i

ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to God for giving me good

health, peace of mind, patience and dedication to complete degree programme and the

academic project.

Next, I would like to extend my appreciation to Mdm. Saira Joe, my supervisor

and Mdm Lilly Metom, my moderator for their guidance, assistance and moral support

with my academic project.

My special thanks also goes to the headmaster and Year Four and Year Five

pupils of SK Lumba Kuda, Kuching for their support and cooperation in carrying out this

study.

Next, my greatest appreciation and love are to my beloved husband, Barry Lideh,

my children, Vinchell Schubert, Natasha Hezner and Cliff Hanson and my mother, Teresa

Nois for giving me their support, love, patience, understanding and encouragement in

completing the TESL programme.

Last but not least, my special thanks goes to my TESL friends who have shared

their laughter, tears, thoughts, knowledge and precious moments throughout this

programme.

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 ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study is to determine the types of attitudes that the pupils of

SK Lumba Kuda (YBE 1202), Kuching have towards their second language acquisition.

It also aims to determine why these pupils have positive and negative attitudes. The study

involved seventy-six pupils of the Year Four and Year Five pupils of this school. The

pupils had to complete one set of questionnaire which consist of 38 items using the Likert

scale, adapted from Gardner’s Attitudes and Motivation Test Battery (2004).

Through the analysis of the questionnaires, the findings show that the majority of

the pupils have positive attitude towards their second language acquisition. They have

strong belief that they will be more confident individuals if they can speak English well.

They also realized the importance of mastering the English language to secure better job

for their future. However, having positive attitude towards the language alone may not be

enough without the untiring effort from the pupils and guidance from the English

teachers. Therefore, more comparative studies on the attitudes of pupils from different

levels, cultures and backgrounds should be carried out in the future which can benefit the

pupils.

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 ABSTRAK

Kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan untuk menentukan sikap murid-murid dari SK

Lumba Kuda (YBE 1202), Kuching terhadap mempelajari bahasa kedua mereka. Ia juga

bertujuan untuk menentukan kenapa murid-murid ini mempunyai sikap positif atau

negatif tersebut. Kajian ini telah melibatkan tujuh puluh enam murid Tahun Empat dan

Tahun Lima dari sekolah berkenaan. Murid-murid dikehendaki menjawab satu set soalan-

soalan soal selidik yang mengandungi 38 item, menggunakan skala Likert, adaptasi dari

“Gardner’s Attitudes and Motivation Test Battery (2004).

Berdasarkan analisa soalan-soalan soal selidik tersebut, adalah didapati bahawa

kebanyakan daripada murid-murid tersebut mempunyai sikap yang positif terhadap

bahasa kedua mereka. Mereka percaya bahawa mereka akan menjadi individu yang penuh

dengan keyakinan sekiranya mereka berkeupayaan berbahasa Inggeris dengan baik.

Mereka juga sedar tentang kepentingan menguasai bahasa Inggeris untuk mendapat

kerjaya yang lebih baik di masa hadapan. Walau bagaimanapun, mempunyai sikap positif

terhadap bahasa tersebut adalah tidak memadai tanpa usaha yang berterusan daripada

murid-murid dan bimbingan daripada guru-guru bahasa Inggeris. Oleh itu, kajian-kajian

yang berterusan tentang sikap murid terhadap bahasa kedua mereka daripada pelbagai

peringkat, budaya dan latar belakang perlulah diadakan pada masa akan datang untuk

kepentingan mereka.

v
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENT PAGE
TITLE PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii
ABSTRACT iv
ABSTRAK v
TABLE OF CONTENTS vi
LIST OF TABLES ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Statement of the Problem 3
1.2 Objectives of the Study 5
1.3 Research Questions 5
1.4 Significance of the Study 6
1.5 Limitation of the Study 6
1.6 Definition of Terms 7

CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.0 Introduction 8
2.1 Theories and Models of Second Language Acquisition 8
2.1.1 The Input Hypothesis 11
2.1.2 Shyness in the Process of the Second Language Acquisition 13
2.1.3 The Affective Filter 15
2.1.4 The Roles of Teachers in the Second Language Classroom 16
2.1.5 The Resentment that Students have towards the Second Language 18
2.2 Related Studies on the Attitudes of Students on the Second Language
Acquisition 19
2.2.1 A Successful Language Learners According to the ‘The Good
Language Learner’s Model 21
2.3 Conclusion 21

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN

3.0 Introduction 23
3.1 Research Design 23
3.2 Population and Sample 23
3.3 Instrumentation 24
3.4 Data Collection 25
3.5 Data Analysis 25
3.6 Conclusion 25

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION

4.0 Introduction 26
4.1 Presentation And Analysis of Data Through Questionnaires 27

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 4.1.1 The Demographic information of the respondents 27
4.1.2 The Semester One results 28
4.1.3 The status of English Language among the pupils 29
4.1.4 Parents’ occupation 30
4.1.5 Language spoken at home 31
4.1.6 Language spoken among peers 32
4.1.7 The frequency of English language used in speech 33
4.1.8 The percentage of students reading English materials, watching
English television programs and listening to the English radio
programme 34
4.1.9 Main reasons for reading, watching and listening to English
programmes and materials 37
4.1.10 Pupils’ attitudes towards the second language 39
4.1.11 Pupils’ attitudes in the English classroom 42
4.1.12 Pupils’ attitudes towards their English teacher 46
4.1.13 Pupils’ attitudes towards English language 47
4.2 Conclusion 51

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
5.0 Introduction 52
5.1 Summary of Findings 53
5.2 Limitation of the Study 57
5.3 Implication of the Study 57
5.3.1 Teachers 57
5.3.2 Pupils 58
5.4 Conclusion and Recommendations 58

REFERENCES 59
APPENDICES 62

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 LISTS OF TABLES

PAGE
4.1.1 : The Demographic information of the respondents 27
4.1.2 : The Semester One results 28
4.1.3 : The status of English Language among the pupils 29
4.1.4 : Parents’ occupation 30
4.1.5 : Language spoken at home 31
4.1.6 : Language spoken among peers 32
4.1.7 : The frequency of English language used in speech 33
4.1.8 : The percentage of students reading English materials, watching
English television programs and listening to the English radio
programmes 34
4.1.9 : Main reasons for reading, watching and listening to English
programmes and materials 37
4.1.10 : Pupils’ attitudes towards the second language 39
4.1.11 : Pupils’ attitudes in the English classroom 42
4.1.12 : Pupils’ attitudes towards their English teacher 46
4.1.13 : Pupils’ attitudes towards English language 47

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