A Comparison in Mastery Simple Past Tense between Students

Simple past tense is a grammar taught at local school. This tense is considered to be 'very important' because every student have to understand it in order to learn English. While some local students think simple Past Tense is quite easy and simple to be learned, other think the otherwise. This article will compare the mastery of simple past tense between student. This post is created based on my simple research conducted in local junior high school. As a teacher, I think it is good idea to do a simple research and write it in my blog. I hope my research would be useful for other researchers (or teachers). In this article, I may list myself as 'the writer' to make the research comply with local rules in conducting researches.

A Comparison in Mastery Simple Past Tense between Students Who take Extra English Course and Who Do Not at First Year of Local Junior High School

English is a means of international communication. It has played very important role in many aspects of human life such as politics, economics, sciences and technologies. English is placed as the first foreign language in Indonesia. It is not only taught and learned by the fourth year of elementary school up to university as a school subject, but it can be also acquired from many informal Institutions.
It proves that English is considered very important in this country so government suggests student to learn English earlier, the sooner a child learn foreign language; the easier he will acquire the language skills. This statement has been realized as we know at Elementary School; it is one of the local content subjects.
Therefore every student tries and completes not only to make good mark but also master four English skills namely listening speaking, reading and writing. Besides four English skills, they also try to master two components of English language. They are structure and vocabulary. Here, in this study the writer will take one of skill from those four skills.
Students study hard inside and outside classroom. The writer can see their efforts like taking extra English course, being member of English club, reading English magazine and listening English song. They do not care if their effort spend a lot of money, time, energy and mind exactly. However their efforts give them influence, primarily for students who take extra English course. And how about the students who do not take extra English course? Do they master English subject as well as who take extra English course especially at first grade of Junior High School? Usually at the Junior High School are taught structure and including study about the speaking skill. The writer thinks it is the most important skill for student, because this skill can make them communicate fluently especially in English.

Why do I compare students who take extra English Course and who do not

Every research has one or more problem that will be researched. This section is stated to clarify and make the reader know what will be observed by the writer. Base on the background above the writer wants to know:
1.    Are students at the first year of Local Junior High School who takes extra English course better than who do not take this course in mastery simple past tense?
2.    How far are significant differences between students who take extra English course and who do not at the first year of Local Junior High School in mastery simple past tense?
3.    What is the effective teaching technique to minimize the differences between students who take extra English course and who do not?

Objective of My Research

Based on the questions listed above, the objectives of the research are:
1.    To find out whether students at the first year of Local Junior High School who take extra English course better than who do not in Mastery Simple Past Tense.
2. To find out significant differences between students who take extra English course and who do not at the first year of Local Junior High School in mastery Simple Past Tense.
3. To find out the effective teaching technique to minimize the differences between students who take extra English course and who do not.

My Hypothesis

Before I begin the research, I has some hypothesis that will be proven by observation. My hypotheses are as follows:
1.    The students who take extra English course are better than who do not.
2.    Extra English course support student's ability.
3.    The best teaching technique can minimize the differences between them

Local student in Junior High School

Significance of the Research

The research is significant because the result is intended to become an input for:

1. The Writer.
   I will use the result of this research to help my student learn English efficiently and faster.
2. The Teacher.
   The result of this study can be information source for teacher, especially English teachers to give motivation for students who do not take extra English course and minimize the differences between students who take extra English course and who do not, also to find out the effective technique to overcome the differences.
3. The Students.
   The result of this study could be good advice for students, especially for students who do not take extra English course. It is expected giving motivations to take extra English course or study harder and able to minimize or even omit the differences between students who take extra English course and who do not.

Limitation of the Research

Limitation of this study is very important to get the best result. Concerning with the problem that must be solved, the writer limits the topic as follows:

1. The study that is done is comparison between students who take extra English course and who do not.
2. The students of this study are the seventh year students.
3. The research area of this study is Local Junior High School.

Definition of the Key Term used in this Research

In this article, there are ‘important’ words or sentences which are essential for my research. I think it is important to define those words/sentences so that the writer (Myself) and Reader have both understanding about those words/sentences. The definition of the key terms are as follows:

1. Mastery: Comprehensive knowledge or command of a subject or skill (Oxford Dictionary)
2. Simple Past Tense : used to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past ( English Grammar)
3. Extra: A thing that added to something that is not usual standard or necessary and that costs more (Oxford dictionary)
4. Course: A series of lectures or lessons in a particular subject (Oxford dictionary)