IMPROVING THE STUDENTS UNDERSTANDING

ON SIMPLE PAST TENSE THROUGH SENTENCE RACE GAME

AT MTS AL-HASANAH MEDAN

ISMA NUR SEPTIKA

ismadubu@gmail.com

This research is conducted to find out the improvement of students understanding on

simple past tense after being taught using sentence race game. The subject of study is VIII-2
students of MTs. Al-Hasanah Medan which consist of 22 students in the academic year 2012-
2013. This research was conducted by using classroom action research. The technique of
analyzing the data of this research was applied by qualitative and quantitative data. The
qualitative data were taken from observation and interview. The quantitative data were taken
from tests, which was carried out in the end of every cycle. The test was given to the students
in form of pre-test, post test in the first cycle, and the post test in the second cycle. The result
of the analyzing the data showed that there was an improving on the students understanding
on simple past tense from each cycle. It was showed from the mean of pre-test was 51. After
doing cycle I through sentence race game, there was an improvement of students mean, it
was 62.5. Then, evaluating for second cycle after reflection on the first cycle, the students
mean improved 81. In other words, the students understanding on simple past tense was
improved. Based on the observation, it showed that the enthusiasm and excitement of the
students were also improved.

Keyword: Simple Past Tense, Sentence Race Game.

INTRODUCTION
Language is a mean of communication that is used to transfer information, ideas, and
feelings from one person to another. It is used to communicate both in written and spoken
form. One of language which is important to learn is English. English teaching aims at
mastering four basic skills of language, which include listening, speaking, reading, and
writing skills. Nowadays, the students are expected to master those four skills in order to be
able to use English communicatively. It will not be successfully achieved if the language
teaching does not consider the language components such as grammatical structure,
vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation. Therefore, grammar needs to be mastered by the
students since it is the basic rule of language.
 Based on the preliminary research done by the researcher when doing PPL II in the
eighth grade of MTs. Al-Hasanah Medan through interview with Miss Melva Hairany, the
English teacher, the most frustrating problem for the students when learning grammar
especially simple past was the structure in English grammar is different from Indonesian
grammar, for example in Indonesian, there only one word minum that can be used in many
context and not affected by adverb of time. In English, the use of adverb of time can affect the
sentences, for example it can be drink, drank, and drinking depend on the context of the
sentence. This difference made the students confused and most of them still cant use the verb
properly.

Furthermore, the researcher found that the English teacher tended to teach the
grammar deductively without any fun activities. Here the students easily felt bored of the
teaching methods since there was no interesting and attractive activity involved in their
learning process.

According to these facts, the teacher should made an attempt to make their lessons as
interesting as possible and not resort to the traditional chalk and talk method which can be
dull and predominantly teacher-centered. English teachers should think critically in order to
find creative technique in teaching grammar so that the students would take much
participation during the learning process. One of the creative techniques in teaching English
grammar was game.

Limitation of Study

In this research, the focus of the investigation is on improving students understanding

on simple past tense through sentence race game. This study is just limited to find out the
students ability in building up sentences in simple past tense.

Formulation of Study

Based on the background of the study above, the problems of the research can be
formulated as follow: Does the students understanding on simple past tense improve after
being taught by using sentence race game?

Aim of Study

The aim of this study is to find out whether the students understandings on simple
past tense improve after being taught by using Sentence Race Game.
RELATED LITERATURE

Definition of Grammar

The Qur'an, as the word of God, was describing all aspects of the world including
language. The description of the language in the Qur'an relating to the important things about
language as one of the highest gift favors from God to man. As stated in Surah Ar-Rahman
verse 1-4:

Merciful God. Who taught the Qur'an. He created man. taught proficient. (QS. Ar-
Rahman: 1-4).

Actually, this verse clearly confirms that language is a skill gave by God to man. It is
in line with the revelation that God create man together with their language. This suggests the
importance of language for humans to meet the goals and purposes.

Grammar is the main capital and an element in language, which is still important to be
taught nowadays. Without grammar, there might be miscommunication. In addition, the
language will be acceptable if the grammar is correct. Having a good command of the
language means not only to master the four language skills of reading, writing, listening and
speaking, but also to achieve grammatical competence.

Grammar has flexible definition, which means that many experts give the definition of
grammar. It has several meaning and there is no universally accepted definition of it.
Grammar is the entire system of language including its syntax, morphology, semantics, and
phonology. (Chalker and Weiner, 1994: 177).

Penny Ur (1988: 4). stated that grammar may be roughly defined as the way a
language manipulates and combines words (or bits of words) in order to form longer units of
meaning.

Tenses as Part of Grammar

In grammar, the students are provided with many rules of a language. One of them is
tense. Hornby (1995: 123) states that tense are verb form or series of verb forms used to
indicate the time of the action or state.
 It is important for the students to learn tenses since they have great influence in
forming the meaning of sentences. Tense may indicate whether an activity or state is,
was, or will be completed or whether it is, was, or will be in progress over period of time.

In learning English as a foreign language, it is very important to know the rules of

tenses as part of grammar. By knowing the rules of tenses, the students are believed to be able
to construct good sentences in English communication. In other words, it is believed that by
mastering the tenses as one aspect in English grammatical structure, the students will be able
to communicate in English correctly.

Simple Past Tense

English has three time systems, present tense, past tense and future tense. Simple past
tense is one of tenses that is important to be mastered by the students especially by the eighth
grade students. Wrong perception of simple past tense will affect the students ability in
constructing or understanding simple past sentences. In this study the researcher wanted to
discuss about simple past tense. There are many definitions of simple past tense. According to
Graver (1986: 56), the simple past tense is used to refer to actions or events completed in past
time. For example We lived in Hong Kong for ten years (but now we are living in Rome).

Marcella Frank (1972: 73) states that the past tense indicates definite time in the past,
whether a time word is given or not. For example She was born in Japan. He identified the
simple past tense into three, they are; first, simple past has one event completed in the past for
example I saw him last night and They left two hours ago. Second, simple past repeated
events completed in the past and no longer happening for example last year it rained
frequently in this area and When I was young, I went swimming everyday. Third, simple
past have duration of an event completed in the past for example He lived in New York for
thirty years and then he decided to return to France.

Based on the definition above it can be concluded that simple past tense express an
activity or situation happened began and ended at a particular time in the past, whether the
time was mentioned or not.

Game in Language Learning

According to Wright, Betteridge, and Buckby (2006: 1) the word game means an
activity which is entertaining and enganging, often challenging, and an activity in which the
learners play and usually interact with others.
 Haldfield (1999: 67) adds games can be used at all stages of the progression from
controlled to free practice, serving at one end of the range as a memory aid and repetition
drill, at the other as a chance to used the language freely and as a means to an end rather than
an end in itself. They can also serve as a diagnostic tool for teacher, who can note areas of
difficulty and take appropriate remedial action.

Haldfield further emphasizes the effective use of games. Students are always lazy to
do the tasks. Therefore, games are used suitably in the way in which learners are led to
participate in the games so that learners can have a chance to practice or use the new language
items they have just learnt eagerly and willingly instead of forcing them to do the tasks
unwillingly. It is more effective in a way that students can play and learn at the same time.

Sentence Race Game

One of many students difficulties in learning English is about how understanding

grammar well. Most of the students feel bored when learning grammar especially simple past
tense because usually they only do the exercise on the textbook to understanding it. So teacher
should think creative to make grammar learning become a fun lesson for the student. Sentence
Race game can be an alternative to teach simple past tense.

Sentence Race activity is a game to arrange words from the card which available for
each group into a good sentence which grammatically correct. The goal of this game is to
improve and reinforce students grammar understanding. The description of grammar
Sentence Race will be explained below: (Ayu Rini, 2012: 134)

Preparation:

1) Prepare a list of verbs.

2) Write each verb on two small pieces of paper. That means writing the word twice,
once on each paper.

3) Organize the pieces like bundles, 2 bundles, 2 sets of identical words.

4) Divide the class into 2 teams. Get them to make creative team names.

5) Distribute each list of words to both teams. Every student on each team should
have a paper. Both teams have the same words.

Activity:

1) Two of groups ranging with distance 2 meter from the board.

 2) When the teacher call a word, 2 students should stand up, one from each team.
The students must then run to the blackboard and race to write a sentence using
their word.

3) After that the card which used is placed on the box for each team.

4) Every player in both groups will get their turn to do the same action like the first
player. It continues until the last player. Teacher corrects the answer together with
the students. Every correct sentence gets 10 point and 5 points if there some
mistakes in the sentences. The winner of the game is the group which has the
highest points.

RESEARCH METHOD

Design of the Research

This study would be conducted using an action research on the eighth grade students
of MTs. Al-Hasanah Medan in academic year 2012/2013 to investigate the improvement of
their understanding in learning simple past tense using sentence race game.

Subject of Study

This research would be cunducted at MTs Al-Hasanah Medan. It is located at Jl.

Perjuangan, Medan. The subject of this study was students of VIII-2 of MTs Al-Hasanah
Medan, with the total number 22 students. This research was conducted at 2 nd semester in
academic year 2012 / 2013.

Procedure of Study

This research would be conducted in two cycles and pre-cycle was conducted before
the implementation of the treatment to obtain the preliminary data about students ability in
using Simple Past Tense.

1. Pre Cycle

Before conducting the research, the researcher did the activity which called pre-cycle.
The activity was looking for the problem faced by the students. The activity was done by
doing observation during the teaching learning process carried out by the teacher, Miss Melva
Hairany, to find out the students activity in the class. From the result of the observation, the
researcher found the fact that the students activity and participation during the lesson was
low, it motivated the researcher to help the students and teacher to solve the problem.
 In this stage, the researcher would give a pre-test to the students which containing ten
questions of multiple choices to measure the students understanding on simple past based on
their knowledge. While they focus on answering, the researcher observed students behavior
and attitude. Furthermore, the researcher would analyze students score and interpret their
behavior. Based on the score of the pre-test, the researcher would try to find out an alternative
way to eliminate the difficulties.

2. Cycle 1

In this phase the researcher implemented sentence race game to teach simple past in
the class. The students would be taught by researcher herself. Students would be taught about
past tense related to the formula and usage. After that, teacher explained the rule of the game.
Then they played the game which was related to the topic. In the final activity, the researcher
presented post test-1.

Then the researcher observed the teaching learning process. This observation was
aimed to find out the data related to this study. Researcher focused on the students attitudes
as their responses to facing the course to be observed. But it didnt close the possibility for the
researcher to notes any supporting information from other data that could be observed. The
researcher used the observation checklist as her guide to investigate students attitudes.

3. Cycle 2

In the second cycle, the researcher planned to present some pictures and picture story
as media to teach past tense referring to the reflection from the first cycle. The researcher
began by arranging the lesson plan and preparing the test. The students were taught about
Simple Past Tense.

The first activity was the teacher examined the students understanding about the
previous course material and gave additional explanation related to usage and adverb. After
that, the students played sentence race game. In the final activity, the researcher gave the post
test 2. Then the researcher observed the teaching learning process. This observation was
aimed to find out the data related to this study. The researcher used the observation checklist
as her guide to investigate students attitudes.

Technique of Collecting Data

The instruments used to collect the data in this research were as follows:
 1. Interview

According to Ulber Silalahi (2009: 312), interview is conversation done systematically

by interviewer to the interviewees to get information. Interview was conducted from the
English teacher to get information about the students understanding on simple past tense
before giving the treatment.

2. Observation

Observation is technique of collecting data that is done by observing and writing

systematically the phenomena that being observed (Arikunto, 2006: 127). In this research,
researcher observed the effectiveness of using sentence race game to improve the students
understanding on simple past. The instrument which used in the classroom observation was
observation checklist. By using it, there were some purposes, such as:

1. To check the students participation and response to sentence race game

2. To check students enthusiasm and behavior in learning simple past trough sentence
race game.

The points that were observed in this study include how sentence race game applied in
the class and related to students response in sentence race game.

3. Test

Test is a set of questions and exercises used to measure the achievement or capability
of the individual or group (Hitchock and Hughes, 1989: 158). In this research, were held some
post tests in multiple choices to know the achievement of the students after they were treated
through sentence race game in the action. Every post test consists of ten questions where the
score for every true answer is 10 point. The maximum score of each test is 100.

Technique of Data Analysis

Technique of data analysis could be defined as the process of analyzing data required
from the result of the research. Qualitative data were taken from interview and observation,
while the quantitative data were taken from the tests.

1. Interview

The researcher done the interviews to the English teacher by asking some questions
listed in the interview guide. The purpose of interview was to collect the data about the
students difficulties in building up simple past tense.
 2. Observation

The observation`s output that used in this research was descriptive data. The data was
in transcribing words. The points observed arent as numeric data. In this study, the data
observation was not used to measure the improvement of ability which is evaluated. But it
possible to be the first step in research process to study about the problem that faced when
sentence race game applied.

3. Test

After all of the data were collected, the data were analyzed by following steps: first,
the researcher evaluated the results of the test made by the students in using simple past tense
and score was given. Second, the researcher found out the students mean score. The mean
score showed the level of improvement achieved by the students after following teaching and
learning process through the implementation of Sentence Race Game.

The score of students achievement can be calculated by using this following formula:
(Slameto, 2001: 189)

Score The number of right answer

x100%
The number of questions
The mean score of the class can be searched by using this following formula:
(Sudijono, 1994: 44)

X = x
N

Where:
X = the means of students score
x = the total score
N = the number of the students.

The mean score showed the improvement acquired by the students. If the mean score
or the percentage items answered correctly was 7.0 or 70%, the cycle would be stopped.

RESEARCH FINDING

Some points that are going to be discussed are the students achievement obtained
from the result of pre- test, post- test of each cycle, and observation of students activities.
Quantitative Data

The results of the test from the pre-cycle until cycle-2 can be seen in the table 1 are as
follow:
Table 1
The Result from Pre-Cycle until Cycle-2

SCORE
No Name of Student
Pre-Cycle Cycle-1 Cycle-2
1 Abdul Ghani S 60 80 100
2 Adellia Awinda 60 80 90
3 Aisyah Dinni 70 90 100
4 Aji Luhur Hidayat 10 40 60
5 Azhara Wani P 70 50 80
6 Dwina Oktria - - 80
7 Fitri Huril Aini 60 80 80
8 Hasan Ardiansyah 50 60 70
9 Ikhsan Azzahri - - -
10 Jayanti Fitri Ayu 100 100 100
11 M. Amar Yazid 60 70 -
12 M. Rizky 60 60 60
13 M. Saudri Sitepu 40 60 90
14 Miftah Novia Dewi 40 50 80
15 Nur Habibah 50 80 90
16 Putri Elisa Juli 20 30 80
17 Rizky Hamdani 40 60 80
18 Roy Karyadi Rangkuti 50 60 60
19 Sakira Jandi 40 40 70
20 Syarifah 30 40 80
21 Tri Budi Saprio 50 60 80
22 Yusri Maya Sari 60 60 90
Sum 1020 1250 1620
Mean 51 62.5 81
Low Score 10 30 60
High Score 100 100 100

From the table 1 above, the use of sentence race game can improve students
understanding on simple past tense. So, this classroom action research by using game to
improve students understanding on simple past tense at MTs. Al-Hasanah Medan was
Successful. It can be seen from the mean of pre-cycle until second cycle shows improvement.

The improvement of students mean in simple past tense can be seen through the
histogram as follows:
Figure 1
Students Mean of Pre-Cycle, Cycle 1, Cycle-2
 From the diagram above, it can be concluded that there was an improvement on
students achievement in simple past tense after being taught using sentence race game. From
pre-cycle showed that the average of students achievement was 51, it means that there was
still low ability in some students. In the cycle-1 showed that there was increscent of students
achievement up to 62.5 and from cycle-2 the students achievement has increased up to 81. It
means there was improvement in every cycle after using sentence race game.

Qualitative Data

In observation, there were some important matters, which must be paid attention
during a research. In this observation, the writer took 6 items, which was focused in research.
The monitoring was started from the pre-cycle to the last cycle using observation checklist.

From the observation, the students activeness and interest in learning process was
increasing too. It can be seen from the table below:

Table 2
Improvement of Students Activeness
Amount of Students
No Description First Second Third
Observ. Observ. Observ.
1 Students attendance 20 20 20
Students listened to teachers
2 7 15 18
explanation
Students activeness in asking
3 - 2 5
question
4 The discipline in doing tasks 10 12 18
Students participation and
5 - 16 20
enthusiasm in sentence race game
Students liked to be crowded or
6 11 5 2
talked each other
 It can be concluded that students activities in learning process were increasing from
the first observation to the last observation. It was proved while most of the students listened
to teachers explanation, active asked the questions, enthusiast and discipline in doing a task.

DISCUSSION

Sentence race game as a part of technique in teaching grammar is giving more

advantages for students especially in learning simple past tense. Sentence race game is a
teaching technique which allows students to create their own sentence in simple past form. It
gives challenge to make sentences as quick as possible which grammatically true. This
technique gives the students opportunity to work independently and in collaboration with
others.

This research was conducted to find out the implementation of sentence race game in
improving students understanding on simple past tense, especially in identifying the past verb
and building up sentences. It was found that in the pre cycle, almost the students failed when
doing the test. There were only 3 students who got success. Then in the first cycle after
implementing sentence race game, there were 7 students got success. It means that there was
an improvement of their score although it was a little.

However, in the second cycle there was a big improvement of students successful. It
was found that a big amount of students (17 students) got satisfied score, and there were only
3 students got failed.

Beside, the researcher also found that the students were enthusiast and more
interactive while teaching by using sentence race game. Their participation in learning process
was increased in every cycle.

Based on the explanation above, it showed that the implementation of sentence race
game gave good improvement to the students score. It also increased their interest to learn
simple past tense.

CONCLUSION

Based on the result of the research, it could be concluded that teaching simple past
tense using sentence race game can improve students understanding on simple past tense
especially for students in the eighth grade of MTs. Al-Hasanah Medan in academic year
2012/2013.
 Teaching simple past tense using sentence race game can be interested experience for
teacher and students. In fact, students can improve their students understanding on simple
past tense after being taught by this technique. It showed that on the pre-cycle the mean of the
students achievement was 51, where from 20 students there were only 3 students who got
score >65 or it was only 15%. Then on the first cycle the mean of the students achievement
was 62.5. In this stage the students who got score >65 increased become 7 students (35%),
and on the second cycle the mean of the students achievement was 81. A significant progress
is shown in this stage, where there was a big improvement of students achievement. There
were 17 students who got score >65 or it was 85%, and only 3 students failed the test or it was
15%.

By using this technique will help students focus on simple past tense verb in their own
words to understand and remember. Students understanding on simple past tense increased as
well as their motivation to learn English and they were understood simple past tense verb
well. Result of the research showed that the students improved their students' understanding
on simple past tense effectively. Sentence race game in teaching learning simple past
encouraged their spirit to study and reduce boredom.

SUGGESTION

In order to improve students understanding on simple past tense, the researcher has
some suggestion to the English teachers especially, and students achievement developer
generally:

1. We are as the teachers have to convince our students that we are not danger for them,
and there is no gain from the teacher to make them afraid. Its important to make our
students feel more comfortable to us. So that, we can hope our students will receive
our lesson materials conveniently too.

2. The researcher suggests the English teacher of MTs Al-Hasanah to use this game
because it will make enjoyment in teaching learning process and it can raise the
students' motivation to learn simple past tense in the classroom and their achievement
will be improved as well.

3. For the future researchers, the researcher hopes that this study could be a reference for
future research that will analyze teaching simple past tense through games.

REFERENCES
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Chalker, Sylvia and Weiner, Edmund, The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, New
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Frank, Marcella, Modern English: a Practical Reference Guide, New York University:
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Graver, B.D. Advanced English Practice; Third Edition. New York: Oxford University Press,
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Haldfield, Teaching English Grammar through Games

(http://cscanada.net/index.php/sll/article/download/1444/1463), 1999, Accessed on
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Hitchock and Hughes, David, Research and Teacher: A Quantitative Introduction to School-
based Research, London: Rout Ledge, 1989.

Hornby, Oxford Advance Learners Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Rini, Ayu. Excellent English Games. Jakarta: Kesaint Blanc Publishing, 2012.

Silalahi, Ulber, Metode Penelitian Sosial, Bandung: PT Refika Aditama, 2009.

Slameto, Evaluasi Pendidikan, Jakarta: Bumi Aksara, 2001.

Sudijono, Anas, Pengantar Statistik Pendidikan, Jakarta: PT Raja Grafindo Persada, 1994.

Ur, Penny, Grammar Practice Activities: a Practical Guide for Teachers, United Kingdom:
Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Wright, Andrew, Betteridge, David & Buckby, Michael, Games for Language Learning:
Third Edition, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
i
The writer is a student of Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training, Department of English Education 2009. (Born in
Medan, September 19, 1990)