USING ONE TYPE OF SIMPLE MEDIA

“REALIA” AS AN ENGLISH TEACHING MEDIA

Course : English Teaching Media

Lecturer : Dra. Merilyn Simbolon, M.Pd

Composed by:

Epifania Alexia
AAA 117 001

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY
UNIVERSITY OF PALANGKA RAYA
2019
 PREFACE

Firstly, I express my deep gratitude to Almighty God for providing everything that
I required in completing this paper.

Secondly, I am highly indebted to my English Teaching Media lecturer, Mrs. Dra.

Merilyn Simbolon, M.Pd for her encouragement as well as for providing necessary information
regarding this paper. I would not have been possibly completed the paper entitled“Using One
Type Of Simple Media ‘Realia’ As An English Teaching Media” without her support.

Regardless of the imperfection contained in this paper, I hope this paper will be
useful for those who are interesting to know about this material.

Palangka Raya, October 2nd 2019

Writer

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

PREFACE.................................................................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................... ii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background............................................................................................................. 1

CHAPTER II DISCUSSION
2.1 Definition of Realia ......…………………………………………….............................. 2
2.2 Kinds of Realia…………………………………………………..................................... 3
2.3 Characteristics of Realia…………………………………………………….................... 3
2.4 Advantages of Using Realia…………………………….................................................. 3
2.5 Disadvantages of Using Realia.......................................................................................... 4
2.6 Some Factors To Consider In Choosing The Appropriate Realia.................................. 5
2.7 Steps For Using Realia.................................................................................................. 5

CHAPTER III CONCLUSION

3.1 Conclusion………………..................................................................................... 8

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………….... 9

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 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

According to introductory textbooks quoted by Brown (2000:5), language is a system

of arbitrary conventionalized vocal, written, or gestural symbols that enable members of a
given community to communicate intelligibly with one another. English language is the most
important one in the world. It is not only as an international communication means but also to
access the science and technology. In Indonesia, English is very important for students of all
levels to master in order to be able to communicate with other people from foreign countries.
As a result, Indonesian Education Department decided to include the English as school subject
in the curriculum. English is taught in Junior High School (SMP), Senior High School (SMA),
university, and now days English also is taught in Elementary school and even in the
kindergarten.

Despite of the fact that English is very important in Indonesia, most of the students still
fail in learning it. In general, it is caused when teachers provide learning materials, most
students pay less attention due to learning strategies that are not compatible and the use of
media that are not optimal. Learning media is one learning resource that the teacher can channel
the message so that it helps to overcome students’ problem.

In this case, realia is often regarded as the most essential media to disk an interesting
information. As an information medium, realia is able to explain abstract things with little or
no verbal information. By interacting directly with realia, it is expected that things that are less
clear, if explained verbally will become clear. Realia will be very helpful when used in a
process of obtaining information with the aim to gain knowledge through experience alone or
often referred to as cognitive goals. In this process, realia is involved as a real object and
students will learn to know it. Realia can provide students with real-time experience;
experience of beauty that cannot be obtained through other media. As a learning medium, realia
has the potential to be used in a variety of subject topics.

Nevertheless, choosing appropriate realia can be challenging for the teachers as they
need to consider the complexity and quality of the realia which also must serve their teaching
objectives and also the functional needs of the learners. Concerning the above problem, this
paper is made in order to be more knowledgeable of realia and to know how the teacher
prepares realia for the students to be effectively learn English in classroom.

CHAPTER II
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 DISCUSSION

In this section, we are going to explain about some important aspects of realia
that must be known by the teacher and how the teacher use realia for teaching English in
order to make the students sucess in learning English.

2.1 Definition of Realia

According to Nunan (1999) Realia is object and teaching learning props from the world
outside the classroom that are used for teaching and learning. Under this statement Nunan
define realia as real object or teaching learning equipment from outside the classroom that are
used for teaching and learning process, to make the students understand more. British council
site state that realia refers to any real objects we use in the classroom to bring the class to life.
From this statement, realia define as an object that brought in the classroom to make the
situation in the classroom life.

Richards and Platt (1998) describes realia as actual objects and items which are brought
in a the classroom as examples or aids to be talked or written about and used in language
teaching such as; article of clothing, kitchen utensils, items of food, etc. In Herrel and Jordan
(2009:2) opinion, realia is a term for real things (concrete objects) that are used in the classroom
to build background knowledge and vocabulary. Based on the statement above, we can
conclude that realia is real object outside the classroom that brough into the classroom to make
the students understand more.

According to Platt (1992:2), Realia (in language teaching) are actual objects and items
which are brought into a classroom as example or as aids to be talked written about and used
in teaching or concrete objects and the paraphernalia of everyday life. In Education, realia are
objects from real life used in classroom instruction. Realia include objects used by educators
to help students to understand better other cultures and real life situations. Anything which has
a purpose outside of the ESL and can be bought into the classroom as media in imitation form
of all things, for examples: replica of landscapes, miniature of house, imitation of fruits or
vegetables. Berwarld (1987:3) make a conclution that realia refers to real objects, specimentsor
artifacts not copies, model, or representation from particular culture.

Based on the statements above, the writer concludes that Realia is a real object that is
brought to the classroom by teachers in order to provide students with real experience because
by using realia, students can have a direct contact through the sense of seeing, hearing, smelling
and even touching the object.

2.2 Kinds of Realia 2

 A teacher of a foreign language often employs Realia to strengthen students’
understanding about the language. According to Agrawal, there are several kinds of realia that
can be used by the teacher. They are:
a. The real object which is possible to bring to the classroom, such as stationaries, (Book,
pencil, eraser, bag, pen, ruler, etc.), the thing in the classroom (Table, chair,
black/whiteboard, picture, chalk, etc.), parts of the body (hand, hair, eyes, nose, ears,
mouth, foot, etc.) etc.
b. The replica of the object, if the real object are not possible to bring to the classroom,
such as, animal (cow, goat, frog, cat, lion, dog, etc.), vehicle (bus, train, plane,
motorcycle, etc.), occupations (doctor, soldier, steward, police officer, fisherman, etc.),
etc.

2.3 Characteristics of Realia

Here are some of the characteristics of realia that have been registered by Bierbaum.
a) They are related to the real world.
b) They are portable and accessible
c) They can be touched and observed.
d) They are mostly inexpensive.
e) They are almost infinitely diverse.
f) They are versatile and often able to fill several learning objectives.

2.4 Advantages of Using Realia

By using realia in class, several advantages can be obtained. The advantages are as follows:
 Using realia helps to make English lessons memorable by creating a link between the
objects and the word or phrase they represent.
 The use of realia will attract student’s attention and aid concentration since students
will become more interested and curious with the real object.
 Students will feel comfortable and motivated with authentic materials . Increased
motivation then will lead to increased language use which leads to improved
proficiency.
 Realia saves time, as learners can recognize an object immediately, thus lengthy
explanations are no longer necessary.
 Using realia will provide clear and accurate information, by given realia or real object
as a media, the explanation or information related to these objects became clearer and
more accurate.

2.5 Disadvantages of Using Realia

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 Like every aspect in this life, realia are a double edged weapon. As they have
advantages, they also have disadvantages. The disadvantages of using realia are:
 Sizes
Sometimes, the size of realia is too large, too long, or too wide. So, it is
impossible for the teacher to provide and to bring it to the classroom.
 Portability
Portability is the accessibility to bring objects to the class. Not all of the realia
can be brought to the class.
 Safety
Not all realia are safe. In choosing the realia, the teachers must keep in mind
that the students’ safety is the priority over all; they have to be sure that the objects
and products they bring into class are not dangerous or toxic for the learners’ health
and their health too. For example, a dangerous object like an animal cannot be
brought to the class.

2.6 Some Factors To Consider in Choosing the Appropriate Realia

In general, Wibowo (1992: 67) explains that there are some factors that need to be
considered in choosing the realia :
a. Purpose
It means when the teacher chooses the media, it needs to be used based on the
purpose that was designed on the lesson plan. If the goal is to make the students
understand the vocabulary of fruits, then the teacher can use the replica of fruits in
teaching and learning process.

b. Time allocation
The media used must be efficient in time. This means that the use of media in the
classroom does not spend much time. When learning time is only used for media
applications, other activities that must be done in learning will certainly cannot be
carried out. Thus, learning objectives are clearly impossible to achieve. So, it is
important for teachers to know about the allocation of time used to utilize the media.

c. Effectiveness
Effectiveness means that by using the media, learning objectives that have been
determined are expected to be achieved.

d. Compatibility
Compatibility refers to the media used that are practical, flexible and durable.

e. Cost
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 Cost is one of the factors that need to be considered to choose the appropriate realia.
This means that the media used must be inexpensive to buy and maintain, because using
media that spend a lot of money will burden the teacher.

2.7 Steps For Using Realia

In order to use realia in classroom for facilitate teaching and learning process,
teacher has to do some steps as follows:

1) Providing tangible objects (Realia) related to the teaching materials, so that

they can be used efficiently in class.

For example: When the teacher wants to teach procedure text for his students,
the teacher can demonstrate a procedure text directly to the students using
realia, one of the procedure texts that can be demonstrated is how to make a
glass of tea. In order to demonstrate how to make a glass of tea, the teacher
must prepare several real tools and materials (Realia) as below:

1. Teaspoon 2. Glass

3. Teabag 4. Sugar
 5. Warm water/ hot Water

2) Using real objects that have been prepared in the learning process, so
students can gain direct experience of these objects.

For example: Then, teacher demonstrates how to make a glass of tea in the front
of the students by using some real materials above for teaching procedure text.
There are some steps to make a glass of tea that must be done by the teacher.
1. First, take the glass and put the tea bags into the glass.
2. Second, pour hot water into the glass.

3. Third, soak and pull the tea bags for one minute until the color of the water
change.
4. Fourth, add two teaspoons of sugar.
5. Then, stir the tea slowly to make the sugar and the water mixed.
6. Finally, a glass of tea is ready to serve.
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3) Asking students to observe the object directly and discuss it with their
friends.

For example: Teacher asks the students to observe the demonstration done by
the teacher on how to make a glass of tea, and find the social function, text
structure, and linguitics features of the procedure text.

4) After observing and discussing with their friends, students are able to
understand and conclude the material that has been taught.

For example: By observing the demonstration on how to make a glass of tea,

students are be more knowledgeable about procedure text related to its social
function, text structure, and linguitics features

CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION

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3.1 Conclusion

Based on the discussion above, it can be concluded that one of the effective teaching
media that can be used by teachers to teach English is realia. Realia are actual objects that are
brought to class as examples or tools to be discussed or written and can also be used in teaching
English. Realia can be classified into two types namely real objects and replicas of objects.
Realia has several characteristics which are related to real life, portable, easily accessible,
touchable, inexpensive, easy to obtain, and versatile.

By using realia in the teaching and learning process, teachers are expected to be able to
make the learning process more meaningful and memorable for students because they can relate
it to their real life. Thus, students can feel motivated and involved with the learning process
because they can apply their knowledge in efficient situations. However, realia has its own
limitations in size, portability, security and time. Therefore it is important for a teacher to
consider several factors (goals, student characteristics, time, effectiveness, compatibility, and
cost) in choosing a suitable realia to facilitate their teaching and learning process. To use realia
in the classroom, there are several steps that must be done by the teacher. The steps are as
follows: (1) Providing tangible objects (Realia) related to teaching materials so that they can
be used efficiently in class; (2) Using real objects in the learning process in class; thus, students
get hands-on experience from these objects; (3) Inviting students to observe directly, then with
their friends discussing the material being taught; (4) After observing and discussing and
guidance from the teacher, students can enter the material that has been taught.

REFERENCES

Jean-Pierre Berwald. 1987. Teaching Foreign Languages with Realia and other Authentic
Materials. Eric. Center for applied linguistics. Washington. Autumn 2004
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Erny Rokhmawati. Semarang. 2010. The use of Realia to improve students speaking ability
in procedure text.

Soames, Chris. 2010. Using Realia in the Classroom. Retrieved October, 3rd 2019 from
http://ezinearticles.com/?Using–Realia-in-the-Classroom&id=3937314

Temo D. (2009). The Use of Authentic Materials in Classrooms. LCPJ, Vol. II. Retrieved
October, 3rd 2019 from : http://www.lcpj.pro/skedaret/1277547685-
74_pdfsam_LCPJ,%20per%20shtyp.pdf

Vivian Cook, “Using authentic material in the language classroom” Modern English
Teacher, 92(1981):60

Yilmaz, S.(2011). Material Development Realia. Retrieved October, 3rd 2019 from:
https://www.slideshare.net/sebahaty/realia-12093389