The High School Students’ Attitude towards Learning

English

Sari Widyaningrum

Abstract

The attitude of students toward learning English is important. The aim of

this study is to know the attitude of students in senior high school towards
learning English. The attitude consist of three aspect, behavior, cognitive, and
emotional aspect. The participant of this study is senior high school students in
SMA N 1 Bringin, grade 11 with the major is social class. The researcher take
data from 3 classes for study. The instrument which used by the researcher is
questionnaire with closed ended question, and contain of 30 questions. The result
of the study is they have good attitude towards learning English, shown by their
interested to learn English.

Keywords: Attitude, Attitude towards English Language, Aspect of Attitude

INTRODUCTION

Learning English, can be hard or easy for students. It depends on how the

students respond and pay attention to it. Attitudes of learning English itself can

influence the students‟ achievement in English lesson. It can be low or high and it

depends on the students‟ factors, such as their economic, their area, and their

social connection in a classroom. On daily rural school, students revealed that

there is a significant relationship between the students‟ attitude and their English

language achievement (Adnan(1985) and Noor Azmi(1995) as cited in Bidin et

all, 2009). It means that in the rural area, students‟ which learning English in the

school have a big influence between students‟ attitude and their achievement.

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 As we know, the attitudes in learning and teaching process is very

important. The teacher can know how the student follow the lesson based on their

attitude. Similarly it is also important to the learning and teaching process in

English classroom. Because English is the one of the important subject in the

world and it is useful for students in the future. Hissen and Strukelj (2007) said

that “In general however, the students in the class enjoy English and most of them

appear to believe that English is the most important or among the top three most

important school objects.” It means that English include in the most important

subject at school, and for sure English is also important for student‟s future. For

example, students can work/study later in the outside of their country, and they

have basic of communication to other people in other country by using English.

Because of that English is really important for student in this era. As a teacher

make sure that students have good attitude so that as an important subject in the

world, English can studied well by the students and it will useful for student‟s life

and student‟s future.

The importance of the English subject in this era, makes all the school

especially in Indonesia use English as an important subject in the school. Which

in Indonesia itself learning English is start from children of kindergarten until

college student. It seems that learning English is a must for students, and because

of that attitudes in the classroom can appear while they learning English. Some of

them maybe have the willingness to learn English, some of them maybe they have

less willingness to learn English. Mamun et al. (2012) state that “Thus attitude to

language is a construct that explains linguistic behavior in particular”. Attitude for

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language appear while learning English, and that is shows in linguistic behavior

particularly. By doing the investigating on the students‟ attitude either positive or

negative which will appear in student behavior in a classroom while learning

English.

This study has been conducted in others study before. In the study from

Eshghinejad (2016) with the title EFL Students Attitudes toward Learning English

Language the Case study of Kashan University Students. Also before that this

study was conducted in Abidin et al (2012) with the title EFL Students‟ Attitudes

towards Learning English Language: The Case of Libyan Secondary School

Student. The result of this study is, students aware the needs of English for their

life and they have big desire to learn English, but sometimes they do not like the

way they learn English at school.

This study is conducted and applied for senior high school students in

SMAN 1 Bringin. In the school which being the context for this research, the

place of this school is quite rural and far from the urban things. Because of that

the researcher believes that students in SMA N 1 Bringin have good attitude

towards learning English. This study aim to know the students‟ attitudes of the

senior high school students, towards learning English is it good or bad.

Research Question

1. What are the high school student‟s attitude towards learning English?

Significance of the Study

The contribution of this study would be of interest to English teacher of

SMA N 1 Bringin. So that English teacher can know that their students have a

3
good or bad attitude towards learning English. If the students have bad attitude,

English teacher can adjust their teaching style, but if the students have good

attitude, English teacher only need to maintain their teaching style.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Attitude

Attitude is very complicated to define. In Wikipedia based on the Carl

Jung on Psychological Types (1921,1971) quote that “readiness of the psycho to

act or react in a certain way.” (cited in Hissen & Strukelj, 2009). In general

attitude is how people act based on the situation in that time. Then attitude can be

positive and negative depend on how people show it to others, like Longman‟s

dictionary of contemporary English (2003) attitudes are the opinions and feelings

that one usually has about something or someone. They can be positive or

negative (cited in Hissen & Skrulej, 2007).

Attitude also tell us about how students behave about some conditions.

Baker (1992, p. 10) defines attitude as a “Hypothetical construct used to explain

the direction and persistence of human behavior.” (cited in Tamimi and Shuib,

2009). Also attitude influenced by the environment and people society, “The

attitudes are shaped by the social factors mentioned, which, in turn, influence

learner outcome” (Lennartson, 2008, p. 7-8). In short attitude is how people react

to the some situations either it is positive or negative.

Attitude towards English Language

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 English language refers to this study, is the language which use by the

teacher in a classroom while learning process with the concept of the lesson and

the students should understand it well.

Study about language attitude is conducted since a long time ago, “A bulk

of studies on language attitudes with various dimension have been conducted over

the years across the world such as attitude towards different languages” (e.g.

Balcazar, 2003; Malallah, 2000; Marley, 2004 cited in Mamun et al, 2012).

Karahan (2007, p. 84) state that “positive language attitude let learner have

positive orientation towards learning English. (cited in Tamimi and Shuib, 2009),

as a students they have to have good attitude towards their subjects, it will make

them have positive orientation while learning. Attitude while learning language

like English language is very important, and it can influence their achievement,

“Attitudes may play very crucial role in language learning as they would appear to

influence students‟ success or failure in their learning” (Tamimi and Shuib, p. 33).

Arslan and Akbarnov (2012, p. 26) also cite that “It has many times been

discussed and stressed that students‟ attitudes towards the use of the language has

a deep effect on the achievement and the use of the language”. “Furthermore,

students‟ attitude can change, they may have negative attitudes at the beginning of

learning a language but then they realize what a good advantage it is to know this

language and their attitudes change (Lennartson, 2008, p.8). It is usual when

students have negative attitude in the beginning because they think that learning

language is hard and complicated. In Kansikas (2002)‟s study, she claims that

students have quite positive attitudes towards the English language. Kansikas

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(2002, p. 109-111) claims that students think of English as nice, easy, normal and

that English is seen as a Lingua Franca. Kansikas (2002, p. 110) also states that

the attitudes were the same towards English regardless of the grade the

interviewed students had in English. (cited in Pirskanen, 2009, p. 10). So based on

the discussion above, it is clear that attitude towards English language is

important for students because it is influence their achievement of learning

especially learning English language.

Aspect of Attitude

This aspect of attitude involves the believes of the language learners about

the knowledge that they receive and their understanding in the process of

language learning (Gajalakshmi, 2013)

Cognitive aspect of attitude involves the beliefs of the language

learners about the knowledge that they receive and their understanding in the

process of language learning. The cognitive attitude can be classified into four

steps of connecting the previous knowledge and the new one, creating new

knowledge, checking new knowledge in many situations (Abidin et al, 2012, p.

122). Cognitive aspect itself can call it refers to the beliefs of people who see /

learn something, “Cognitive refers to the thoughts and beliefs and individual has

about an attitude object (Jasin, 2014, p. 6).

Emotional aspect of Attitude based on Choy &Troudi (2006)

attitude can help the learners to express whether they like or dislike the object or

surrounding situations, it is agreed that the inner feelings and emotions of learners

influence their perspectives and their attitudes towards the target language (cited

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in Abidin et al, 2012, p. 12). Feng and Chen (2009) stated that “Learning process

is an emotional process. It is affected by different emotional factors, “The teachers

and his students engage in various emotional activities in it and varied fruits of

emotions are yield” (as cited in Abidin et al, 2012, p. 12). Saidat, 2010 state that,

“Language attitude research has been considered in the previous 50 years because

of the growing relation between the importance of the language use and the nature

of individuals” (cited in Eshghinejad, 2016, p. 4). It means that language use can

influence the emotional of individual. Then as an attitude towards an object can be

defined, “An individual‟s attitude towards an object cannot be determined by

simply identifying it is beliefs about it because emotions works simultaneously

with the cognitive process about an attitude object (Jasin, 2014, p. 6).

Behavioral Aspect of Attitude deals with the way one behaves

and reacts in particular situations. Abidin et al, (2012, p. 122) state that, “It likes

how people reacts to something using particular behavior to response that thing.

Jasin (2014) also state that, “It involves person‟s response (favorable/unfavorable)

to do something regarding attitude object. How people give the response to the

situation like Wicker (1969) said that, “Behavioral tendency by an individual and

it consists of actions or observable responses that are the result of an attitude

object” (cited in Vishal Jasin, 2014, p. 6). It is true that positive attitude can lead

the students create the good behavior too towards learning any subjects in school.

Kara (2009) state that “Positive attitude leads to exhibition of positive behavior

toward studying, absorbing themselves in it; and striving to learn more” (cited in

Montano and Kasprzyk, 2008, p. 71). Like students observed to show their

7
enthusiasm to solve problem, and to know what is useful for a daily life and

engage themselves emotionally. As Montano and Kasprzyk (2008, p. 71) state,

“Attitude is determined by the individual‟s beliefs about outcomes or attributes of

performing the behavior (behavioral beliefs), weighted by evaluations of those

outcomes or attributes. Thus, a person who holds strong beliefs that positively

valued outcomes will result from performing the behavior will have a positive

attitude toward the behavior. Conversely, a person who holds strong beliefs that

negatively valued outcomes will result from the behavior will have a negative

attitude.” (cited in Abidin et al, 2012).

Related Studied

In the study of Sandra and Alexander (2007), the aim of the study

is to investigate the achievements in English as well as the attitudes towards the

English language and English as a school subject among students at a particular

multicultural school. The aim of that study is not the same with this study, this

study only wants to know the attitudes of senior high school towards learning

English. By exploring the problems of this study, teacher can solve the problem

related to the students‟ attitude towards learning English.

Based on the Abidin et al study (2012) the study is investigated Libyan

secondary school students‟ attitudes towards learning English in terms of the

behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects. And the results are respondents are

not aware of importance of English and learn it as a compulsory subject. Positive

attitude should be the umbrella of language learning. EFL teachers should respect

and think about the student‟s feelings, beliefs, and behaviors before the cognitive

8
abilities. English curriculum and classroom activities should involves effective

aims according to the students‟ need and their individual differences to build up

positive attitudes towards English. Cognitive performance can be achieved if the

EFL learners possess positive attitudes and enjoy acquiring the target language.

Because of that reason, attitude is the important thing in language learning.

In Eshghirejad (2016) study, attitude is considered as an essential factor

influencing language performance and received considerable attention from both

first and second language researcher. Attitude to language is construct that

explains linguistic behavior in particular. This study aimed at investigating

attitude of male and female English as a foreign language learners (EFL) of

Kashan University towards English language learning in term of behavior,

cognitive, and emotional aspects. And the result is between male and female

students in attitude toward learning English language are different. They are

aware in importance of English but females are more enthusiasm in learning

English than males.

THE STUDY

Context of the Study

The place of research was SMA N 1 Bringin which located in

Semarang Regency. The researcher took this place as the context of the study

because this place was located far from the city and urban things, and the access

to get there was quite hard, there was rare of public transportation. Because of that

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factor, the researcher wanted to know how the students attitude learning English

in that school.

Participants

The study involve 3 classes of social with the amount of them are

95 students. All of them were eleven grade of students in senior high school. The

researcher took all the class social because the researcher taught in the social

classes before the research, and the researcher know the classrooms condition

well. The respondents consist of 63 students of female and 32 students of male.

Also their age are 3 students of 15 years old, 44 students of 16 years old, 38 of 17

years old, 9 students of 18 years old and, 1 student of 19 years old.

Instrument

The instrument that used by the researcher was questionnaire with

closed ended question. The questionnaire contain of 30 questions and the students

just need to give (V) symbol to the statement which is considered true by the

student. The questions concerning language attitude in terms of behavioral,

cognitive, and emotional aspects of attitude. The way to calculate the

questionnaire was count how many students chose: strongly disagree, disagree,

neutral, agree, and strongly agree point for each statement. In addition the

questionnaire was adapted from the attitude questionnaire test employed in a study

by Boonrangsri et al (2004), other taken from Attitude and Motivation Test

Battery (AMTB) designed by Gardner (1985) and a behavioral, cognitive,

emotional attitude (BCEA) questionnaire (as cited in Abidin et al, 2012). The

questionnaire which taken from that source was little bit not related with aim of

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this study, but the researcher took this questionnaire as the instrument of this

study. The researcher keep the questionnaire as the instrument because the

researcher wanted to ask the attitude question and motivation question, but only

analyze the attitude question.

Data Collection Procedure

In data collection procedure the researcher made a request letter to

the school. Upon approval, the researcher retrieves the request letter. Then

researcher did the pilot study to measure the reliability level of questionnaire

items. To did so, 10 students of 10 grade which major in science class randomly

selected from the target population. Then the researcher asked the English

teachers to spread the questionnaire to the students. The time to complete answer

the questionnaire was about 15 minutes. Then the researcher did the real data

collection, the researcher collect the data like done in the piloting stage but in

social class together in one time for three class helped by English teacher of social

class, and it took about 20 minutes. Then for the results respondents has choose

between strongly disagree (SD), disagree (D), neutral (N), agree (A), and strongly

agree (SA) for each question.

Data Analysis Procedure

The collected data was analyzed by the Microsoft Excel Program

aiming to answer the research questions quantitatively. After the researcher got

the data, then the data processed then analyzed by the researcher in diagram and

table view, as it is a quantitative. The study is presented by the quantitative paper,

which serve the data through the number and analysis.

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FINDING AND DISCUSSION

The finding has divided into 3 aspects, ie behavioral aspects, cognitive

aspects, and emotional aspects.

1. Behavioral Aspect

As it can be seen in table 1, which for each aspects there are 10

questions representing the aspects.

TABLE 1

No Statement SD D N A SA

1 Speaking English anywhere making me worries 14 32 38 7 4

Studying English helps me to have a good

2 2 14 35 40 4
relationships with friends

When I hear a student in my class speaking English

3 0 3 30 53 9
well, I like to practice speaking with him/her

Studying English helps me to improve my

4 0 16 45 30 4
personality

I put off my English homework as much as

5 31 39 15 7 3
possible

I am not relaxed whenever I have to speak in my

6 8 35 34 16 2
English class

7 I feel embarrassed to speak English in front of 9 34 27 17 8

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 other students

I like to practice English the way native speakers

8 4 22 34 31 4
do

When I miss the class, I never ask my friends or

9 22 41 10 14 8
teachers for the homework on what has been taught

I do not feel enthusiastic to come to class when

10 18 37 34 4 2
English is being taught

The behavioral aspect of attitude, senior high school students show diverse

results based on their thought. In the first statement which says “Speaking English

anywhere making me worries”, from 95 students, 46 students say disagree, they

are sure that they are no worries when speaking English anywhere. They have

some based English knowledge to make them have the confidence when they

speak English. The most answer for this statement is neutral point is about 38,

they think that speak English anywhere sometimes make them worry, sometimes

make them confident. Then 11 students answer agree for this statement, because

speaking English anywhere make them worry.

Second statement “Studying English helps me to have a good relationships

with friends”, it means that because of studying English they can build a good

relation among students. 16 students answer strongly disagree, because they have

no effect for their relation in studying English. 35 students choose neutral because

they feel so-so in their English learning. Then for agree there are agree and

strongly agree, 44 students choose this point because they feel the changes of their

relationship with their friend in learning English.

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 The next statement “When I hear a student in my class speaking English

well, I like to practice speaking with him/her”, only 3 students disagree with that

statement because they are not agree to practice English with their friends. Then

30 students choose neutral point because they will do that if they need not as a

needs but if they need to practice they will do. In agree point there are 62 students

which agree with that statement, they will do that whether they are need or not but

they have effort to practice speaking with others.

Another statement of behavioral aspect is “Studying English helps me to

improve my personality”. 16 students did not agree with that because they think

English does not change their personality and their behavior of personality. Then

45 students choose as a neutral point because they are not sure that English can

change their personality or not. 34 students agree with that statement, they think

that their personalities changed after they are learning English and discovering

many knowledge from English subject.

Statement number 5 is “I put off my English homework as much as

possible”, there are many students choose disagree to put off their English

homework. 70 for strongly disagree and disagree, they have passion to learning

English and it proves in their effort of doing their English homework. Then 15

students choose for neutral and in agree side there are 10 students.

In number 6 the statement is “I am not relaxed whenever I have to speak in

my English class”, and this statement have 43 students strongly disagree, and

disagree point. The 34 students which choose neutral they did not feel anything

14
when they have to speak in English class. Then 18 students did not relaxed when

they have to speak English.

The seventh statement, 43 students disagree with that they “feel

embarrassed when they have to speak in front of other students”. 27 students feel

so-so when they have to speak in front of class. Then 25 students feel embarrassed

when they have to speak in front of class.

From 95 students, 26 students they choose disagree side to “practice like

native speaker do for their speaking”. Also 34 students choose to neutral because

they think they will do that if they need that. Then 35 students will do that.

For statement which “they did not ask to their teacher and friends if they

have homework from the English class that they have missed”, 63 students choose

disagree with that statement. 10 students choose to be neutral side, they

sometimes care with the homework and sometimes they are not. Then 22 students

choose to be silent and did not care with the homework at all.

All respondents from social students, 45 “students feel enthusiasm to come

to English class”. Then 34 students feel so-so, because they just come and follow

the lesson. And 6 students are not enthusiastic to come to English class.

Based on the data that shows how their behavioral towards learning

English at school, in statement number 3 “When I hear a students in my class

speaking English well, I like to practice speaking with him or her”, it shows a

significant number. 3 students choose disagree point and then 62 students choose

agree point. Based on the theory of cooperative learning that students is learning

15
together in groups. Students work together to learn and are responsible for their

team-mates learning as well as their own (Cooperative Learning: Theory and

Practice, USAID, 2009).

In statement number 5 there is also have a significant number of the data,

70 students choose disagree point for statement “I put off my English homework

as much as possible”, it shows that students have effort to learn English. Like in

the theory said “If one is motivated, he/she has reasons (motives) for engaging in

the relevant activities, attends to the task, shows desire to achieve the goal, enjoys

the activities, etc” (Gardner, 2006, p. 243 as cited in Tamimi and Shuib, 2009, p.

32).

Statement number 9, “When I miss the class, I never ask my friends or

teachers for the homework on what has been taught. There are 63 students choose

disagree point and 10 students choose neutral and 22 students choose agree. That

statement is engaged with the theory of Sham, 2008 “…students had affirmative

attitudes and enthusiasm towards English. This also highlighted that most of them

showed positive attitudes towards English language and its learning which, in

turn, emphasized the value of English language efficiency in the daily life” (cited

in Abidin et al, 2012, p. 122). It means that students which not pay attention to the

class like that statement, they never ask their friends or teachers for homework

they do not show positive attitude towards English language. Also they are not

emphasized the value of English language efficiency.

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 The last statement of behavioral aspects, “I do not feel enthusiastic to

come to class when English is being taught”,55 students choose disagree point

and 34 students choose neutral and then 6 students choose agree point. It shows

that students have enthusiasm in learning English based on the theory of Karahan

(2007), “Positive language attitude let learner have positive orientation towards

learning English” (cited in Tamimi and Shuib, 2009, p. 32).

Behavioral aspect of attitude in this study is response of students towards

learning English. It can be positive or negative behavior depend on how they give

response to English subject. Related to the behavior aspect of attitude, they should

have good behavior in classroom toward studying any subject, in this case

studying English subject. By having a good behavior they can absorbing the

material easily and engage themselves with English naturally. As it can be seen in

table 1 students shows positive response to the statements. It means that the

students have positive attitudes in learning English from the behavioral aspect.

Cognitive Aspect

As it can be seen in table 2, there are 10 questions about cognitive

aspect about English learning.

TABLE 2

No Statement SD D N A SA

Being good at English will help me study other

11 2 17 45 24 7
subjects well

17
 I have more knowledge and more understanding
12 0 13 38 36 8
when studying English

13 Frankly, I study English just to pass the exams 23 47 11 12 2

In my opinion, people who speak more than one

14 1 8 13 39 34
language are very knowledgeable

Studying English helps me communicate in English

15 1 6 22 50 16
effectively

I cannot apply the knowledge from English subject

16 8 30 43 12 2
in my real life

Studying English makes me able to create new

17 0 12 27 43 13
thoughts

I am not satisfied with my performance in English

18 2 7 29 47 10
subject

In my opinion, English language is difficult and

19 14 20 41 15 5
complicated to learn

English subject has the content that covers many

20 1 3 36 47 8
fields of knowledge

The cognitive aspect of attitude, students in grade 11 of senior high school

have diverse cognitive aspect from it. The cognitive aspect is aspect of study

which influence because of learning English in class. For the first statement, that

“English helps their other subjects well”, 19 students choose disagree side, they

18
did not feel that English helps their other subjects. 45 students feel so-so. Then the

rest is 31 students choose agree.

From 95 students only 13 students did not receive more knowledge from

English subject. They disagree with the statement number 12 that “they did not

have more knowledge when they study English”. 38 students choose so-so for that

statement.

The next statement is about that “they are studying English only for

exams”. Most of students choose disagree side. Then 11 students choose so-so,

and 14 students feel agree that they learn English only for pass the exams, they do

that because they are students.

For the students, “person which speak in more than one language is

knowledgeable person”. 9 students disagree about that. 13 students choose so-so

for that. And the rest they are agree with that, they think that language is the

window of the knowledge.

“Learning English in school can make them communicate in English

well”, state in statement number 15. Most of the respondents choose agree with

that, because when they are learning English they can communicate in English

effectively. 22 students choose so-so in their impact of learning English. And 7

students did not feel that learning English help they communicate effectively in

English.

19
 “They did not apply their knowledge from English subject” only for 14

students. And 43 students feel so-so because they are not sure the English is

useful in their life or not. And 38 students think that English is useful for their life.

The one of cognitive aspect of attitude is about “English able to create new

thought for the students”. Only 12 students that cannot open their new thought

using English subject. And 27 students only keep going in learning English

because they choose so-so. The most of the answer from the respondents is they

are agree that English can create new thought for them.

Next statement is “I am not satisfied with my performance in English

subject”. Sometimes they need to look their achievement in English subject, and

make them satisfied and not satisfied. 9 students are satisfied with their

achievement of English subject. 29 students feel so-so. And 57 students are not

satisfied with their performance in English.

For senior high school, “English is difficult and complicated to learn” and

20 students agree with that. 41 students feel so-so because they know that English

is difficult and complicated but sometimes is fun to learn. Then 34 students do not

agree that English is difficult and complicated to learn.

The last statement for cognitive aspect is “English subject has the content

that covers many fields of knowledge”, then 4 students do not agree with that

because they do not receive any knowledge from English subject. 36 students

choose for so-so point because they have not so much knowledge from English.

20
Then 55 students agree with that, they think that English can covers many

knowledge.

Based on the data above we can see that in the statement number 13,

“Frankly, I study English just to pass the exams”, have contrast data. 70 students

choose disagree for that statement and 14 students choose agree for that statement.

According to Tsuda, 2003, in Japan studying English is not for communication

but for examination. But majority of the students say that they would like to study

conversation with native speaker and they also want to learn English through

popular song or movie (p.68). So the result of this study is that students study

English not only to pass the exams.

In statement number 14, “In my opinion, people who speak more than one

language are very knowledgeable”, 9 students disagree with that and 73 students

agree with that statement. According to Mackay and Mountford (1978) “Adults,

on the other hand unless they are learning foreign language for „pleasure‟ at

evening institutes, as a „cultural‟ and social experience, are generally highly of the

conscious of the use to which they intend to put it. That use is frequently

associated with an occupational, vocational, academic or professional

requirement” (cited in Arslan and Akbarov, 2012, p. 25). The students thought

that by learning English, they can add their knowledge in many areas.

Statement number 15, “Studying English helps me communicate in

English effectively”, 66 students said agree for that and 7 students did not agree

with that. Noels et al, 2003 said that “In other words, if students are interested in

21
the countries were the languages are spoken, they may be more motivated to learn

the language (cited in Frida Lennartsson, 2008, p. 8). It means that students want

to speak English well and then they are learning English, then they can

communicate English effectively.

Statement number 18, “I am not satisfied with my performance in English

subject”, 57 students choose agree point, and 9 students choose disagree. There

are many students which do not satisfied in their performance of English. Tella,

Indoshi, Othuon, (2010) state that “Negative attitude toward English is the most

affective and psychological factor that results in the students‟ poor performance in

English”. It shows that students which not satisfied in English subject

performance have a negative attitude toward learning English.

In conclusion, cognitive aspect is the student knowledge that they have

received toward learning any subject. This study show how English subject

influence their cognitive aspect. Students in this school have a good cognitive

aspect while they learning English. They should have more knowledge in their

learning process, especially learning English.

Emotional Aspect
As it can be seen in table 3, there are 10 questions about emotional

aspect.

TABLE 3

No Statement SD D N A SA

22
 I prefer studying in my mother tongue rather than
21 5 21 38 23 8
any other foreign language

To be honest, I really have little interest in my

22 16 41 26 9 3
English class

I don't get anxious when I have to answer a

23 2 21 46 22 4
question in my English class

Studying foreign languages like English is

24 2 7 37 36 13
enjoyable

25 I feel proud when studying English language 0 3 50 31 11

Studying English subject makes me feel more

26 0 14 44 28 9
confident

27 I am interested in studying English 2 7 34 37 15

28 Knowing English is an important goal in my life 1 18 45 25 6

29 I look forward to the time I spend in English class 4 26 50 11 4

Studying English makes me have a good emotions

30 2 16 58 13 6
(feelings)

The emotional aspect of attitude shows when “students‟ emotion change

because they are learning English”. From 95 students 38 students feel so-so when

they are learning other language especially English, 23 students agree that they are

better when they learning in their mother tongue. 34 students did not agree that

they only learning in mother tongue.

23
 There are 12 students which are not interested in learning English. 26

students feel so-so in their interested in English. And 57 students that they are

interesting to learn English.

“I don't get anxious when I have to answer a question in my English

class”, that statement chosen by 95 students with the diverse answer. 26 students

agree that they feel not anxious when they have to answer question in English. 46

students feel ordinary. Then 23 students feel anxious when they have to answer

question in English.

Learning English is enjoyable, and researcher found that 49 students agree

with that. They think that English is enjoyable and fun to learn. 37 students feel

so-so about the fun things of English. And 9 students do not agree with that, they

are not interest in learning English.

3 students do not agree with the statement number 25, they did not feel

proud when they learning English. 50 students feel so-so they just learning. And

then 42 students feel proud when they learning English because they feel they

have new knowledge from it also can speak in other language.

Learning English makes students feel confident is agreed by 37 students,

they have their high confident because they are learning English. 44 students feel

so-so about that. Then 14 students disagree that confident can be gotten from

learning English.

24
 Emotionally 52 students interesting to learn English. 34 students feel so-so

of learning English, because they just learning and not really interesting with that.

Then 9 student are not interesting to learn English.

English for the important thing in students‟ life and researcher have 45

students feel so-so about that. 31 students agree with that, and 19 students are not

agree with that statement.

Students which hope that they can spend time in English class is about 13

students, they really want to learn English more and more. Then 50 students are

not really interested to spend time in English class. Also 30 students do not agree

that they spend time to learning English.

English, can make students have good emotion, proves when they have to

do some task in English they can do it well or not and fully with bad emotion. 58

students really did not know that English can make their emotions better or not,

they just learning English. 19 students sure that English can change their emotion

to be more patient because learning English is not easy. Then the rest of

respondent 18 students they are not agree that English make them emotion better.

“Positive attitudes lead to exhibition of positive behaviors toward courses of study

with participants absorbing themselves in courses and striving to learn more. Such

student are also observed to be more eager to solve problem, to acquire the

information and skills useful for daily life and to engage themselves emotionally”

(Montano & Kasprzyk, 2008, p. 71).

25
 From the data above, statement number 22, “To be honest, I really have

little interest in my English class”, and 57 students disagree with that, and 12

students agree about that statement. It shows that 12 students did not interested to

learn English in class. “If a learner is not interested acquiring the target language,

he/she possesses a negative attitude and is not motivated and enthusiastic in

language learning” according to Eshghinejad, 2016, p. 5. However, most of the

students are interested that means that they have positive attitude. Based on Choy

S. C &Troudi. S, 2006 attitude can help the learners to express whether they like

or dislike the object or surrounding situations, it is agreed that the inner feelings

and emotions of learners influence their perspectives and their attitudes towards

the target language.

Statement number 24, “Studying foreign languages like English is

enjoyable”, shows that 49 students agree with that, and 9 students disagree about

that. According to Baker (1988), “Most probably this students will have a

negative attitude and will not be interested in learning the language”. It means that

negative attitude of students shows that they are not interested but if students

enjoy learning English it means that they are interested and they have positive

attitude towards learning English. It is clear that from that statement, some

students thought that learning English is enjoyable.

52 students are interested in studying English beside that 9 students are not

interested in learning English, it shows in statement number 27. Statement number

27 has significant data that the agree students are more than disagree with that

statement. According to Baker (1988), “Most probably this student will have a

26
negative attitude and will not be interested in learning the language. It shows that

9 students are not interested and they have negative attitude towards learning

English.

Emotionally, attitude of learning English is about how students build their

emotion through learning English. How their emotion process receive the

material, they can express like or dislike. But emotion works simultaneously with

cognitive process, how they can control their emotion when they face the

cognitive aspect of English subject. Based on the data students in this school have

positive attitude towards learning English especially in emotional aspect.

CONCLUSION

The aim of the study is to find out students‟ attitude of the senior high

school towards learning English. Based on the discussion and analysis, students

which have been researched, mostly have good attitude. They are good in 3

aspects of attitude, such as behavioral, cognitive, and emotional attitude.

In behavioral aspect of attitude they are interested to learn English which

shown by that they do to support their learning process, they also try to connect

with people which help them more understanding English like they want to

practice speaking English with their friends, always do their homework, and ask

to their teacher and friends when they missed the class.

From the cognitive aspect students aware that English is important not

only to pass the exam, but also for their future life and also they feel that studying

English help they communicate English effectively. Prove that students mostly

27
agree in the statement that they will study English not only for the exams. And

also they are believe that people which speak in more than one language is people

with knowledgeable.

Beside that from emotional aspect, they agree that studying foreign

language like English is enjoyable, because they are interested to learn English.

They believe that English can change their emotional into good emotion. Also

they proud when they studying English.

The implication of this study, with knowing the attitude of students in

senior high school, the teacher in senior high school can maintain their teaching

style because their teaching style is enough to make the students have good

attitude towards learning English. The limitation of this study is 1 school which

being researched and 1 instrument of the study which use in this study. Then for

further study, the researcher can add more school for the context of the study and

add instrument to get the data.

28
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to God Almighty

who always blesses me so I can complete this thesis well. Second, I would like to

give my special gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Mam. Rindang Widiningrum,

M.Hum., and the examiner, Mrs. Anita Kurniawati, M.Hum., for the guidance and

the knowledge. Without their help, this thesis might never be completed. I also

give a bunch of thanks to all my participants (Students in grade 11 Social 1, 2, and

3 SMA N 1 Bringin) and English Teachers SMA N 1 Bringin (Pak Anjas, Bu Alif,

and Bu Yus), for being so cooperative in collecting data. Many thanks are also

dedicated to my big family (Soekarsono family), my beloved aunty (Tri Andriani

Setyowati S. Pd. SD) who give me everything, my Mom “This is for you”, my

lovely cousins (Nisaa, Haris, and Fauzi) thank you for always amusing me, my

lovely friend (Intan Risky Permatasari) thank you for accompanied me during

thesis process, My PPL Squad (Lusi, Atika, Mikha, Sulis and Arya) thank you

“bosku”, my one and only big supporter (Riska Yudha Wardhana) who always

support me for this 7 months. Last but not least, I would like to thank to

Thirteeners, cast Shrek Drama FLA, Bopung Squad, and all people who always

support me.

29
 REFERENCES

Abidin, M J Z. et al. (2012). Efl Students Attitudes towards Learning English

Language: The Case of Libyan Secondary School Students. Asian
Social Science. 8(2). 119-134.
Arslan, M. U & Akbarov, A. (2012). EFL Learners Perceptions and Attitudes
towards English for the Specific Purposes. Acta Didacta Napocensia.
4(5). 25-30.

Bidin, S. et al. (2009). Motivation and Attitude in Learning English among UITM
Students in the Northern Region of Malaysia.
www.ccsenet.org/journal.html. 2(2). 16-20.

Eshghinejad, S. (2016). EFL Student‟ Attitude towards Learning English

Language: The Case Study of Kashan University Students. Cogent
Education. 3(1236434). 1-13.

Gajalakshmi. (2013). High School Students‟ Attitude towards Learning English

Language. International Journal of Scientific and Research
Publications. 3(9). 1-7.

Hissen, S &Alexander S. (2007). The Attitude toward the English Language in

Relation to Achievements at School a Multicultural School.
Laraxamen 180 Poang Moderna Sprak Engelska.

Jain, V. (2014). 3D Model of Attitude. International Journal of Advanced

Research in Management and Social Science. 3(3). 1-12.

Lennartson, F. (2008). Students‟ Motivation and Attitude towards Learning a

Second Language.Vaxjo University School of Humanities. 1-24

Mamun, SK. A. et al. (2012). Students‟ Attitudes towards English: The Case of
Life Science School of Khulna University. International Review of
Social Sciences and Humanities. 3(1). 200-209.

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Pirskanen, H. (2009). Attitudes towards the English Language: a Comparison
between a CILIL Class and Regular Class. University of Jyvaskyla
Department of Languages.

Quasem, F. (2014). Students‟ Attitudes towards Learning English. Prime

University Journal. 8(1). 70-100.

Tamimi, A A &Munir S. (2009). Motivation and Attitudes towards Learning

English: a Study of Petroleum Engineering Undergraduates at
Hadramout University of Science and Technology. GEMA Online
Journal of Language Studies. 9(2). 29-55.

Tsuda, S. (2003). Attitudes toward English Language Learning in Higher

Education in Japan(2): Raising Awareness of the Notion of Global
English. Tokai Gakuen University. XII(3). 61-75.

USAID. (2009). Cooperative Learning: Theory & Practice. World Education,

INC: Boston.

31
APPENDIX

Instrument

I am a:

1. Female
2. Male
- Name :
- Age :
Read statements below and give the check (V) symbol to choose the
answer. SD = Strongly Disagree, D = Disagree, N = Neutral, A = Agree, SA =
Strongly Aggree.

NO Statement 1 2 3 4 5

SD D N A SA

1. Speaking English anywhere making me worries

2. Studying English helps me to have a good

relationships with friends

3. When I hear a student in my class speaking English

well, I like to practice speaking with him/her

4. Studying English helps me to improve my personality

5. I put off my English homework as much as possible

6. I am not relaxed whenever I have to speak in my

English class

7. I feel embarrassed to speak English in front of other

students

8. I like to practice English the way native speakers do

9. When I miss the class, I never ask my friends or

32
 teachers for the homework on what has been taught

10. I do not feel enthusiastic to come to class when

English is being taught

11. Being good at English will help me study other

subjects well

12. I have more knowledge and more understanding when

studying English

13. Frankly, I study English just to pass the exams

14. In my opinion, people who speak more than one

language are very knowledgeable

15. Studying English helps me communicate in English

effectively

16. I cannot apply the knowledge from English subject in

my real life

17. Studying English makes me able to create new

thoughts

18. I am not satisfied with my performance in English

subject

19. In my opinion, English language is difficult and

complicated to learn

20. English subject has the content that covers many fields

of knowledge

21. I prefer studying in my mother tongue rather than any

33
 other foreign language

22. To be honest, I really have little interest in my English

class

23. I don't get anxious when I have to answer a question in

my English class

24. Studying foreign languages like English is enjoyable

25. I feel proud when studying English language

26. Studying English subject makes me feel more

confident

27. I am interested in studying English

28. Knowing English is an important goal in my life

29. I look forward to the time I spend in English class

30. Studying English makes me have a good emotions

(feelings)

34
Saya adalah seorang:

1. Perempuan
2. Laki – laki
- Nama :
- Umur :

Baca pernyataan – pernyataan ini dengan baik dan beri tanda centang ( )
pada kolom yang tersedia. STS = Sangat Tidak Setuju, TS = Tidak Setuju, N =
Netral, S = Setuju, SS = Sangat Setuju.

NO Pernyataan 1 2 3 4 5

STS TS N S SS

1. Berbicara dalam Bahasa Inggris membuat saya merasa

takut.

2. Belajar Bahasa Inggris membantu saya memiliki

hubungan baik dengan teman – teman.

3. Ketika saya mendengar teman saya berbicara dalam

Bahasa Inggris dengan baik, saya akan berlatih
berbicara dengannya.

4. Belajar Bahasa Inggris membantu saya untuk

memperbaikai kepribadian saya.

5. Saya suka menunda tugas Bahasa Inggris hingga

menumpuk sangat banyak.

6. Saya tidak nyaman ketika saya harus berbicara di kelas

Bahasa Inggris

7. Saya merasa malu untuk berbicara dalam Bahasa

Inggris di depan teman – teman.

8. Saya suka berlatih berbicara Bahasa Inggris seperti

yang dilakukan oleh native speaker.

9. Ketika saya melewatkan jam pelajaran Bahasa Inggris

saya tidak pernah bertanya kepada teman – teman/
guru tentang tugas yang diberikan

35
10. Saya tidak merasa antusias untuk datang ke kelas
Bahasa Inggris

11. Baik dalam berbahasa Inggris membantu saya belajar

mata pelajaran yang lain dengan baik.

12. Saya memiliki pengetahuan lebih ketika belajar

Bahasa Inggris.

13. Sebetulnya, saya belajar Bahasa Inggris hanya untuk

ujian.

14. Menurut saya, orang yang berbicara lebih dari satu

bahasa adalah orang yang berpengetahuan luas.

15. Belajar Bahasa Inggris membantu saya berkomunikasi

dalam Bahasa Inggris secara efektif.

16. Saya tidak mengaplikasikan pelajaran ilmu Bahasa

Inggris dalam kehidupan sehari – hari.

17. Belajar Bahasa Inggris membuat saya bisa membuka

pikiran baru.

18. Saya tidak puas dengan nilai saya di pelajaran Bahasa

Inggris.

19. Menurut saya Bahasa Inggris sangat sulit dan rumit

untuk dipelajari.

20. Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris terdapat banyak sekali

pengetahuan di dalamnya.

21. Saya lebih suka belajar dalam Bahasa Indonesia

daripada bahasa asing manapun.

22. Sejujurnya saya tidak tertarik dalam mempelajari

Bahasa Inggris.

23. Saya tidak gelisah ketika saya harus menjawab

pertanyaan dalam Bahasa Inggris.

24. Belajar bahasa asing seperti Bahasa Inggris adalah hal

yang menyenangkan.

36
25. Saya merasa bangga ketika saya belajar Bahasa
Inggris.

26. Belajar Bahasa Inggris membuat saya merasa percaya

diri.

27. Saya tertarik untuk belajar Bahasa Inggris.

28. Memahami Bahasa Inggris adalah tujuan yang penting

dalam hidup saya.

29. Saya berharap saya dapat menghabiskan waktu untuk

belajar Bahasa Inggris.

30. Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris membuat saya memiliki

emosi yang baik.

37