Skiripsi Bahasa Inggris Uim Pamekasan 2013 Chapter 3

SKRIPSI BAHASA INGGRIS UIM 2013 PAMEKASAN | Writer By KISWATI NINGSIH 1

Improving Students Listening Skill by Using

Songs (An Action Research at the Tenth Grade

Students of MA Al-Abror Berruh 2013


CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of Study

Inspired from some researches about teaching and learning English as a

second and foreign language, especially in listening skill, there are some obstacles

faced by students and teachers, are such as using unsuitable methods by the

teachers and lack of motivation from the students. Problem existing in students

poor mastery of English listening skill is most of they have very short attention

span and lack of motivation. The teachers have to find the suitable methods to the

students in order to make them interest in learning English. So, the goal of

teaching listening is hoped can be reached. As we know we can speak only if we

understand what is said. In fact, people cannot talk if they cannot hear other

peoples talk. That simply means there is not enough language input and there is

no output. No deaf person can speak clearly because he cannot hear clearly.

Furthermore, listening skill is one of the basics of languages learning and

acquiring them is very important in language learning. Moreover, with the

development of high technology, we more and more rely on our ears to get

information. There is no doubt that the speed of getting information is faster

through listening than reading. Thus, it is crucial to improve the level of listening

comprehension of the students.

As a foreign language, English has four skills (reading, listening, writing,

and speaking) that have to be mastered by the students. From these skills,

listening is a skill that felt difficult to be mastered, because it needs more attention


and concentration to comprehend the sounds (listening material).It can be said that

listening is not a passive skill; the process of listening is a complex process in

which many things happen simultaneously inside the mind. Besides being

complex, listening is far more difficult than many people can imagine.

There are some reasons why listening comprehension feels difficult to be

mastered by the students. First, the students begin to learn English by the way of

reading, instead of listening. In fact, reading is different from listening, like

writing is different from speech. The biggest difference is that speech consists of

sounds. Listeners must know the sound system; otherwise, they cannot understand

speech. Moreover, writing uses different language. Written English consists of

neat, correct sentences, while speech does not.

Second, the materials of listening comprehension are usually read by

English speaking people. There are different accents, difficult idioms and

unfamiliar language chunks in their speaking. This is another difficulty. For the

students, their English teachers are usually local people. So the students may not

be used to the accents of the foreign people. It is hard for them to understand

native speakers.

Third, when English-speaking people speak English, they usually speak at

a normal speed. It is too fast for the students to follow. When listening, the

students cannot choose a comfortable listening speed; they have to keep pace with

the speakers thinking process. So sometimes they have not even got the meaning

of the first sentence, before the second sentence has already passed. Their results

show that they have missed the whole passage.


Fourth, the contents of the tape are not always familiar with the students.

Some of them are not relevant to the students. The students may lack the

background knowledge about foreign countries and cultures. So sometimes they

cannot understand the material or they may misunderstand the meaning of it.

Based on observation that researcher done it has found some difficulties

for the students to understand English through listening. The problems of students

are different. In junior high schools, there are no language labs to train their

listening skills. Listening activities are not common for the students. When they

come to senior high school, they cannot adjust their study habits very quickly.

They still rely on their eyes instead of their ears to learn English.

The students usually feel confused when they listen to some new text.

Over 50% of the students could not understand the meaning of the material after

playing the tape for the first time. Expecting them to understand the material, the

teacher often gives them some instructions and to play the tape again, at least

three times. Still, at least 20% of students might not understand it. Then, the

teacher sometimes has to stop the tape to explain the difficult or unfamiliar words

and occasionally explain material sentence by sentence through the whole text.

So, this is a serious problem because some students cannot understand the whole

text after listening to it three times in class. Furthermore, the students might

gradually lose their self-confidence. They are afraid to go to the lab to listen to

English again. When they are face to face with listening material, they have little

confidence in their listening comprehension abilities. Therefore, they may not

understand them because they have to battle the psychological suggestion that

they could not understand spoken English.


The teachers are difficult to find the suitable method or technique to

stimulate students in learning listening. If a teacher always uses the same

technique, they may be able to predictable and, perhaps, less interesting for their

students. The students have poor mastery of English listening skill because they

have lack of. The stimulate is much needed in learning listening, because

sometimes students have to hear the fast sounds or words more than one to be

understood. Without high stimulate, they will be bored and can stop learning, and

the goal of education cannot be reached. It will be dangerous if there is no effort

to reduce the problem.

In order to overcome above problems, it is better to use a suitable method

in teaching listening. We can use some activities that can stimulate the students to

their listening skill. The activities such as watching a film, listen to news report,

and listen to English songs. In watching a film, we can cover the subtitle with a

piece of paper for a few minutes and try to predict what is going to happen. In

listen to news report, we can choose the topic that interests us such as about sport,

fashion, or education. When listening, we can write the vocabulary that appear on

the particular topic. In listening English songs, we can listen to the pronunciation

of words and sing along with the songs.

Listening English song is more interesting than the other activities. English

songs are a great language package that bundles culture, vocabulary, listening,

grammar and a host of other language skills in just a few rhymes. Songs can also

provide a relaxed lesson on a hot boring day. It can also form the basis for many

lessons. It can be used for a wide variety of English for foreign language learning

and teaching activities. It can start discussions on a topic or even become the


centre of debate (Futonge, 2005). Using songs in the classroom is a great way to

live up listening activities. It can be added a couple of steps that have been used

with success to the process though to make the listening activities more effective.

Therefore, the researcher tries to reduce the problems of the students listening

comprehension and intends to find out what can be done to help them improve

their listening skill. So, in this research the researcher would like to use songs to

improve the tenth Grade students listening skill at Madrasah Aliyah (MA) Al-

Abror Berruh Pamekasan.

1.2 The Statements of Problems

Related to the background of the study above, the writer attempts to give

appropriate answers of these problem as follow:

1. What the use of english song in improving students listening skill at the tenth

grade of MA Al-Abror Berruh Pamekasan?

1.3 The Objectives of the Study

The objective of this research was to find out whether using songs can

improve the tenth grade students listening skill at Madrasah Aliyah (MA) Al-

Abror Berruh Pamekasan.

1.4 The Significance of Study

By conducting this research the writer greatly expects that the finding will

be useful for:

1.4.1 The English Teacher

1. It can be reference in improving the quality of English Teaching and

Learning process in formal education.


2. It can be good alternative suggestion to the teacher how they teach english

well.

3. It can support the teacher in the teacher in making some good strategies for

their teaching english process.

1.4.2 The Students

1. This research can give motivation effeciently to the student.

2. This research tries to increase their spirit in the learning english

3. This research can give axperiences for students in improving their skill

1.4.3 The Other Researcher

1. This study will give some specific information connected to learners

listening.

2. Reference for further research

1.5 The Scope and Limitation of Study

There were some activities that can improve students listening skill, such

as listen to films, listen to news reports, and listen to English songs. In this study,

the problem was limited on improving the first class students listening skill by

using songs at Madrasah Aliyah (MA) Al-Abror Berruh Pamekasan

1.6 Definition of Key Term

To avoid misunderstanding from the readers it needs explaining about the

term used in this peper. The terms are:

1.6.1 Improving is the act of enhancing or making better in terms of quality,

value or usefulness. This can be by making ideas, objects or processes

more desirable by adding or removing components. The term can be also


be applied to people as well, via method such as performance reviews

which are meant to try and improving an employee in some manner.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/improve.html

1.6.2 Technigue is a systematic procedure, formula, or routine by which a task is

accomplished.http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/technique.ht

ml


CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Listening Skill

In Indonesia, English as a foreign language has been learned at school, from

elementary school until senior high school. It has four skills that have to be

mastered by students. These skills are reading, listening, writing, and speaking.

From these skills, listening is a skill that felt difficult to be mastered, because it

needs more attention and concentration to comprehend the sounds (listening

material

From the verse above, it can be concluded that hearing carefully (listening)

is a process to start mind. Equally, by listening we can learn and understand many

lessons.

2.1.1 Definition of Listening Skill

As defined by oxford (1993: 206), listening is a complex problem solving

skill and it is more than just perception ofthe sounds. Listening includes

comprehension of meaning words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and connected

discourse. Furthermore, according to Bulletin in Saricoban (1999), listening is one

of the fundamental language skills. It is a medium through which children, young

people and adults gain a large portion of their information, their understanding of

the world and of human affairs, their ideals, sense of values, and their

appreciation.

Rivers in Hasyuni (2006: 8) says that listening is a creative skill. It means

we comprehend the sound falling on our ears, and take the raw material of words,


arrangements of words, and the rise and fall the voice, and from this material we

creative a significance. Russel and Russel in Hasyuni (2006:8) also say that

listening skill is listening with comprehension, attention and appreciation. Then,

listening activity needs integrating skill of language, such as pronunciation,

vocabulary mastery, writing, speaking, and reading.

Listening skill can be meant as ability to pay attention or to hear something.

But, listening is not same as hearing. Hearing is essentially an automatic, passive

activity. It is possible to hear sounds without consciously engaging in the process.

While, in listening the brain doesnt automatically translate the words into the

message they are conveying. That is essentially what listening is determining the

meaning and the message of the sounds or words. It is active process that involves

much more than assigning labels to sounds or words. As mentioned in Mee

(1990), listening is a complex process in which many things happen

simultaneously inside the mind. Besides being complex, listening is far more

difficult than many people can imagine.

So, we can say that listening is the ability to identify and understand what

others are saying. It is also a complex activity, and we can help students

comprehend what they hear by activating their prior knowledge. Furthermore, it

will consider another way teachers can help ease the difficulty of listening by

training students in different types of listening.

2.1.2 Difficulties in Listening Skill

Listening is usually a hard skill to master by the students. The first reason is

that the students do not have the text in front of them to look at if they do not

understand the information. A second reason is the accent and intonation of the


native English speaker. In addition, each country has dialects and regional accents

which can confuse the listener. All of these make listening learning a major

challenge and it is no surprise that the students can find it difficult.

Ur (1996: 111), says that there are some students difficulties in learning

listening: trouble with sounds, have to understand every word, cant understand

fast and natural native speech, need to hear things more than once, find it difficult

to keep up, and get tired.

The other problem in learning listening is the students have no control over

the speed of what they are hearing and they cannot go back or rewind to listen

again. Although, in class the listening materials are recorded and can be played

again or students to listen again, it is usually under the control. Also, because the

speed at which native speakers usually speak, students feel that the teacher asks

the students to listen to the overall message and forget about what they could not

catch, which probably means what they did not understand, the teacher has no

idea that sometimes what they do not really understand can add up to 75% of what

is heard (Rixon, 1986: 37)

Moreover, Underwood (1989: 17) mentions some other kinds of difficulties

that are directly related to the students themselves. One of the problems which the

students have established learning habits in the sense that they were encouraged to

understand everything by listening carefully to teachers who probably speak

slowly and clearly. Hence, when they fail to understand every word while

listening, they stop listening and lose the thread, which seems to be the reason for

state of panic and worrying they usually show before and during listening.


In relation to those problems, we cannot deny that students motivation

plays important role in learning listening. As mentioned in Brown (2006: 1),

another theme will be motivation. Because listening is so challenging, teachers

need to think carefully about making the activities successful and the content

interesting. We can create the interest activity in learning listening such as by

listening English songs. By creating of high students motivation, it hoped can

reduce the listening difficulties. Furthermore, the students will be stimulated and

not be panic or worry when they are learning listening.

As mentioned in background, the students of MA Al-Abror are very difficult

understand English through listening. The students could not understand the

meaning of the material after playing the tape for the three times in class.

Furthermore, the students might gradually lose their self-confidence. They are

afraid to go to the lab to listen to English again. When they are face to face with

listening material, they have little confidence in their listening comprehension

abilities. Therefore, they may not understand them because they have to battle the

psychological suggestion that they could not understand spoken English.

2.1.3 Principles of Teaching Listening Skill

When teaching listening skill, the teachers have to know the principles.

There are some principles of teaching listening skill (http://teachinglistening

comprehension.html), they are:

a. Listening should receive primary attention in the early stage of ESL

instruction.

b. Maximize the use of material that is relevant to students real life.

c. Maximize the use of authentic language.


d. Vary the materials in terms of speakers gender, age, dialect, accent, topic,

speed, noise, level, and genre.

e. Always ask students to listen with a purpose and allow them to show their

comprehension in a task.

f. Language material intended to be used for training listening comprehension

should never be presented visually first.

Furthermore, the teachers have to take attention the principles in teaching

listening skill. As mentioned above, one of the principles in teaching listening is

the teachers always ask students to listen with the purpose of listening. So, we can

help students listen more effectively if we spend some time teaching them about

purposes for listening. One way to do that is to use a simple dialogue in order to

show how they might listen differently depending on their goals.

2.1.4 Listening Material

The material is very important for the students to improve their listening

skill. A suitable material can make the students want to learn. The material which

suitable with the students have to interesting, in the right level of students

difficulty, and presented in various activities (Puspita in Hasyuni 2006: 4). The

interesting materials that are familiar meaningful and various should be provided

for the students. It can help them to understand more easily.

Beside of that, the material should be as natural as possible in order that

students can practice and imitate the original voice from the speakers. As

mentioned by Paulston in Hasyuni (2006: 4), listening materials should consist of

sample of natural language from as many different sources as possible, so the

students will have experience with many varieties of topics and situations.


In concluding, the teachers are better to know the students interest in

learning listening with kind activities. If not, students will get bored and do not

want to learn anymore. The use of songs also can motivate the students to attend

lesson and pay attention in class, because songs can be used for a wide variety of

learning and teaching activities.

2.1.5 A Good Listener

The students can be said that they are good in listening if they are active in

learning listening process (Http://www.learningthroughlistening.org). The

characteristics of active listeners as below:

a. Make eye contact/follow the listening

b. Summarize the listening material has heard

c. Make connection what are hearing to what already know

d. Ask and answer the question during the learning listening process.

In other hand, Saricoban (1999) says that a good listener is one who has the

enabling skills. The enabling skill characterizes the listener can follow the

material by well. The skills are:

a. predicting what people are going to talk about

b. guessing at unknown words or phrases without panic

c. using ones own knowledge of the subject to help one understand

d. identifying relevant points; rejecting irrelevant information

e. retaining relevant points (note-taking, summarizing)

f. recognizing discourse marker, cohesive devices, including linking words,

pronouns, references, etc

g. understanding different intonation patterns and uses of stress


h. understanding inferred information.

In summary, the students are said well in listening skill if they are active

when learning listening. The activeness can be seen from the students motivation

and enthusiasm during learning listening. The students who active in listening are

characterized they always focus on what they hear, they ask and answer the

questions, and they can make a summary from the materials given in the post-

listening.

2.1.6 Types of Listening Activities

We always have a purpose for listening. We may listen to radio in the

morning to know the up to date reports. We may listen to a song for pleasure. We

listen in different ways based on our purpose. Having a purpose helps us listen

more effectively.

There are some types of activities that can be applied in learning listening.

Ur (1996: 113) provides four of listening activities as follow:

a. No overt response, the students do not have to do anything in response to the

listening; however facial expression and body language often show if they are

following or not. It includes stories, songs, and entertainment.

b. Short responses, includes obeying instructions, ticking of items, true/false,

detecting mistakes, cloze, guessing definitions, and skimming and scanning.

c. Longer responses, includes answering questions, note-taking, paraphrasing

and translating, summarizing, and long gap-filling.

d. Extended responses, here, the listening as only a jump-off point for extended

reading, writing or speaking: in other words, there are combined skills

activities. It includes problem-solving and interpretation.


Beside of that, there are the other activities to improve listening skill that

provided by PolyU ELC (http://elc.polyu.edu.hk):

a. Listen to English pop songs, includes write a summary, sing along with the

melody, do a cloze exercise, and dictate lyrics.

b. Listen to TV news reports, includes predications keep a diary, and record the

news.

c. Listen to film, includes read film reviews, make a gap-filling exercise, cover

the subtitles, and read the novel of the film.

d. Listen to TV programs or videos, includes follow instructions without looking

at the screen, cover the subtitles, and watch the first language version in

advance.

e. Listen to radio, includes listen to fast speech, approach other resources in

advance, listen to colloquial expressions, and write a summary.

From the types of listening above, it is regarded that songs activity can be used in

learning listening process, and it will be hoped can motivate students in improving

their listening skill.

2.2 Song

According to Hornby (1990: 1133), song is a piece of music with words that

is sung. Song is also a great language package that bundles culture, vocabulary,

listening, grammar and a host of other language skills in just a few rhymes. Songs

can also provide a relaxed lesson on a hot boring day. They can also form the

basis for many lessons (Futonge, 2005).

Almost everyone loves songs. It is a part of our language and life from

before birth onwards. As a baby, we often hear our mother and father sing a song


to deliver us sleep in the bedroom. When young children, we play, sing, and dance

to a rhymes. As adolescents, we are consumes by the beat of popular songs artist

in the world. As adults, we often hear song on television, movies, theater, and

even nightly news. When we work, when we play, song is there to reinforce or

every mood and emotion.

From explanation above, we are suggested to include songs in language

learning as well. Songs had heard by the people in the world since they are born

until died. So, listening to the songs has been a habitual and liked by everybody.

Beside of that, by songs we can provide a relaxed lesson on a hot boring day.

2.2.1 The Use of Song as Authentic Listening Material

The use of authentic materials is an important factor to take into

consideration when designing listening skill materials. By using such listening

materials, the learner is given the chance to develop the skills needed to

comprehend and to use language that is commonly found in real situations.

Therefore, it is important to take the opportunity wherever possible to expose

students to example of real language usage to help them become more

communicatively competent.

According to Ur (1996: 107), listening activities based on simulated real life

situation and likely to be most interesting and motivating to do than contrived

textbook comprehension exercise. The following features characterize real life

listening activity:

a. We listen for a purpose and with certain expecting

b. We make an immediately response to what we hear

c. We see the person we are listening to


d. There are some visual or environment clues as to the meaning of what is heard

e. Stretches of hand discourse is spontaneous and therefore differs from formal

spoken prose in the amount of redundancy, noise and colloquialism, and it is

auditory character.

From the features above, song is one of the authentic listening materials.

Ross (2006) says that the example of authentic listening materials is listening to

song to learn more about well-known bands that sing in English. As we know

wherever we are, songs always follow us at home, at school, at office, at cars, and

so on. So, we can directly listen to the song and also interest to learn the value of

language in it.

When designing lessons and teaching materials to further develop listening

comprehension skills, students need to be motivated and stay motivated. This is

best accomplished by determining the suitable of the listening material such as the

use of song as authentic material. The use of song stimulates and motivates

students to comprehend the content of materials.

2.2.2 Factors Contributing to Listening Comprehension of Song

The possibility of using songs in English as a foreign language class has

been actively considering for the last two decades. It is considered because songs

have many value of language. Orlova (2003), states that it is possible to suggest

that among the methodological purposes with songs are used in class, it is possible

to rank the following:

a. Practicing the rhythm, stress and the intonation patterns of the English

language.

b. Teaching vocabulary, especially in the vocabulary reinforcement stage


c. Teaching grammar. In this respect songs are especially favored by teachers

while investigating the use of the tenses.

d. Teaching speaking. For this purpose, songs and mainly their lyrics are

employed as a stimulus for class discussion

e. Teaching listening comprehension

f. Developing writing skills. For this purpose a song can be used in a variety of

ways.

According to Lynch (2008), there are three factors that contribute to

listening comprehension of song, they are:

a. Use of new vocabulary, idioms and expressions It needs to address the new

material offered in each song. This includes grammar, vocabulary and usage.

b. Pronunciation and accent of the singer Every native speaker doesnt

pronounce or sing with the same accent. Students may be exposed to an accent

which is outside the realm of what they might normally hear in context.

c. Use of new grammar and structure Song researchers and singers are

notoriously loose when it comes to use of grammar, structure,

pronunciation, stress and other language factors applied to songs. The teacher

must prepare for this.

In additional, the use of songs in teaching and learning English as a foreign

language is felt much needed. From the songs, we can learn many things such as

vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, writing, and especially in listening.

2.2.3 The Criteria of Song Selection

The important thing about choosing a song to do with a class is to make sure

that the lyrics are clear. It can be very frustrating for the students not to


understand a word. The recording should also be a good one. A studio album is

probably going to be better than a live version. Furthermore, M. Lynch (2008),

provides three principal song selection criteria, they are:

a. Use songs that are popular with the students whenever possible.

Unfortunately, students frequently select songs for classroom use which are

objectionable in some way making the song unusable.

b. Songs must have clear and understandable lyrics. Nothing is worse than a

song almost nobody can understand. If you have trouble understanding the

lyrics by listening, then another song needs to be selected.

c. Songs should have an appropriate theme. Theres enough bad news, negativity

and violence in the world already. Songs with any type of negative theme

should be avoided. There are plenty of positive, upbeat, even humorous songs

available.

In order hand, Orlova (2003) says that while encouraging students to choose

the songs for discussion, it needs to ask them to following criteria below:

a. The song must be an example of a particular musical trend

b. There shouldnt be any form of violence in it.

c. The song should contain a certain artistic image.

It is realized when teaching the students; we should choose the songs that

suitable level of difficulty. The suitable of the song is a particularly important

issue. It should be known whether the students are going to like the song or not.

2.2.4 The use of Song Procedure

There are various ways of using songs in the classroom. The level of the

students, the interests and the age of the learners, the grammar point to be studied,


and the song itself have determinant roles on the procedure. Apart from them, it

mainly depends on the creativity of the teacher.

According to Saricoban and Metin (2000), at the primary level of singing the

song, the prosodic features of the language is emphasized. At the higher levels,

where the practice of grammar points is at the foreground, songs can be used with

several techniques. Some examples of these techniques are:

a. Gap fills or close texts

b. Focus questions

c. True-false statements

d. Put these lines into the correct sequence

e. Dictation

f. Add a final verse

g. Circle the antonyms/synonyms of the given words

h. Discuss

According to Yoo (2002), procedure of songs activity can be done by steps

below:

a. Pre-listening

1) As a warm-up or schema building activity, ask students what they know about

American pop culture. You might also want to bring some pictures or CD's of

popular actors or singers to class.

2) Pass out the cloze activity handout, and have students read the lyrics and

figure out what the missing words might be, using their knowledge in

grammar. Have the students compare their guesses with their neighbors. Ask

for volunteers to share their guesses with the class.


b. While-listening

Students listen for the missing words. Play the song once, and ask students

whether they need to listen to the song again. If they do, play it one more time.

c. Post-listening

After the second listening, go over the answers with the class. If necessary,

replay the parts where students had trouble understanding the words. Go over

grammar points as necessary.

However in teaching listening by songs, there are three stages; pre-listening,

while-listening, and post-listening. Beside of that, the activity can be formed gap

fills or close texts, true-false statements, and dictation.

2.2.5 Benefit of Song

By using songs in the classroom, students can practice their listening skills

and increase their cultural knowledge. Almost any song can be used in the ESL

classroom. The pronunciation and rhythm lessons are the same as for the

children's songs and the lessons may help students become more interested in

different types of songs. Practicing lyric reading, studying the vocabulary, and

listening to various songs can help students become more familiar with popular

songs and make them more confident in their ability to listen and understand the

world around them (Brown, 2006).

The other benefits of using songs in the classroom are songs can be used:

a. to present a topic, a language point, lexis, etc.

b. to practice a language point, lexis, etc.

c. to focus on common learner errors in a more direct way

d. to encourage extensive and intensive listening


e. to stimulate discussion of attitudes and feelings

f. to encourage creativity and use of imagination

g. to provide a relaxed classroom atmosphere

h. to bring variety and fun to learning

From explanation above, its considered that songs have much benefit. Some of

them are songs can motivate the students and make them more confidence in their

ability to listen the materials.

2.3 Improving

Improving is the act of enhancing or making better in terms of quality, value

or usefulness. This can be by making ideas, objects or processes more desirable by

adding or removing components. The term can be also be applied to people as

well, via method such as performance reviews which are meant to try and

improving an employee in some manner. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/

definition/improve.html)

Based on the definition above, it can be axplained that enhance in every

component is needed in the daily life it is also related to the issue of improving

students in listening skills.

2.3.1 Ten Ways to Improve Listening Skills

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a

listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which

have the potential to turn a life around.--Leo Buscaglia

Every time I give an assignment to my college students, I ask if they have

questions. At first, everyone is hesitant, but in a moment or two, the questions

begin. And thats fine. What I find somewhat disconcerting, though, is that most


of the questions reveal that the students havent really listened to my explanation,

even though they appeared to have been attentive.

I realize many of us need to hear something more than once to understand

and process it, and Im not faulting my students for that. What bothers me is that

in school and elsewhere, Ive noticed most people dont make much of an attempt

to listen to others. In fact, I believe we are in the midst of a non-listening epidemic

that is affecting the quality of our relationships, costing businesses thousands of

dollars every year, and producing mediocre learning in our schools.

Most of what we learn, we learn by listening. Yet research shows that most

of us arent good listeners. In their book, Excellence in Business Communication,

Thill and Bovee write, Listening is a far more complex process than most people

think. .. . most of us listen at or below a 25 percent efficiency rate, remember only

about half of whats said during a 10-minute conversation, and forget half of that

within 48 hours.

It isnt surprising that we dont listen effectively. First of all, most of us

havent been taught how to do so. We learn how to read and write but not how to

listen. Secondly, we juggle so many activities on the job and at home that we

dont give much thought to listening. Its speaking that takes priority. Yet

mastering listening skills is critical if we are to become good communicators.

Cheesebro, OConnor, and Rios write in Communication Skills, People are

fired, customers are lost, and working relationships are strained because of

ineffective listening. Likewise, friendships suffer, marriages fail, and families

grow apart when individuals fail to listen with genuine concern.


The good news is you can improve your listening skills. By learning about

the process and putting forth a conscious effort, you can become an effective

listener.

The following ten guidelines, adapted from Thill and Bovees book, will

help you become a better listener:

1. Minimize both internal and external distractions. You cant always get rid of a

headache, but you can close the windows if the driver of a truck is outside

revving his engine.

2. Adjust your listening to the situation. If youre listening to a lecture for an

exam in Biology class, youll want to pay closer attention than if youre

watching the local news. In the former situation, youll probably take notes.

3. Show youre listening by your nonverbal communication. You might nod,

shake your head, or raise your eyebrows. Adjust your posture accordingly.

Make eye contact.

4. If youre listening to a speech or attending a business meeting, determine the

most important points and develop a method to remember them. You might

repeat them mentally or even jot them down briefly.

5. When youre listening to a friend with a problem, demonstrate empathy. Show

her you understand what she is going through.

6. Realize that people dont necessarily want you to solve their problem. They

may simply want to share how they are feeling. Save advice for another time,

unless youre asked for it.

7. Dont interrupt. Let the person finish what he is saying before you explain

your point of view or ask questions.


8. Dont prejudge a persons message by the way he looks. You can learn

something from almost anyone.

9. Stay focused on the subject. Its easy to let your mind wander, especially if the

subject isnt important to you. Train yourself to concentrate.

10. Remain clearheaded, even if the topic is emotional. Perhaps someone is

discussing the victories of the recent election, and you were passionate about a

losing candidate. When emotions become involved, you may end up in the

middle of a shouting match, which will resolve nothing. Present your points

calmly. Youll gain credibility by doing so.

To truly listen to someone--not just to hear the words the other is saying but

to pay attention to the message contained in the words--is the greatest compliment

we can give another person. It means that the other is important enough to us so

that we are willing to give him or her our most valuable commodity: our time.

It isnt always easy to listen, especially when we are preoccupied with

fifteen different things that needed doing an hour ago or when we simply arent

interested in what the other person is saying. But making the effort pays off.

Listening can provide a bond of intimacy that deepens our connection to others. It

can enrich our personal relationships and help us make fewer mistakes in our jobs.

It can increase our learning potential. And it might even earn you a special

compliment: I really like Jane. Shes such a good listener. Mary Ann Gauthier (

2008 )

2.3.2 Strategies to Improve Listening Skills

Sheila C. Wilkinson says that being a good listener is about making sure

that the other person knows that she is being heard. To do that requires listening


strategies as well as the ability to articulate what that person is saying to you with

active responses or feedback. Since listening is a skill, it is something that must be

learned and practiced. Within the context of your relationships, listening provides

a safe place for someone to speak freely in an atmosphere of trust and concern. It

is a bit of psychology, a bit of skill and a bit of love shaken together that makes

another human being feel highly valued. Theres no replacement for it within a

relationship.

1. Listen with care. As you listen, focus on what is being said. Keep your eyes on

the person while she is talking. Stay focused on what she is saying by

formulating questions in your head, such as "What's the main point of this

conversation?" Don't listen by thinking up what you're going to say next; just

focus on the speaker. You'll have to devote real energy to staying highly tuned

in, but it will show the speaker that you care deeply about what's being said.

2. Respond in relevant ways. When the person you're listening to stops speaking

and is looking at you for a response, speak directly to what has just been said.

Say something like "So you're saying you don't think that ___. Is that right?"

or "It seems like you're feeling really ___. Is that true?" This will keep the

attention focused on the other person and what he needs right now, which is

the foundation of good listening. It's all about the other person. Be a mirror for

the person who needs to talk, so that you can help him unravel what he is

thinking and feeling.

3. Ask questions that require open-ended rather than closed answers. This means

that you should ask questions that encourage further sharing rather than

closing it off. Don't ask questions that can be answered with a simple yes or


no. Rather than ask "Do you want to quit your job?" ask something more like

"What are the positives and negatives you should look at before deciding to

leave this job?" This last question requires the person to continue speaking and

exploring her own feelings, so it encourages openness. When someone

realizes you want to hear her out, that person will usually relax more about the

subject and speak with greater freedom. This builds trust and relationship and

helps the person to see her thoughts and feelings in a more objective light.

4. Lean into the person. Use your body to convey that you are listening with a

concerned heart. If you're sitting down, lean toward the person. Keep your

arms and legs uncrossed. When crossed, you appear to be closing people out.

You want your posture as well as your words to say "I'm present to you; I'm

here for you." It's good to nod or shake your head when you want to convey

agreement or surprise to him. Anything that shows you are actively in this

conversation with him is a plus.

5. Don't talk until the person stops talking. Interrupting always makes the

speaker feel as if you aren't listening and as if what she is saying is of no

importance to you. You can't hear if you are talking, so keep quiet and listen.

People don't always want or need advice, but they always need to know they're

being heard. Usually their answers will be found within their own words, so

they need time and space to speak freely to get to those answers that may be

buried under a mountain of emotion or conflict. Let them speak and comment

when they are finished, and you'll show them you care about what they're

feeling and saying.


6. Be patient. Listening takes time and patience. You can't jump to conclusions

or rush into give advice unless you are willing to seem uncaring. Just being

actively there, letting the other person know that she matters and what she has

to say is important will be healing and comforting. Listening is nearly a lost

art in these days of rushing and electronic communication, but it is worth the

time it takes to learn since it's the quickest and easiest pathway to great

relationships.

2.4 Previous Studies

There are some studies related with the use of songs in learning listening.

First, a research done by Fismar (2003) entitled The Correlation between

Delighting in Listening to English Songs and Students Achievement in Listening

Comprehension of First Semester of English Study Program at Universitas

Bengkulu Academic Year 2001-2002, where the result is the English songs are

helpful in stimulating the development of students listening comprehension.

Another study is a research done by Tee and Fah (2005) that use of songs

in the teaching of life skills modules for ITE students. The result is bringing in

music and playing songs in the classroom motivates the students to attend lessons

and pay attention in class.

From those previous studies, this research is different in two cases. First,

the study does not make the correlation of using songs with listening achievement.

Second, the study does not using songs only to motivate the students to attend

lessons and pay attention in class. Furthermore, the study of this research is using

songs to improve students listening skill.


CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design

This research was a classroom action research. It meant that an action

research which is conducted in a classroom to increase the quality of learning

teaching practices (Arikunto, S., Suhardjono & Supardi, 2008: 2). In other hands,

it can be defined that it is an action that is done to solve the problem in the

classroom. Therefore, this research purposed to solve the problems in teaching

learning listening skill.

In conducting this research, the researcher asked an English teacher of MA

Al-Abror to help him. As mentioned in Arikunto, S., Suhardjono & Supardi

(2008: 22), it is suggested for the beginner researcher to make collaboration in

conducting an action research. The teacher helps the researcher in planning,

action, observation, and reflection. Moreover, it is also possible for the researcher

to ask much suggestion from her in conducting of the research.

3.2 Subject of the Reseach

Subject of the research was the tenth grade students of MA Al-Abror

Berruh in academic year 2012/2013 that was consisted of 27 students, 15 males

and 12 females. Most of the students are from some villages. In their some junior

high schools in villages, usually there is no language lab to train their listening

skills. So, listening activities are not common for the students. When they come to

MA Al-Abror, they cannot adjust their study habits very quickly. Because of that,


we need to find suitable method such as by using song to make them enjoy the

learning process.

3.3 Setting of the Research

According to Arikunto, S., Suhardjono & Supardi (2008:39), there is no

population and sample in an action research, but it is known as setting of the

research. It is a place where the research is conducted. Furthermore, the setting of

the research was at Madrasah Aliyah (MA) Al-Abror Berruh.

3.4 Research Procedures

According to Arikunto, S., Suhardjono & Supardi (2008: 20), there are

four steps in action research: planning, actions, observation, and reflection.

Clearly, can be seen below:

1. Pre-test, to know the score of students listening skill before treatments.

2. Treatments, the effort to improve students motivation in learning listening.

There will be two cycles in this step:

a. Cycle 1

1) Planning, making a plan what is needed and what will be done in action, and

making a lesson plan.

2) Actions, applying of songs activity in teaching listening based on the lesson

plan.

3) Observation, observing and writing the situation and condition during the

action.

4) Reflection, analyzing to know the effect of action and fixing the planning for

the next circle.


b. Cycle 2

1) Planning, identifying the problem from action 1 and deciding the problem

solving.

2) Actions, doing the program of action 2.

3) Observation, collecting data in action 2.

4) Reflection, evaluation of action 2.

3. Post-test, to know the score of students listening skill after giving the

treatments.

3.5 Research Instrument

The instrument of this research was test; song sheets (lyric) that were

given in pre-test, actions, and post-test. The instrument for pre-test and post-test

was the same, which was taken from Futonge (2007). The test consisted of 30

items; 15 items of filling in the missing words and 15 items choosing the correct

words in bold. The tests for two actions were adopted from Isabel Perez

(www.isabelperaz.com), which consisted of 11 items of filling in the blanks for

action 1, and 10 items of choosing the correct words in bold for action 2.

3.6 Instrument Validity

According to Lather in Arikunto, S., Suhardjono & Supardi (2006: 128),

there are four strategies to make the instrument is valid. The strategies are:

1. Face validity, the observers altogether check, make a score, and decide each

other the validity of instrument in process of collaboration.

2. Triangulation, the instrument is taken by using some data sources to improve

the quality of evaluation.


3. Critical reflection, the cycles are planned to improve the quality of

understanding.

4. Catalytic validity, the instrument is gotten from the researchers knowledge

himself as the effort to get improvement.

In this research, the researcher used face validity and critical reflection

from the researcher and an English teacher of MA Al-Abror Berruh. It means that

the instrument was gotten by the researcher himself from some sources, and it was

always discussed together in order to get the students improvement.

3.7 Technique of Data Collection

The data was collected by test and observation. Observation was done to

know the students attitude (qualitative data) during the research. Meanwhile,

quantitative data was taken from the students score in pre-test, two actions, and

post-test. The data in pre-test was taken to know the students listening skill

before treatment. In actions, the data was collected twice; in action 1 and 2. The

data was to know students development during treatment. Then, post-test was

taken to know students ability in listening skill after giving the treatment.

3.8 Technique of Data Analysis

After collecting, the data was analyzed by the researcher in steps below.

1. Knowing the students individual score, by the formula:

Where:

S = score

= the students score


= total of sums

(Arikunto, 2002)

2. Knowing mean score each test, by the formula.

Where:

M = mean score

= total of the students score

N = number of the students

(Arikunto, 2002)

3. Comparing the result of each test to know whether using songs can improve

students listening skill or not.

The score of objects were interpreted by consulting with the following

interval of five scales the students score based on the scoring at MA Al-Abror

Berruh:

Table 1. The five scales interval of students score

Scores Categories

85-100

75-84

60-74

40-59

0-39 Very good

Good

Moderate

Low


Failure

In this research, the students would be hoped to get the score upper to

moderate category. It meant this research would be finished if the students got a

good or very good score category. In additional, the target was 75 to 100 students

mean score.

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