English Learning: Skripsi Bahasa Inggris

"Some Difficulties Faced By The Students In Learning Present Perfect Tense"

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of The Study

English as an international language which has a significant role in the various fields of activities, and has wide influences in the world. As an international language English has been adopted as a compulsory subject in Indonesia. The ministry of National Education has decided that English as a first foreign language which has to be taught in Indonesia.

English is a foreign language in Indonesia that has been taught from Elementary School as a Local Content, and Junior High School until Senior High School as a compulsory subject, up to University. UU RI No. 20 Tahun 2003, Bab I, Pasal 1 ayat 19 “Kurikulum adalah seperangkat rencana dan pengaturan mengenai tujuan, isi, dan bahan pelajaran serta cara yang digunakan sebagai pedoman penyelenggaraan kegiatan pembelajaran untuk mencapai tujuan pendidikan tertentu” People realize that teaching English became very important now and needs much concern. In Learning English, there are four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and complements, they are: grammar, pronunciation, and Vocabulary for supporting the development of those skills. Besides the four skills, Grammar also should be mastered by students.

Grammar is needed even in communication, without the proper knowledge of grammar the students will find many problems to build up the sentences and express their idea for communication activities, but lf the grammar is good, they will be confident in speaking English with other people. According to Penny Ur, “there is no doubt that a knowledge-implicit of grammatical rule is essential for the mastery of language: you cannot use words unless you know how they should put together” Without the proper knowledge of the students grammar will find many problems to build up the sentences and express their idea for communication activities.

Now English is the most common language used throughout the world. A distinction is often made that depends on how the language is learned: as a native language (or mother tongue) or as a foreign language. English is as a foreign language in Indonesia. Nowadays, English is getting more and more important. It is used as a mean of communication and development of knowledge, technology, culture and art. Many schools in Indonesia, English is determined as a compulsory subject in national curriculum. The curriculum that progresses now what it is called A Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP) or issued in 2006 curriculum. In this curriculum, grammar is one of the point in teaching learning English for junior high school. The grammar focus for the third year students in second semester is about the present prefect.

In this English curriculum of KTSP, each skill has Standar Kompetensi (SK) and Kompetensi Dasar (KD). Standar Kompetensi (SK) become the global explanation and Kompetensi Dasar (KD) as the specific explanation of Standar Kompetensi and Matery (pokok / Pembelajaran).

In this study, the writer explains Standar Kompetensi and Kompetensi Dasar in class IX of the second semester. Mendengarkan: SK 7.1 : Memahami makna dalam percakapan sederhana untuk berinteraksi dalam konteks kehidupan sehari-hari. KD 7.2 Merespon makna yang terdapat dalam percakapan pendek sederhana secara akurat, lancar, dan berterima untuk berinteraksi dalam konteks kehidupan sehari-hari yang melibatkan tindak tutur memberi berita yang menarik perhatian, dan memberi komentar terhadap berita. Materi pokok/ pembelajaran, percakapan memuat : ungkapan memberi berita yang menarik perhatian, contoh : guess what! I’ve got good news! (dalam tenses Present Perfect).

Actually, many beginner students have some difficulties in learning English language skills and English language complements. According to their opinion those skills and those components are not easy for them, such as the problem with their mother tongue or their native language which is differents from English language. These problems can be known from the result of the students’ achievements and the teacher evaluation. So the teacher role is very important to make the students be creative to solve their problems.