IMPROVING THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS’ TENSE MASTERY BY GIVING FEEDBACK AT SMP NEGERI 4 JEMBER IN THE 2007/2008 ACADEMIC YEAR

Abstract

Students’ mastery on grammatical rules of English, especially tense is very essential. However, most students still face difficulties in applying the appropriate verb form which is suitable with the tense required. It is proved by knowing the result of the tense pre-test of all classes at the first grade at SMPN 4 Jember. There are four classes actually, class VII A got 31,1, VII B got 33,9, VII C got 32,1, and VII D got the lowest mean score that was 26,5. Considering this condition, the English teacher is required to help the students to re-assess their strengths and weaknesses by giving a input to the students in using the verb forms correctly. One way of giving the input to the students was through giving feedback. The aim of this research is to improve the students’ tense mastery by giving feedback. The research subject was the first year students at SMPN 4 Jember who got the lowest mean score among the four classes, which was class VII D. The class consisted of 50 students. Purposive method was used in determining the research subject and the research area. This classroom action research was conducted in two cycles. There were four meetings for each cycle. They involved three meetings for the actions and one meeting for conducting the tense test. There were two kinds of data collection method, namely, primary and secondary data. The primary data were obtained by conducting tense test on Simple Present, Present Continuous, and Simple Past Tense. Furthermore, the results of the test were analyzed quantitatively that was to find the mean score (M) by dividing the total score of the respondents’ score ( ∑X) by the number of the respondents (N). The actions were considered successful if the mean score could achieve the standard mean score requirement of 65. And, the secondary data were collected by conducting observation during the actions and documentation by studying the school’s documents. The result of the students’ tense mastery in cycle 1 was shown through the mean score of the tense test, which were 45.49. From the result as such, it did not achieved the standard mean score requirement of 65. Thus, it was necessary to conduct the next actions in cycle 2. The result of the students’ tense mastery in cycle 2 was improved. It can be seen through the mean score that was 65.5. The mean score of test in cycle 2 had achieved the standard mean score requirement of 65 and the action was considered successful. In other words, the action was stopped. Based on the results above, it can be concluded that the actions of giving feedback could improve the students’ tense mastery covering Simple Present, Present Continuous and Simple Past Tense.