THE EFFECT OF USING SONGS ON THE EIGHTH YEAR STUDENTS’ TENSE ACHIEVEMENT AT MTS MA’ARIF AMBULU IN THE 2011/2012 ACADEMIC YEAR

Abstract

Tenses as a part of grammar are very important in learning English since it becomes the basic knowledge in mastering the language skills. However, most students in Indonesia especially the junior high school students face difficulties in learning tenses and sometimes it is considered as a hard task that can be depressing. To solve this problem, the English teacher should find interesting and appropriate teaching aids and materials that can improve the students’ motivation in learning tenses and help them understand the subjects more easily. One of the teaching aids and materials that can be used is songs. This research was intended to know whether or not there is a significant effect of using songs on the eighth year students’ tense achievement at MTs Ma’arif Ambulu in the 2011/2012 academic year. The research design was experimental research. The research area was MTs Ma’arif Ambulu which was purposively chosen. The population of this research was the eighth year students of MTs Ma’arif Ambulu in the 2011/2012 academic year that consists of seven classes and to determine the respondents of the research, the homogeneity test was administered then the results were analyzed by using ANOVA. Based on the result of ANOVA, the population of the research was not homogenous, so that two classes that had the closest mean were chosen as the respondents of the research. The primary data of this research were collected from the students’ post test, while the supporting data were gained trough interview and documentation. The primary data were collected then analyzed by using t-test formula. Based on the calculation, the mean score of the experimental group was higher than the mean score of the control group (74,00 ˃ 67,64). The result of the t-test analysis was lower than 0,05 (0,007 ˂ 0,05). The research results proved that there was a significant effect of using songs on the eighth year students’ tense achievement at MTs Ma’arif Ambulu in the 2011/2012 academic year. Therefore, it is suggested that the English teacher use songs as an alternative teaching aids and materials in teaching tenses.