The Teaching of English in the Acceleration Class Grade X at SMA Negeri 3 Malang

ABSTRACT Silviana, Nila. 2011. The Teaching of English in the Acceleration Class Grade X at SMA Negeri 3 Malang. Thesis, English Department, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang. Advisor: Anik Nunuk Wulyani, M.Pd. Key words: the teaching of English, acceleration class, senior high school Based on the Government Regulation No. 19/2005 on Standard of National Education article 7 verse 7, English is taught as a compulsory subject in junior and senior high schools. The curriculum being implemented is the School-Based Curriculum (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan/KTSP). In this curriculum, though the basic line is set by the government, the development and arrangement of the curriculum are managed by the schools themselves to meet the students' needs and interest. The society's concern nowadays is to ensure not only the quality of the education their children obtain but also the time spent to finish the study. Therefore, the idea of having acceleration opportunities in education attracts people very much. Besides that, the government also allows schools to provide acceleration opportunities for gifted students. However, not so many schools have been successful in implementing the acceleration class program, especially in Malang. SMA Negeri 3 Malang, which is a Pioneering International Standardized School (Rintisan Sekolah Bertaraf International/RSBI) that is currently accredited as the 6th best public senior high school in Indonesia, has implemented the acceleration class program since 2004. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate the teaching of English in the acceleration class at this school. This research is intended to investigate the teaching of English in the acceleration class grade X at SMA Negeri 3 Malang to describe (1) the syllabus used in the acceleration class, (2) the lesson plans used in the acceleration class, (3) the teaching techniques implemented in the acceleration class, (4) the teaching materials used in the acceleration class, and (5) the teaching media used in the acceleration class. This study employed a descriptive qualitative design. The subjects of this study were the English teacher of the acceleration class and 14 students of the acceleration class. The instruments used to collect the data were observation sheet, field note, interview guide, questionnaire, documentation, and cell phone. All the data gained from the instruments were collected and analyzed qualitatively, in which the researcher explained the data in a descriptive explanation. The findings of this study were as follows. First, the English syllabus used for the acceleration class was the syllabus used for the regular classes, without any revision of any of the components. Second, the English teacher only made lesson plans when there were observers in her class. Since the researcher was to observe her class, the teacher made the lesson plans. The lesson plans she made fulfilled the criteria of a good lesson plan. Third, the teaching techniques used by the English teacher were pair works, group discussions, games, and role play. Fourth, the instructional materials used by the English teacher are mostly worksheets which she developed by herself from many sources and workbook (LKS). Lastly, the media mostly used by the teacher were her laptop, speakers, and the LCD projectors in the classrooms. Based on the result of the study, the teacher is suggested to always develop a special syllabus for the acceleration class in order to avoid any condition which may hamper the teaching and learning process, develop her lesson plans before teaching, vary her teaching techniques, use more varied materials such as authentic materials, use more kinds of instructional media which are suitable for the students and the teaching-learning process in the acceleration class.