Getting Foreign Language Classroom with Nature Research Activity and Technology

by diah fakhmawati

Usually students’ learning language takes place at classroom or language laboratory. Have you
ever imagined what they do when they are learning language outside classroom and working
with plants or tree? They are learning to write a report of some plants. The students work
collaboratively with their peers and some sources (writers through books, blogs, websites, and
biology teachers). They also draw their natural science or biology knowledge on language
product in form of report writing. This is applicable activity for them as student. They know
something and they share what they know. Reporting something is common task for scholar.
When they have studied of course, they should be able to elucidate what they know. While
learning writing engaging natural environment would give them opportunity to gather language
aptitude and natural science into a great learning outcome

What the students would benefit from this kind of learning? Let’s say the students could deepen
their writing ability and nature knowledge. Is that all? Of course not. First, the students will work
collaboratively. They can learn to share to others, to appreciate others, and collaborate in
completing the task. Second, the students would be able to assemble their nature knowledge into
language aptitude. They could put nature information they know in words and reversely they
could write a report of factual information about nature. Thirdly, the students will be able to do a
research due to they would have done observation and informative research. Later they would be
able to do same activity when they get to do a real research. In other words, this learning activity
is scaffolding for them to construct their knowledge composing a factual information of plants.
In addition, in this activity the students also develop their critical thinking and reading skills.
Finally, the students also engage to computer to do researching something through internet,
writing though word processor and publishing it into Sway. The students learn how to use search
engine, how to evaluate appropriate websites and decide which information they want. In
addition, they also learn how to compose a writing using word processor, how to edit, how to add
picture and how to design a good report in a good Sway.

Then what are they doing in this learning activity? A learning activities series constitute
planning, observing, researching, drafting, consulting and getting feedback and finishing.
  In planning stage, the students plan what they will do to accomplish the task. They
deliver the member’s job description. They have to work collaboratively. It means that
each student in group has different job. For example, some students will give observation
result some of them record it in notes. The collaboration is continued in every stage.
 Observing stage gives a chance to the students to notice what the plant looks like, the
plant structure including the characteristics of the stem, leaves, flowers and the fruit.
They have to take a good look, to taste, and to feel the texture. This activity will lead
them to give an understanding how to reveal the facts of the plant and getting factual
information of plants elements.
 On the researching stage, the students try to find out the unknown information of the rest
of information they do not get in the observation, i.e. the benefits, plant classification, etc.
The students employ internet to overcome the problems. In this activity, the students
develop their critical thinking and reading skills. They must be able to choose which
suitable information from appropriate websites/blogs. They develop their reading skill
and they have to be able to decide which information they need.

 After that, the students draft their result of collaborative works in writing form. They
write their thoughts in composition. They study to compose them in report writing text
structure and to develop their vocabularies. They discuss it in groups what the things to
write in the composition.

 While in consulting and getting feedback stage, the students have good opportunity to
learn and discuss what they have done and learnt with the teacher. They will get some
feedbacks over their learning outcome. They also will make up their weakness in writing.
The teacher’s feedback will support and motivate them to improve their writing ability.

 Last, the students complete their works based on the teacher’s feedback and finish it by
publishing it into Sway. Here they learn something new about presenting language
product in other form presentation which is Sway. They learn about designing, lay-outing
and inserting audio/video/image in a Sway.

The learning outcome of these activities of course the students have learnt how to write a report,
how to do a research, how to work collaboratively, and how to develop critical thinking in
reading sources from internet and to work through computer.