, Sulit.
R: Gurunya selalu duduk di depan saja ya?
S: Agak jalan-jalan.
R: Itu lamanya di mana?
S: Susah nyari di kamusnya itu.
(Interview VII)

R: Is the subject boring or not?

S: Boring.
R: Why?
 42

S: Too long and difficult.

R: Does the teacher always sit in front of the class?
S: Sometimes she walks.
R: Why it’s too long?
S: I get the difficulty to find the meaning in dictionary.
(Interview VII)
From another interview, some students reported that they felt bored with

the activities in the classroom. They wanted outdoor activities. Here is the

quotation:

R: Pernah belajar Bahasa Inggris di luar kelas?

G: Belum.
R: Kepingin?
G: Pingin.
R: Belajar di kelas terus bosan tidak?
G: Bosan, sumpek.
R: Mau belajar di luar kelas tidak?
G: Mau, bisa belajar sambil main.
(Interview VII)

R: Have you learnt English outside of class?

G: Not yet.
R: Do you want it?
G: Yes, I want.
R: Do you feel bore when learn English only in the class?
G: Yes, I do.
R: Do you want to learn outside of class?
G: Yes, because can learn while playing.
(Interview VII)

Another student said that the teacher never assigned group work. The

students wanted group work in order that they could ask each other when they

found difficulties. Here is the quotation:

R: Waktu belajar duduknya biasa berkelompok tidak?

L: Tidak, berbaris.
(Interview VIII)

R: When learning you sit in group or not?

L: No, in a line.
(Interview VIII)
 43

Another student reported:

R: Kalau belajar Bahasa Inggris senangnya bagaimana?

T: Berkelompok.
R: Kenapa?
T: Kan bisa tanya sama teman.
(Interview VIII)

R: What kind of learning type do you like?

T: In a group.
R: Why?
T: I can ask to my friend.
(Interview VIII)

The situation above is in contrast with Ytreberg’s principle “variety in the

classroom” in teaching English to children (Scoot and Ytreberg, 1994: 5). This

principle is necessary in order that the students would not get bored in learning

English. The teacher should create interesting activities for the children in the

classroom. The teaching without any variety of activities makes the students not

serious in learning.

c. Lack of media.

From the interview with the students, it was revealed that the students

were not happy with the teacher’s media. It made the students bored and

uninterested in the lesson. Here is the quotation:

R: Kalau mengajar gurunya suka menggunakan gambar?

L: Nggak.
R: Kalau memakai gambar suka?
L: Kadang-kadang suka, kadang-kadang tidak.
(Interview VIII)

R: Does the teacher use English when teaching?

L: No.
R: Do you like when teacher use pictures to teach?
L: Sometimes.
(Interview VIII)
 44

The students also said that the teacher never used the picture and tape in

the English teaching and learning process. There is the quotation:

R: Guru pernah menggunakan tape dan siswa mendengarkan tidak?

G: Belum.
R: Gambar, pernah?
G: Belum.
(Interview VII)

R: Does the teacher ever use tape and the students listen it?
G: not yet.
R: How about pictures?
G: Not yet.
(Interview VII)

This condition is contrast with the Hudelson’s view (1994: 256) that

children in the primary or elementary school were usually in the concrete

operational stage of cognitive development. It was still hard for them to

understand abstract things. Children would easily understand the material if the

teacher gives example or shows pictures and real objects uses gestures, etc.

d. The teacher’s English.

The teacher’s English in the English class is become a problem. First of

all, she spoke English at the beginning and at the end of the lesson. Some students

reported that the teacher did not use English continually and even in some

meetings she never used English. The students also stated that when the teacher

used English in the classroom they did not understand what the teacher said.

Besides, the teacher never translated the English word that she used in the class.

Here is the quotation:

R: Saat guru mengajar menggunakan Bahasa Inggris tidak?

A: Kadang-kadang pakai kadang-kadang tidak.
R: Kalau menggunakan Bahasa Inggris mengerti tidak?
A: Nggak.
 45

R: Saat menggunakannya suka diartikan tidak?

A: Tidak.
(Interview VIII)

R: Does the teacher use English when teaching?

A: Sometimes.
R: Do you understand what your teacher saying?
A: No, I don’t.
R: When use English they translate it or not?
A: No.
(Interview VIII)

2. The learners’ socioeconomic background.

The data showed that most of the students did not get much attention from

their parents. From an interview with the students, it was revealed that most of

them did not get much attention from their parents. For example, their parents did

not remind them to do their homework or study at home. There is the quotation:

R: Kalau ada PR pernah tidak mengerjakan?

A: Pernah.
(Interview VII)

R: Have you ever not doing your homework?

A: Yes, I have.
(Interview VII)

Another student stated that:

R: Apa orang tua nggak Bantu?

A: Nggak.
(Interview III)

R: Do your parent help you?

A: No.
(Interview III)

Similarly, when their children wanted to join an English course, they did

not give a promise. Their reason was that they had no much money. The students
 46

themselves said that the cost of the course was high. There is the quotation:

R: Mau ikut kursus?

Y&M: Belum.
R: Kenapa?
Y: Masih kecil.
M: Bayarnya mahal.
(Interview IV)

R: Do you want to joint in courses?

Y&M: No.
R: Why?
Y: I’m too young.
M: It’s expensive.
(Interview IV)

Another student reported:

R: Pernah minta untuk ikut kursus?

A: Pernah.
R: Tanggapan orang tua bagaimana?
A: Tidak boleh.
R: Kenapa?
A: Tidak ada uang.
(Interview VI)

R: Have you ever askedto your parents to follow courses?

A: Yes.
R: What did they say?
A: They said no.
R: Why?
A: There’s no money.
(Interview VI)

C. Constraints Concerning the Materials.

1. Constraints concerning the materials faced by the teacher.

In the English teaching and learning process the teacher and students used

the package books as the only source of material, (field note I, II, II). According to

the English teacher, although the materials in the books were very simple the

students could not do the exercises. Sometimes she chooses the material that the
 47

students could easily understand, but the students did not want it.

“…anak sering kali mengeluh, saya terangkan pada anak dengan

sabar untuk materi tertentu supaya jelas, yang jadi kendala itu saya
pilihkan sering kali mereka nggak mau”.
(Interview III)

“…the students sometimes complain, I explained the material to the

students patiently, but they didn’t like the material I had chosen”.
(Interview III)

The use of media in the English teaching and learning process was limited

to the pictures in the package books. The English teacher reported that the use of

media depended on the situation and condition.

R: Apakah media digunakan saat mengajar?

G: Iya, sesekali.
R: Media apa yang pernah Ibu gunakan saat mengajar?
G: Selama ini kami menyesuaikan situasi dan kondisi, kami pernah
menggunakan gambar, permainan, kaset tidak pernah karena waktu
sangat ter batas sekali.
(Interview III)

R: Do you use any media to teach?

G: Sometimes.
R: What kinds of media do you use?
G: I have ever used pictures, games, never used cassette because the time
is limited
(Interview III)

From this report, it seems obvious that the teacher very rarely uses

teaching media. She reported that she never used audio tape in the English

teaching and learning process.

The teacher reported that she found difficulties to explain the lesson to the

students who were difficult to understand the lesson well.

R: Materi apa yang sulit diajarkan pada anak-anak?

G: Untuk anak SD kan baru tahap pengenalan, dalam arti kami mencoba
menyampaikan materi sesuai dengan kemampuan anak-anak, untuk
itu tiap anak kecil misalnyaTime kami menjelaskannya begitu susah,
 48

nggak, tidak bisa, sehingga untuk bisa pas sesuai dengan yang
diharapkan anak, jadi susahnya ya itu
R: Mengenai strukturnya bagaimana?
G: Struktur untuk anak SD memang belum begitu penting, jadi kami
hanya memberikan yang dasar-dasar saja. Untuk sementara mulai
kelas V namun belum mulai pokok, memang saran nya untuk anak
SD malah disarankan tidak usah struktur, tapi dalam buku paket
ada, tapi saya jelaskan secara sederhana
(Interview III)

R: What kinds of material that difficult to teach?

G: For the elementary students it’s an introductory process, we try to
deliver the materials depend on the students’ availability, for example
it’s difficult to explain about the time to young learners, but we try to
explain it.
R: How about the grammar?
G: The grammar for the elementary students is not important, we just
teach the basic of grammar. The grammar is teach from class V, I
explained it in the simple way.
(Interview III)

It is known that most students hard to understand the lesson. It causes the

teacher to face difficulties in explaining the lesson. It made her try to find the

simplest way in explaining the lesson to the students.

2. Constraints concerning the material faced by the students.

The data analysis shows that there are two sources of constraints

concerning the lesson material. They are spelling and examination.

a. Spelling.

Some students reported that they have difficulties in memorizing,

pronouncing, and writing words. According to them, one of the causes was that

the spelling of English was different from Indonesian. In English, most word are

pronounced and spelled differently. It made students confused. As a result, when

 49

they wrote they often misspelled words. There is the quotation:

R: Yang tidak suka materi apa?

E: Membaca.
R: Kenapa?
E: Soalnya tulisan dan bacaannya beda.
(Interview VI)

R: What kind of material you don’t like?

E: Reading.
R: Why?
E: It’s because the spelling and the pronunciation are different.
(Interview VI)

Another student stated:

R: Waktu pelajaran kemarin kan gurunya sudah mengartikan katanya,

kenapa mengartikannya kembali tidak bisa?
S: Sudah nggak ingat.
(Interview VII)

R: Yesterday your teacher translated the meaning of the words, but why
you can’t translate it?
S: I don’t remember it anymore.
(Interview VII)

In the same way, the class teacher said that in learning English the students

often complained about spelling and pronouncing. There is the quotation:

R: Mudah tidak anak-anak menangkap pelajaran?

G: Pertama sulit, apalagi saat mengucapkannya.
(Interview II)

R: Are the students easy to understand the material?

G: It’s difficult in the first time, especially in pronunciation.
(Interview II)

On spelling problem Betts and Howel (1984: 212) said that sometimes

errors which are called spelling errors are really problems in word choice. The

students confused with the meaning of the words and the correct form. They often

do misspelling in writing. It is possible that children’s errors in English spelling

 50

arose from these sources. Some are due to defects within the children, some to the

difficulties inherent in English words, and some to the appropriate methods in

teaching. In relation to the method, the teacher should pay attention to the

methods that any suitable with the characteristics of the students.

b. Examination.

Most of the students complain about their difficulties in doing the

examination, which is developed by the teacher. The data showed that there was a

discrepancy between the examination and the material given. Some of the

materials had not been taught yet which made it difficult for the students to

answer. Here is the quotation:

R: Kalau ulangan bisa?

A: Ada yang susah ada yang tidak.
R: Susahnya di mana?
A: Itu kalau ada soal yang belum diajarkan.
(Interview VIII)

R: Do you can past the exam?

A: Some of them difficult.
R: Where is the difficulty?
A: When a new material appear on exam.
(Interview VIII)

Vocabulary is always the main constraint for the students, especially when

they are facing the examination. Students reported that they could answer the

questions because they did not know the meaning of the words; they did not know

how to write them. Here is the quotation:

R: Waktu ulangan susah tidak?

T: Agak susah.
R: Susahnya di mana?
T: Waktu nggak bisa mengartikan.
(Interview VIII)
 51

R: Is the exam difficult?

T: Little bit.
R: Where is the difficulty?
T: When I can’t translate the words.
(Interview VIII)

Another student reported:

R: Kesulitannya apa waktu ulangan?

B: Mencari pasangan kata dan mengartikan.
(Interview VIII)

R: What is the difficulty you found in examination?

B: Find the words to its meaning.
(Interview VIII)

It was caused by the materials, which had not been taught because of

limited time allocation. The examination questions were also too difficult for the

students. There was lack of vocabulary, and lack of illustration that could guide

the children to think.

D. Constraints Concerning the Time and Space.

The lack of time can be a constraint in the teaching and learning process. It

often happens because of lack of awareness and disregard for it. From the

observation it was found that there were differences in the time allocation in the

English lesson. The range was from 35 minutes up to 70 minutes (Field note I, II,

III, IV, V, VI).

The time allocation for English had to have tolerances to the other lesson.

For this reason, it was often scarified. The English teacher said:

“…bahasa Inggris di SD merupakan pelajaran yang sifatnya minor,

sehingga kami menyadari betul kalau ada benturan dengan pelajaran
lain, sering kali bahasa Inggris dikalahkan…“
(Interview III)
 52

“… in elementary school English is a minor subject, we realized that there

is constraint with another subject, sometimes English is not important to
teach…”
(Interview III)

In another interview, the English teacher said that in the limited time she

could not make variations in teaching such as group work. Here is the data:

. . . untuk dibuat berkelompok tidak mungkin karena kelasnya penuh dan

waktunya hanya habis untuk ramai . . .
(Interview III)

Concerning time conctraints, Kauchack, Eggen, and Jacobson (1989: 66)

said that the lack of time became constraints in the teaching and learning process.

It often happens because of lack of awareness and disregarded for it. The student

does not fully appreciate time.

Similarly, the teacher also pointed out that the students could not

concentrate on learning when the English lesson was at the end of the school or in

the afternoon. Here is the data:

R: Bagaimana perbedaan respon siswa saat mengajar di pagi dan siang

hari?
G: Perbedaannya sangat mencolok, kalau pagi anak masih segar potensial,
tapi kalau siang anak sudah merasa lelah sehingga perhatiannya sudah
berkurang.
(Interview III)

From the data above, the students’ focus is not on the lesson. They are

very tired and lost their attention. When it was confirmed to the students, they said

that in the afternoon they are tired and hungry, and it made them lost their

attention. Here is the data:

R: Kenapa tadi di kelas ramai dan tidak memperhatikan guru?

S: Kalau siang-siang gini dah capek, laper.
 53

(Interview VII)
In relation to classroom environment, the classroom was untidy and dirty.

It was uncomfortable for the teaching and learning process (field note I). The

space of the classroom was not conducive for playing a game and there was no

space to modify the seating arrangement because the desks and chairs were

difficult to move (Field note I, II, III).

This problem is in the line with Kauchack, Eggen, and Jacobson (1989:

155) said that the room, which is not arranged well, can disrupt both management

and achievement. The classroom that is not conducive for learning could become

a constraint in the teaching and learning process.