Investigating High School Students' Perceptions On The English Teacher's Use Of Project-Based Learning In Teaching Reading Comprehension

Abstract

English is considered as the major foreign language to learn in Indonesia. English is mainly taught in Indonesian classrooms as a required subject, but it is not given as a daily communication language (Hamra and Syatriana, 2010). This is because English is not close to Indonesian students. Students seem to have limited chance to practice English. Since English is a foreign language, it takes many times of practices to acquire. To master English, students have to practice it in daily basis, day by day, through real-life experience. Since English is classified as a foreign language in Indonesia, this situation has caused a problem to Indonesian students. Many Indonesian students from elementary level to university level find a difficulty in reading English texts. Dealing with reading comprehension of English texts, English teachers seem to look for the most effective way to teach reading skill to get reading comprehension. Applying an engaging model to teach reading comprehension is another option to help the students’ reading comprehension (Hamra and Syatriana, 2010). One learning model that can be applied as an alternative for teaching reading comprehension is Project-Based Learning (PBL). Deckahup in Friska (2018) explains that Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an in line learning method with a scientific procedure which lets students think and design the work through a project. It supports students in learning exploration, decision-making, interpretation, and taking a conclusion in a purposeful way. Through the application of Project-Based Learning (PBL), students are encouraged to be able to make a product (outcome) of their learning material (Osakue and Thomas, 2011 as cited by Sari and Prasetyo, 2021). Considering Project-Based Learning (PBL) to be a learning method is an excellent option for the English teacher to assist teaching reading comprehension since it offers advantages for students as well. Bell (2010) and Edutopia (2008) in Mali (2016) stated Project-Based Learning (PBL) helps students to gain deeper understanding of a certain topic, levels-up the students’ learning motivation, and inspires students to explore through a vast material of a certain subject. In addition, the other justification of why to choose Project-Based Learning (PBL) as the learning approach is that it lets the teacher applies and designs the learning program as long as it fits to the framework of the instructional design (Foss et al., 2007 in Mali, 2016) This research investigated high school students’ perceptions on the English teacher’s use of Project-Based Learning (PBL) in teaching reading comprehension through interview data taken from the students in a high school. The framework of the students’ perceptions used Kartika’s themes (2020) in interviewing the students’ perceptions of the Project-Based Learning (PBL) implementation to assist teaching reading by the teacher. All these themes argued by Kartika (2020) highlight the notion of considering the students’ perceptions that answers investigation to perceptions and experiences in interviewing the object for the topic under the study. The interview guideline for interviewing the students was prepared with adjustment and considerations following the framework proposed by Kartika (2020). There were ten questions developed in relation to the implementation of Project-Based Learning (PBL) in teaching reading comprehension by the English teacher. For the data analysis, I utilized Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis to process the interview data taken from interviewing the students. As the results, the data analysis done had found five predetermined themes. The first theme is the students’ perceptions on the teacher’s overview in explaining the application of Project-Based Learning (PBL). I identified this theme to be the students’ perceptions on the English teacher’s overview in explaining the application of Project-Based Learning (PBL). The second theme is the students’ perceptions on the teacher’s explanation about the meaning of Project-Based Learning (PBL). I identified this theme under the sub-theme the students’ perceptions on the English teacher’s explanation about the meaning of Project-Based Learning (PBL). The third theme is about the students’ perceptions on the implementation of Project-Based Learning (PBL). I identified this theme becoming the students’ perceptions on the implementation of Project-Based Learning (PBL) in the classroom. The fourth theme is the students’ perceptions on the benefit of using Project-Based Learning (PBL) in the classroom. I identified this theme and resulted eight sub-themes, including (1) increasing collaboration (teamwork) skill, (2) increasing critical-thinking skill, (3) increasing mediaresearch skill, (4) increasing problem-solving skill, (5) enhancing creativity, (6) developing self-confidence, (7) developing self-motivation, and (8) being an active and independent learner. The fifth theme is the students’ perceptions on the difficulty of doing Project-Based Learning (PBL) task. I identified this theme into three sub-themes, namely (1) paraphrasing for the project’s result, (2) having different ideas with other teammates, and (3) lack of motivation.