Studying English in an English-speaking country is the best but not the only way to learn the language

In this global era, English is considered as an international communication media. There is a dozen of ways to facilitate us in studying English, one of which is by studying in an English-speaking country like America or British.

For some people, it is likely adequate to study English in a short course for several months as long as they are willing to work hard. All they need to do here are about practice. They do not have to wait for the chance to go abroad comes in order to practice speaking English only. There are a lot of people who can speak English fluently without going to the English-native country, so basically studying English according to them is not something so complicated because it can be applied everywhere as the fact that English language has widely been used in most countries.

However, since the language is not only a fluent speaking but also a cultural understanding, to study English in native-speaking country is still much better because it will give the students a more natural atmosphere in the process of language acquisition. The native environment will bring an ease to the students in learning English. They will know how to apply an accepted language in interacting with the society.

As the conclusion, although there are many ways to study English but studying this language in an English-speaking country is the best because it has a natural environment supporting the process of English learning.

Faktor-Faktor Yang Mempengaruhi Pengelolaan Kelas

Dalam pengertian yang kedua ini, maka ada beberapa faktor yang mempengaruhi perwujudan pengelolaan kelas yaitu :

a. Kurikulum
Kurikulum kaitannya dengan pengelolaan kelas seperti pengertian diatas haruslah di rancang sebagai jumlah pengalaman edukatif yang menjadi tanggung jawab sekolah dalam membantu anak-anak mencapai tujuan pendidikannya, yang diselenggarakan secara berencana dan terarah serta terorganisir, karena kegiatan kelas bukan sekedar dipusatkan pada penyampaian sejumlah materi pelajaran atau pengetahuan yang bersifat intelektualistik, akan tetapi juga memperhatikan aspek pembentukan pribadi, baik sebagai makhluk individual dan makhluk social maupun sebagai makhluk yang bermoral.

Pada sekolah madrasah Ibtida’iyah, kurikulum pada tingkat MI harus dirancangkan untuk untuk memungkinkan diselenggarakannya kegiatan kelas dalam memenuhi kebutuhan melakukan eksplorasi dan ekspenmentasi guna memeberikan pangalaman intelektual dan social yang terpadu dalam rangka realisasi diri. Oleh karena itu disamping aspek materi pengetahuan diperlukan program kelas untuk memenuhi perbedaan minat bakat dan kemampuan murid. Program tersebut dapat dilakukan melalui aspek-aspek kependidikan dibidang kesenian termasuk kesejahteraan keluarga, tekhnik, olahraga, kepramukaan dan kesehatan pada kelas-kelas terakhir sekolah menengah tingkat atas programnya harus dirancangkan untuk membantu anak-anak mewujudkan diri dalam memasuki masyarakat sebagai orang dewasa. Program itu antara lain harus diarahkan untuk memeberikan keterampilan tertentu guna memasuki lapangan kerja tingkat menengah atas disamping program untuk memeprsiapkan para remaja agar menjadi warga Negara yang memahami dan mampu menjalankan hak dan kewajibannya.

b. Gedung dan Sarana Kelas / Sekolah
Perencanaan dalam membangun sebuah gedung untuk sebuah sekolah berkenaan dengan jumlah dan luas setiap ruangan, letak dan dekorasinya yang harus disesuaikan dengan kurikulum yang dipergunakan. Akan tetapi karena kurikulum selalu dapat beruabh. Sedang ruangan atau gedung bersifat permanen, maka diperlukan kreativitas dalam mengatur pendayagunaan ruang / gedung yang bersedia berdasarkan kurikulum yang dipergunakan. Dalam konteks ini kepandaian guru dalam pengelolaan kelas sangat dibutuhkan.

c. Guru
Hadari Nawawi menyatakan guru adalah orang yang bekerja dalam bidang pendidikan dan pengajaran yang bertanggung jawab dalam memebnatu anak dalam mencapai kedewasaan masing-masing. Guru dalam pengertian tersebut bukan sekedar berdiri didepan kelas untuk menyampaikan materi atau pengetahuan tertentu, akan tetapi dalam keanggotaan masyarakat yang harus aktif dan berjiwa bebas serta kreatif dalam mengarahkan perkembangan anak didiknya untuk menjadi anggota masyarakat sebagai orang dewasa.
d. Murid
Murid sebagai unsur kelas memiliki perasaan kebersamaan (Sense Of kolektive) merupakan kondisi yang sangat penting artinya bagi terciptanya kelas yang dinamis. Oleh karena , setiap murid harus memiliki perasaan diterima (Sense of membershif) terhadap kelasnya agar mampu ikut serta dalam kegiatan kelas. Perasaan inilah yang akan menumbuhkan rasa tanggung jawab (Sense of respsibility) terhadap kelasnya.

e. Diamika kelas
Kelas adalah kelompok sosial yang dinamis yang harus dipergunakan oleh setiap wali atau guru kelas untuk kepentingan murid dalam proses kependidikannya. Dinamika kelas pada dasarnya berarti kondisi kelas yang diliputi dorongan untuk aktif secara terarah yang dikembangkan melalui kretifitas dan inisiatif murid sebagai suatu kelompok, untuk itu setiap wali atau guru kelas harus berusaha menyalurkan berbagai saran, pendapat, gagasan, keterampilan, potensi dan energi yang dimiliki murid menjadi kegiatan-kegiatan yang berguna. Dengan demikian kelas tidak akan berlangsung secara statis, rutin dan membosankan.

Analysis of the lexical meaning of An Original Soundtrack of Little Mermaid Movie titled ‘Under The Sea’

A.    The Song Lyrics
Listen it
We’re the animal sea
Check it out
The seaweed is always greener
In somebody else's lake
You dream about going up there
But that is a big mistake
Just look at the world around you
Right here on the ocean  floor
Such wonderful things surround you
What more is you lookin' for?

Under the sea (2x)
Darling it's better
Down where it's wetter
Take it from me
Up on the shore they work all day
Out in the sun they slave away
While we devotin'
Full time to floatin'
Under the sea

Down here all the fish are happy
As off through the waves they roll
The fish on the land ain't happy
Being the slave of the chef
And chef has been prepared the cooking and dining set   
They sad 'cause they’re  in their bowl
But fish in the bowl is lucky
They in for a worser fate
One day when the boss get hungry
Guess who's gonna  be on the plate

Under the sea (2x)
Nobody beat us
Fry  us and eat us
In fricassee
We what the land folks loves to cook
Under the sea we off the hook
We got no troubles (difficult situation, worry)
We got no problems
Life is the bubbles
Under the sea
Under the sea
Since life is sweet here
We got the beat here
Naturally
Even the sturgeon an' the ray
They get the urge  'n' start to play
We got the spirit
You got to hear it
Under the sea

Oh, yeah…prepare your musical instrument!
The newt play the flute
The carp play the harp
The plaice play the bass
And they soundin' sharp
The bass  play the brass
The chub play the tuba
The fluke is the duke of soul
(Yeah)
The ray he can play
The lings on the strings
The trout  rockin' out
The blackfish  she sings
The smelt  and the sprat
They know where it's at
An' oh that blowfish blow

Under the sea (2x)
When the sardine
Begin the beguine
It's music to me
What do they got? Too lot of sand
we got a hot crustacean band
Each little clam here
know how to jam here
Under the sea
Each little slug here
Cuttin' a rug here
Under the sea
Each little snail here
Know how to wail here
That's why it's too hot
Under the water
Ya we in luck here
Down in the muck here
Under the sea

B.    The Analysis
1.    Denotation
Denotation is the meaning of word which is primarily refers to the real world and this is often the definition that is given in dictionary.

2.    Connotation
Connotation arise as words become related with certain characteristic of item to which they refer, or the association of positive or negative feelings to which they evokes, which may or may not be indicated in the dictionary definition. The positive connotation in the lyrics is ‘muck’, in the lyric ‘Down in the muck here’, the dictionary definition of ‘muck’is ‘the condition that is unpleasant’, but here the meaning of ‘muck’ is the condition which even live under the sea with all creatures there is very noisy but it makes them happy because they always have fun together.

3.    Ambiguity
     A word or a sentence is ambiguous if it can be undrstood or interpreted in more than one way (Fromkin et.al, 1990). The different words having same form or pronunciation may cause ambiguity among listeners or readers who do not pay attention to their context carefully. Among the different words having same form or pronunciation are:
a.     Homonyms (different words having same form)
·    slave ( a person who is legally owned by another person)
       slave (work very hard)   
·    bass (an electric guitar that plays very low note)
   bass ( a sea or freshwater fish that is used for food)
·    slave ( a person who is legally owned by another person)
slave (work very hard)   
·    bass (an electric guitar that plays very low note)
bass ( a sea or freshwater fish that is used for food)
b.    Homophones (different word which are pronounced the same)
·    To (used before the base form of a verb to show that the verb is the infinitive. The infinitive is used after many verbs and also many nouns and adjectives)
        Too (used before adjectives and adverbs to say that sth is more that is good, necessary,   possible)

4.    Antonym
The word antonym derives from the Greek root anti- (‘opposite’) and denotes oposition in meaning. In contrast to synonymy and hyponymy, antonymy is a binary relationship that can characterize a relationship between only two words at a time. Terms A and B are antonyms if, when A describes a referent, B cannot describe the same referent, and vice versa. The antonyms found in this song lyrics are:
·    happy (feeling or showing pleasure) >< sad (uhappy or showing unhappiness)
·    up (moving upwards) >< down (to force something down)
·    land (the surface of the earth that is not  sea) >< sea (the salt water that covers most of the earth’s surface and surrounds its continents and island)   

5.    Synonym
Two words are said to be synonymous if they mean the same thing. To addres the notion of synonymy more formally, we can say that term A is synonymous with term B if every referrent of A is a referent of B and vice versa. The synonyms found in this song lyrics are:
·    listen = hear (to be away of sounds by your ears or to pay attention to somebody/something that you can hear)
·    ocean = sea (the mass of salt water that covers most of the earth’s surface and surrounds its continents and island)
·    troubles = problems (difficult situation, worry)   
·    slug = snail (a small soft creature, with or without a hard round shell on its back, that moves very slowly and often eats garden plants )



6.    Hyponymy
A hyponym is a subordinate, specific term whose referent is included in the referent of a superordinate term and the relationship between each of the lower term (hyponym) and the higher term (superordinate) is called hyponymy.
·    cook (to prepare food by heating it, for example by boliling, baking or frying it) is superordinate of fry (to cook something in hot fat or oil)
·    fish is superordinate of :
a.    sturgeon (a large sea and freshwater fish that lives in nothern region . Strurgeon are used for foods and the eggs (called caviar) are also eaten)
b.    ray ( a seafish with a large broad flat body and long tail that is used for food)
c.   carp (a large freshwater fish that is used for the food)
d.   plaice ( a flat sea fish that is used for food)
e.   bass ( a sea or freshwater fish that is used for food)
f.    chub (a freshwater fish with athick body)
g.   fluke (a flat fish)
h.   ray ( a sea fish with a large broad flat body and long tail that is used for food)
i.    trout (a common freshwater fish that is used for food. There are several types of trout: rainbow trout, trour fishing)
j.    blackfish (a fish in a black coloured)
k.   smelt (a small fish bait)
l.    blowfish
n.   sprat (a very small European sea fish that is used for food)
o.   sardine (a small young sea fish that is either eaten fresh or preserved in tins/cans)
·    animal is superordinate of:
a.    fish (sturgeon, ray, carp, plaice, bass, chub,  fluke, ray, trout, blackfish, smelt blowfish, sprat, sardine)
b.    crustacean (any creature with a soft body that is divided into sections, and a hard outer shell. Most crustaceans live in water)
c.    clam (a shellfish that can be eaten. It has a shell in two parts that can open and close) 
d.    slug (a small soft creature, a snail with without a shell, that moves very slowly and often eats garden plants )
e.    snail (a small soft creature with a hard round shell on its back, that moves very slowly and often eats garden plants)
f.    newt (a small animal with short legs, a long tail and a cold blood, that lives both in water and on land)
·    dining set is superordinate of:
a.    bowl (a deep round dish with a wide open top, used specially for holding food or liquid)
b.    plate (a flat, usually round, dish that you put on)   
·    musical instrument is superordinate of:
a.    flute ( a musical instrument of the wood-wind group shaped like a tin pipe. The player holds it sideways and blows across a hole at one end)
b.    bass (an electric guitar that plays very low note)
      c.    harp (a large musical instrument with strings streched on vertical frame, played with the fingers)
d.    brass (the musical instrument made of metals, such as trumpets or french horns, that form a band or section of an orchestra)
e.    tuba ( a large brass musical instrument that you play by blowing, and that produces low notes)

7.  Polysemy
Polysemy (or multiple meaning) is a property of single lexemes; and this is what differentiates it, in principles, from homonymy.

EYL; Characteristics of Young Learner

     The art of teaching is essentially an art to evoke the natural curiosity of young minds (Anatole France, 20th century).

Young Learners (YLs) refer to children from the ages of four to twelve. Increasingly, though, children as young as three are being formally introduced to English as a foreign language. According to Sarah Phillips (1993), young learners are children from the first year of formal schooling (five or six years old) to eleven or twelve years of age. However, as any children's teacher will know, it is not so much the children's age that counts in the classroom as how mature they are. There are many factors that influence children's maturity: for example, their culture and environment (city or rural), sex, the expectations of their peers and parents.

Young children do not come to the language classroom with empty hand. They bring a well-established set of instincts, skills and characteristics which will help them to learn another language. We need to identify those and make the most of them. For example, children characteristics are curious, outspoken, active, inquisitive nature, and like to move around.
While they are skilled in:
- being very good at interpreting meaning without necessarily understanding the      individual words;
- having great ability in using limited language creatively;
- frequently learning indirectly rather than directly;
- taking great pleasure in finding and creating fun in which they do;
- creating  a ready imagination.

Genres in Argumenatative Essay and Some Pedagogical Implications (Summary of RELC Journal)

    After reading this journal for several times, I can summarize that there are three points briefly explained here. Those are the structure of a familiar and important genre, the argumentative essay, and some other pedagogical implications.
a.    Schemata and Genre Analysis
    To improve our teaching of writing, it can use knowledge of text organization. The research in cognitive psychology has found a familiar stereotypical pattern called schemata. ‘Formal schemata’ represents knowledge about text types. Since the range of texts a reader can participate in based on how many formal schemata applied, there is an important part for the teachers to introduce the students about the schemata associated with genres (particular varieties of writing). In genre system of analysis, texts are distinguished based on their oriented aim and examined to determine how they are structured to reach particular ends. This covers how the writer typically organizes information or idea in a context of a specific text type.
b.    The Argumentative Essay
    This text is characterized by three stage structure representing the organizations of the genre. The first is the thesis Stage that introduces the discourse topic and advances the writer’s proposition or central statement. Then the second level is the Argument Stage that presents the infrastructure of reasons characterizing the genre. The last stage is the conclusion that is to consolidate the discourse and affirm what is communicated.
c.    Some Other Pedagogical Implications   
    The contribution of a language to examine language is therefore of primary pedagogical importance, allowing a greater and more effective degree of teacher intervention which is to make students aware of how language works in the context of the argumentative essay. Therefore, this description of the argumentative essay is beneficial in numerous ways.
    Genres are culturally formulated activities and represent how language is commonly applied to achieve particular goals in our society. Effective argument is as much a matter of organization as content. In other word, to argue is to express ideas in these particular ways.

A Summary of Written Communication Journal

    This journal entitled ‘The Uses and Complexity of Argument Structures in Expert and Students Persuasive writing’ was published by SAGE in 1998.  Joanna G. Crammond as the author aimed to identify the developmental features and characteristic weaknesses of students’ persuasive writing by analyzing their written text samples. In this observation, the participants are from the students from two elementary schools and one high school, and also seven experts well experienced in writing persuasive texts from 3 to 18 years.

     In doing this research, she sets up Toulmin’s Schematic as the general model of informal argument. This schematic is composed by Claim, data, a warrant, backing for warrant, a qualifier, and one reservation. The entire argument model is briefly represented as semantic network or conceptual graph structures. Taking a step to develop the argument model, formalism as The Argument Grammar is applied to represent the identified structures. As a result, all experts and students use at least one argument structure in their persuasive texts. They use one minimal claim, and most writers in all groups included at least one Subclaim, Constraint, and instance of data.

    Identification of argument substructures was based on the presence of specific semantics structures and linguistics devices. All texts, then, are described in terms of general semantic categories and use of conjunctive ties. Then the result of the detailed semantics and linguistic analyses facilitated the identification of substructures, other source are used to guide decisions as to the categorization of text as a particular element in an argument. Data presented in this study indicates that argument structure is the predominant organizational framework in both student and expert persuasive writing; it functions as a type of a rhetorical superstructure. From this rhetorical view, the overall frequency of embedded arguments in a persuasive text is seen as important since it reflects the use of argument chains, complex structure that can serve to strengthen a major claim.

TAHAPAN PROSES KONSELING

Adapun teknik-teknik yang dipakai dalam membentuk dan menyelenggarakan proses konseling pada umumnya disebut teknik umum. Sedangkan teknik khusus yaitu teknik-teknik yang diterapkan untuk membina kemampuan tertentu pada diri klien.

Terdapat tujuh langkah proses konseling dan psikoterapi yang dijelaskan dalam Brammer and Shostrom, yaitu:

 Tahap 1: membangkitkan minat dan membahas perlunya bantuan pada diri klien

Tujuan tahap ini adalah memungkinkan klien merumuskan dan mengemukakan masalahnya dan mengetahui sejauh mana klien menyadari perlunya bantuan dan menyiapkan dirinya dalam proses konseling. Klien pada tingkat awal seringkali merasakan tidak kuat memikul masalah yang dihadapinya. Klien mungkin saja akan menyalahkan orang lain, atau pola berpikirnya. Jarang sekali mereka dapat membuat suatu komitmen dengan sengaja dalam memecahkan masalahnya dengan cara yang bertanggung jawab. Strategi yang dapat digunakan: menyambut klien dengan hangat, mengikuti pernyataan klien dan mengamati secara tidak langsung pesan-pesan melalui tingkah laku non-verbal, selanjutnya membantu klien menjelaskan inti masalah yang dialaminya. Sangat penting untuk menyadari bahwa klien pada awalnya merasa ragu-ragu dalam mengambil suatu bentuk usaha konseling sejak ini mereka melibatkan dirinya untuk mengadakan perubahan.

 Tahap 2: membina hubungan

Tujuan dari tahap ini adalah membangun suatu hubungan yang ditandai oleh adanya kepercayaan klien atas dasar kejujuran dan keterbukaan. Strategi dari proses ini sebagian besar bergantung dengan sampai sejauh mana para konselor dapat memanfaatkan diri sendiri dan meningkatkan keterampilan yang dimilikinya dalam menerapkan teknik-teknik hubungan seperti mendengarkan serta merefleksikan. Suksesnya konseling ditentukan oleh: keahlian, kemenarikan dan layak untuk dipercayai.

 Tahap 3: menetapkan tujuan konseling dan menjelajahi berbagai alternative yang ada

Tujuan dari tahap ini adalah membahas bersama klien apa yang diinginkannya dalam proses konseling. Klien diajak untuk merumuskan tujuan berkaitan dengan permasalahannya. Pembicaraan ini dapat mencegah adanya kemungkinan beberapa tujuan yang kurang realistis dan timbulnya bermacam-macam harapan oleh karena kegagalan, dimana konselor memiliki pandangan yang kuat untuk mengubah tingkah laku klien atau membahagiakannya. Tujuan prose yang lainnya ialah untuk memperoleh suatu pemahaman yang jelas siapa klien itu sesungguhnya. 

 Tahap 4: bekerja dengan masalah dan tujuan

Tujuan dari tahap ini adalah ditentukan oleh masalah klien, pendekatan dan teori yang digunakan konselor, keinginan klien dan gaya komunikasi yang dibangun oleh keduanya. Beberapa kegiatan dalam tahap ini: klarifikasi sifat dasar masalah dan memilih strategi, proses problem solving, penyelidikan perasaan klien lebih jauh, nilai dan batas pengekspresian perasaan, mengekpresikan perasaan dalam model aktualisasi.

 Tahap 5 : Membangkitkan kesadaran klien untuk berubah

Pada tahap kelima ini hal yang penting konselor mulai bekerja dari pembahasan perasaan sampai memiliki kesadaran, hal ini bertujuan untuk membantu klien memperoleh kesadaran yang dibutuhkan dalam mencapai tujuan mereka selama mengikuti proses konseling. Bermacam-macam istilah telah dipergunakan untuk menggambarkan langkah ini, tetapi istilah yang paling sesuai adalah mempermudah kesadaran. Kesadaran diartikan pengetahuan diri (self knowledge) dari apa yang dilihat, didengarkan, dan dirasakan oleh seseorang. Proses melibatkan peristiwa yang dialaminya kembali dan melihat peristiwa kehidupan seseorang dalam suatu rangkaian yang berbeda-bedadengan lebih jelas, lebih terintegrasi dan lebih luas daripada sebelumnya.

 Tahap 6 : merencanakan arah kegiatan

Tujuannya adalah membantu klien untuk menempatkan ide-ide dan kesadaran baru yang ditemukan ke dalam tindakan kehidupan sesungguhnya dalam rangka mengaktualisasikan model dan untuk menemukan ide-ide baru dan kesadaran ke dalam kegiatan yang nyata dalam hidupnya.

 Tahap 7 : Evaluasi hasil dan mengakhiri konseling

Kriteria utama keberhasilan konseling dan indikator kunci mengakhiri proses konseling dan terapi adalah sejauh mana klien mencapai tujuan konseling. Bagi mereka yang berkecimpung dalam profesi menolong orang lain, ada kecenderungan alamiah untuk terlalu terbenam dalam upaya menolong orang. Mereka melaksanakan tugas mereka dengan keyakinan bahwa mereka harus berusaha memecahkan setiap masalah klien dan memberi kepastian hidup bagi orang-orang yang mencari pertolongan mereka. Keyakinan dan sikap ini tidak begitu bermanfaat sebab dapat sangat membebani si penolong. Sikap ini juga meremehkan posisi klien karena ia terpaksa merasa harus ditolong sepenuhnya. Lebih baik berpandangan bahwa orang-orang yang bermasalah tidak butuh mendapatkan "kepastian". Demikian juga tidak selalu bahwa mereka menginginkan masalah-masalah mereka dipecahkan.

    Dalam semua proses yang dikemukakan, konselor sangat dibutuhkan keterlibatannya untuk membantu pengembangan pemahaman diri klien dalam beberapa masalah tertentu. Konselor dan klien akan bekerja bersama-sama dalam mengadakan sintesis proses penilaian dan klien secara individual mengkaji ke dalam suatu rencana kegiatan atau pilihan.