The Effect of Using English Song On Student’s Grammar Ability At Twelve Graders of

SMAN 1 Lumbis

Chapter 1

Introduction

A.Background

Language is one of the devices to communicate with each other. This world has many
languages that are owned by each country such as Indonesia, Germany, China, Russia, Brazil,
England and many more and of course all these countries have different languages.But of all
that English is the one set to become an international language where everyone
communicates if they are in another country. In general, to learn English we must know about
grammar to make perfect pronunciation. According to EF EP (English Proficiency Index) in
2018 Indonesia is ranked 51 in the world with a predicate that is still low. This factor may be
one of them due to lack of understanding grammar.

Grammar is the structure in English. The definition of grammar has several meanings
from several views. According to Barbara Dykes (2007:5) in her book Grammar for
Everyone mentioned that the simplest understanding of grammar. According to him,
"grammar is a language to talk about language" or it can be interpreted grammar is a
language for learning languages. Geoffrey Leech (1982:3) in his book English Grammar for
Today defines grammar as "Grammar refers to the mechanism according to which language
works when it is used to communicate." That is, grammar refers to the mechanism in
accordance with the work of the language when used in communication. From that
understanding, we can understand that grammar is the study of how a language works to
communicate.

Many students have difficulty in grammar. They have difficulty making the correct
sentence structure. They are too lazy and also maybe for some students to memorize the
vocabulary, structures in English is very difficult, causing feelings of indifference to learning
English. But actually, there are some easy and fun ways to learn English like listening to
songs that use English. Mark Hancock's book Singing Grammar: Trought Song Grammar
Teaching (1999: 7) explains that music is a motivation meaning people listen to music for
fun. Teachers have long recognized that they can use songs to motivate students and provide
variation in lessons. When listening to songs we can usually quickly memorize the lyrics
contained in the song. At present many students like to listen to songs that use English so that
they gradually understand the words that are very familiar for example you and me, I love
you, and many more vocabulary they know.

Therefore students will be asked to learn music and write whatever words they hear in
the song then read one by one and learn how to combine words into good sentences based on
the correct structure. Songs that might be used are pop songs that are usually very popular
with teenagers now so it is very useful to be used in language learning activities.
B.Problem Statement

In relation to the background of the study a explained before, the problem to be

researched is :

a. Is the use of songs can improve students' grammar abilities?

C.Objective of The Research

This study aims to determine whether there is an increase in learning grammar by

using songs. This research is intended to:

a. To know what the effect of using song to improve student’s grammar abilities

D.The Significance of The Research

The results of this study are expected to help to learn:

a. For teachers, this research can be useful for teaching grammar to students in a fun way

b. For students, this research can be useful so that students are more interested and motivated
to learn grammar

E.Scope and Limitation Research

This research was conducted based on the results of interviews at the school of
SMAN 1 Lumbis. This study was specifically focused on teaching basic grammar for
students, especially learning about the basic structure of sentence formation in English such
as simple present tense, past tense and future tense.

F.Definition of key terms

Grammar is a English language arrangement that composes several words to be structured

and neat.
 Chapter II

Literature Review

In this chapter we will describe the definition, theoretical framework, and hypothesis.

A.Definition of Grammar

The word grammar comes from Greek, meaning "craft of letters," which is an apt
description. In any language, grammar can also be said the systematic study and description
of a language (Compare with usage.) and also a set of rules and examples dealing with the
syntax and word structures (morphology) of a language. Without language grammar will not
function because people cannot communicate effectively. Of course speakers and listeners
must understand what problems they are talking about they must be able to understand each
other. The grammar includes basic axioms such as the existence of verb forms, articles and
adjectives and their order, how the questions are expressed, and more.

Grammar is actually something that everyone begins to learn from day to day through
their interactions with others. All native speakers when they are born and begin to learn it
when they hear it spoken around them, such as how sentences are joined (syntax), and parts
who made it (morphology).

Everyone uses grammar from the moment when we have been able to speak in
understood sentences, because basically grammar is a system of rules of one's mastery of
their own language. Mastery of grammar in mother tongue can be said to occur naturally and
is only faced with the need to understand and defines a language so that it can be well
understood by listeners and speakers. Then what exactly is the definition of grammar? It can
be said that the simplest definition of grammar is "structure or order in language". For
example, how do I say "i live at" with the correct structure because the word live can change
to "stay". Without mentioning the words for part- its parts and specific actions, so it is not
possible to explore the function of the words and parts they play in forming meaningful
languages without naming. procedure. It is impossible, for example, to offer a meaningful
explanation of why we say 'doing well' rather than 'doing it well' if there is no shared
understanding of language to talk about language - to explain that 'good' is an adjective
fulfilling the word requirements objects, for example 'He does a good job,' but 'well', adverbs,
are used to add meaning to the verb, eg "He did it well."

According to Barbara Dykes (2007:5) in her book Grammar for Everyone mentioned
that the simplest understanding of grammar. According to him, "grammar is a language to
talk about language" or it can be interpreted grammar is a language for learning languages.
Geoffrey Leech (1982:3) in his book English Grammar for Today defines grammar as
"Grammar refers to the mechanism according to which language works when it is used to
communicate." That is, grammar refers to the mechanism in accordance with the work of the
language when used in communication.
1.Type of Grammar

Generally grammar has several types,according to Cook (2008) and Chomsky (1959).
Cook (2008: 19-24) classifies grammar into 5 (five) types, namely:

a. Prescriptive grammar: is a way to explain how someone should say something, not
explaining how someone says something.

b. Traditional grammar: a system of how sentence structures are used in schools, based on the
classical language grammar.

c. Structural Grammar: a system for describing language sentence based on the preparation of
smaller structures into a larger structure.

d. Linguistic/grammatical competence: seen from this angle, grammar is the knowledge of a

person (speaker) about the structure of a language that has regularity. The owner of a
language knows how to use grammar without studying it.

e. EFL grammar: a person who is not a native speaker of a language will know the grammar
of a language by studying it. Therefore this type combines elements of traditional and
structural grammar.

2.Grammar structure

a.Present Tense

Simple present tense is a form of verb to express facts, habits, or events that occur at
this time.

b.Past Tense

Simple past tense is a simple form of verb to show that an event happened in the past.

c.Future Tense

Simple future tense is a form of verb used to express that an action takes place in the
future, spontaneously or planned.

3.Gramatical Learning Difficulty

According to Li Ju Shiu (2011:7) grammatical difficulty in the SLA literature with

reference to several other factors, including:
1. Inherent complexity of rules,

2. Salience of a grammar form in the input,

3. Communicative force of a grammar form,

4. Input processing strategies in L2 learning,

5. The L2 learner’s developmental stage,

6. L1 transfer

7. Individual differences in language aptitude.

B.Song Lyric as a Teaching On Learning Media

However, learning grammar is not very easy. Many students are not very interested in
learning grammar because it has a very difficult order and a lot to remember especially to
understand. At this time most students are very lazy to learn things related to theory and
structure and formulas many. They tend to be more interested in modern things like
technology and music. So some scientists make research on how to improve students' abilities
and understanding of grammar but in ways they like to improve grammar by using music and
songs.According to Mark Hancock's book Singing Grammar: Trought Song Grammar
Teaching (1999: 7) explains that music is a motivation meaning people listen to music for
fun. Teachers have long recognized that they can use songs to motivate students and provide
variation in lessons. According to Boothe & Jeef (2003) music lyrics and songs not only
provide tools to strengthen and reinforce vocabulary, comprehension, listening, speaking and
writing, but increase learning and grammatical variations with auditory skills and rhythmic
patterns that stimulate brain activity and encourage imagination. Other researchers said,
Lems (2018) clearly argues that music offers special benefits for those learning a new
language, in the way listening to songs and singing .is a natural and enjoyable way to practice
new sounds, words, and phrases.

1.Definition of Song Lyrics

Lyrics composition or very important part in making a song. Glance songs can come
from the language we use everyday or language that is not a mother tongue. Making song
lyrics usually contain meanings and also certainly have aesthetic value. Some researchers
make definition of song lyrics like, in his book Zahro (2010) lyrics are simple words from
songs. Lyrics or songs the text is not only a complement to songs, but also as an important
part of musical elements that determine the theme, character, and mission of the song.
Furthermore, Jajuli (2011: 32) states that "a song is a short in one short motion for the sound
medium and solo piano. "And in this study, song lyrics refer to texts that have meaningful
sentences which consists of grammar content.
2. Song as an Educational Tool

The use of songs as a tool for teaching students is very good because students are now
more interested in learning by using music than they have to read books. Millinton (2011)
argues that one of the advantages of using songs at a young age Student classes are their
flexibility. Songs can help young students improve their listening skills and
pronunciation,because it has the potential to help them to improve their speaking skills
(Murphey, 1992).Songs can also be useful tools in vocabulary learning, sentence structure,
and sentence patterns, not to mention the cultural reflectivity of their mother tongue
(Murphey, 1992). Perhaps the biggest benefit of using songs in the classroom is that they can
be fun. Pleasure for one's own sake is an important part of language learning, something that
is often ignored by the teacher, and songs can add interest class routines and potentially
increase student motivation.

3. Studies on Song Lyrics

There are several studies that state that song lyrics can be used in language learning.
A study conducted by Intani (2011) on the use of song lyrics to improve student quality
understand the simple future for junior high schools in Semarang and Indonesia he found that
there was a significant increase in student understanding simple future tense using song
lyrics. He also argued that teaching and learning the process of using song lyrics can attract
students' interests and motivation. Even,this technique can direct students to identify simple
sentences the future is tense well.

Kusnierek (2016) states that music is the main source of English outside the
classroom. Thus, using it in the lesson seems to be a good idea. There can be a distinguished
affective and cognitive rationale for playing a song during a lesson. "

In this case it is said that the use of songs as teaching media is very beneficial because
it can entertain students in the language learning process and also has an interest in
motivating students to achieve the learning process goals. Song can also be used as a medium
to improve language displays such as listening, speaking and improve language aspects such
as grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.

C.Theoretical Framework

Learning Grammar is very important to support students' English language skills.

Learning grammar will contain many components that must be learned in perfecting
grammar. in this case we will discuss how the impact of English Grammar learning by using
songs as the median can have a good impact on the knowledge of students, especially
eleventh grade students at SMAN 1 Lumbis.

The theoretical framework underlies this research is drawn the following diagram:
 Improving student’s grammar by using song lyrics

Listening a song

Question

Match the right tense

Questionnaire

D.Hypothesis

(H0) There is no effect of using song lyrics to improve grammar ability at twelve graders of
SMAN 1 Lumbis

(Ha) There is effect of using song lyrics to improve grammar ability at twelve graders of
SMAN 1 Lumbis
 REFERENCE

Boothe, Diane and Jeff West, (2003).English language learning music and song lyrics-the
performance of a lifetime. United State: International Comference

Chomsky, N. (2002). Language and mind. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Cook, V. (2008). Second language learning and teaching. London: Hodder Education.

Dykes, B. (2007). Grammar for Everyone. Victoria: ACER Press.

Hancock,M (1999).Singing Grammar: Trought Song Grammar Teaching.Press Syndicate Of

University Of Cambrige

Intani, Nurul. (2011). Song Lyrics to Improve Students’ Understading on Simple Future
Tense.(Undergraduate’s thesis.) IAIN Walisongo,Semarang.

Jajuli.(2010). The Use of Songs To Improve Students’ Understanding On Conditional

Sentences.(Undergraduate’s thesis.) IAIN Walisongo, Semarang.

Kuśnierek, Anna. (2016). The role of music and songs in teaching English vocabulary to
students World Scientific News 43(1) 1-55.

Leech, G. (1982). English Grammar for Today. London: The Macmillan Press.

Lems, Kristin. (2018). New Ideas for Teaching English Using Songs and Music.United
States: English Teaching Forum

Li JuShiu. (2011). Efl Learners’ Perceptions of Grammatical Difficulty In Relation To

Second Language Proficiency, Performance, And Knowledge. (Doctoral
dissertation) University of Toronto, Canada.

Millington, Neil T. (2011). Using Songs Effectively to Teach English to Young Learners
:Language Education in Asia. Japan ,2(1), 134-141.

Murphey, Tim. (1992). Music and song. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Zahro’, Masning. 2010. The Use Of Song Lyrics To Improve Students’ Vocabulary of
Verb.(Undergraduate’s thesis.) IAIN Walisongo, Semarang.