





































Putri Anggraeni, et al / Journal of English Language Teaching 6 (1) (2017) 

121 

 

 
ELT FORUM 9 (2) (2020) 

 

Journal of English Language Teaching 

 
http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/elt 

 
 

Periodic assigment: Exploring students’ perception and their academic 

achievement 
 

Husnul Khatimah1, Miftahul Jannah2, Khairil Razali3 
 
1IAIN Langsa, Indonesia 
2,3UIN Ar-Raniry, Indonesia

 

Article Info 
________________  
Article History: 

Received in 28 

September 2020  
Approved in 29 

November 2020 

Published in 30 

November 2020 

________________  
Keywords: Periodic 
Assignment; Students’ 
Perception; Academic 
Achievement; English for 
Academic Purpose  
____________________ 

 

 

Abstract 
___________________________________________________________________ 
Determining the perception of English Department students toward the periodic 

assignment and how it develops students’ academic achievement was the aim of this study. 
The correspondents were 42 students who experienced periodic assignments in English for 

Academic Purposes subject at English Department of UIN Ar-Raniry, Banda Aceh. This 
study used a quatitative descriptive research design. The data were collected through 

questionnaires as the researcher used a four-point Likert scale questionnaire adapted from 
Turanli (2009) as the instrument. The scale was taken for exploring respondent’s 

personality. Frequency distribution was used to analyze the obtained data and it would be 

presented in percentage. From 16 questions, the findings revealed that many students 
expressed positive perception towards periodic assignments in learning English for 

Academic Purposes. The students also expressed that the periodic assignments had 
developed their academic achievement. This study was not only useful for teachers’ 
practical teaching, but it provided the base for future research about periodic assignment. 

  
 
  

 
© 2020 Universitas Negeri Semarang 

 
 

 Correspondent Address: p-ISSN 2252-6706 | e-ISSN 2721-4532 
Lambirah Village, no.10,  

Suka Makmur, Aceh Besar, Aceh, 23361  

E-mail: husnul@iainlangsa.ac.id  

http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1333515478&1&&
http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1576658845&1&&


Husnul Khatimah, Miftahul Jannah, Khairil Razali/ELT Forum 9 (2) (2020) 

122 

 

INTRODUCTION 

In educational sectors, assignment is considered as a common tool which has value to assess students' 

improvement in mastering learning resources. Teachers, students, and parents share the same 

perspective about it as an assessment tool. Simply, assignment could be a task or a homework that 

must be done by the students. It facilitates the students not only in internalizing information that has 

been presented in the class, but also in encouraging students to practice materials that have just been 

learned.  

In fact, the main actor who has a significant role in assigning the assignment is a teacher or a 

lecturer in this research context. For instance, a lecturer is a planner, facilitator, and evaluator. In order 

to optimize the assignment as the assessment tool, the lecturer must consider Paulu’s (1998, as cited in 

Mousavi et al, 2012) suggestion about varying the assignment types to make it pleasant and enjoyable 

for the students. Besides, after providing the assignment, the lecturer shall not leave his/her students 

to accomplish the assignment given on their own without further guidance. If appropriately treated, 

assignment will work beyond the tool, as Collier (2007, as cited in Costley, 2013) had explained that 

the assignment can improve students’ retention and understanding of the materials, and “reinforce it” 

Pytel (2007). In addition, Bas, Senturk, and Cigerci’  (2017) stated that assignment has positive effects 

on students' academic achievement.  

Each lecturer has different ways in assigning the assessment, either the types of assignment or 

the due date of it. Some lecturers assigned the assignment frequently, while others assigned minimal 

assignments. The periodic assignment is a frequent task given to students with precise time to submit. 

Periodic assignment has many advantages, such as to teach target skills, to increase the students' 

independence and their participation, and to avoid the students from doing the procrastination. In a 

study conducted by Trautwein (2007) noted that students' learning achievement developed more 

favorably in classes in which the teachers set frequent (but not necessarily lengthy) rather than 

infrequent assignments. Moreover, research was done by Zhang (2002) also showed that assignments 

are able to develop students’ cognitive competency. 

For this research context, Based on writer’s preliminary research observing English for 

Academic Purposes (EAP) subject, the lecturer gave the assignments periodically, especially one 

assignment every week. Honestly, the students expressed a different reaction towards the assignments. 

For some students, the assignments were a piece of cake. Hence, trough doing the periodic 

assignments, they had chance to practice the materials that had been presented in the class every week. 

Therefore, they could recall the information that had been learned in each meeting. Besides, it 

estranged the students from doing procrastination since the due date was already set. As the lecturer 

checked the assignment at the beginning of the week before the one was given for next week, the 

students were able to identify their mistakes through feedbacks (Hashemnezahd and Mohammadnejad 

2012). 

On opposing side, other students believed the periodic assignments were hard to execute. For 

them, assignments cause learning to be unpleasant or worthwhile. In a study, Kohn (2007) stated that 

students did not need many homework assignments because doing more tasks would not increase 

students' grades. He also added that for undergraduate students, time was precious, so to assess their 

learning perhaps was enough through the test score. 

To be more specific, periodic is occurring or recurring at regular intervals; occurring repeatedly 

from time to time (Meriam Webster Dictionary, 2017).  Assignment is an out-of-class activity that a 

teacher assigns to students, for both including task and homework. Hong and Milgram defined 

assignment as ‘tasks assigned to learners by their teachers that are to be done outside the class without 

concomitant teacher direction’ (2000, p.5). In addition, Cooper et al. (2006, as cited in Booth, 2010) 

stated that homework assignments are meant to extend and supplement in-class activities. Peng et al. 

(1997) defined the periodic task as “the baseload" invoked at fixed time intervals. In this research, 

periodic assignment was the assignment given by the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) lecturer 

after explaining the course material. As in EAP subject, four skills had been taught; speaking, listening, 

reading, and writing, so did the assignment, for example, after presenting the material about speaking, 

the lecturer assigned the assignment such as speech, drama, role play, or oral presentation. 

In fact, different university sets diverse assignment types, but they have comparable structures 

and features. Indeed, to elucidate the types of university assignment, the writer focuses on the four 

skills assignments that had been taught in EAP subject such as reading, speaking, listening, and writing. 

The writer took example of reading assignments types from Harvard University, in which they often 



Husnul Khatimah, Miftahul Jannah, Khairil Razali/ELT Forum 9 (2) (2020) 

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used types of reading assignment, such as weekly reading, close reading, case reading, scientific 

reading, reading for context, and reading for research (Honor.fas.harvard.edu, 2018). 

Besides, the writer also adapted Brown’s (2003) types of listening assignments, such as (1) 

listening cloze; in this assignment, the students listen to a story, monologue, or conversation and 

simultaneously read the written text in which selected words or phrases have been deleted. (2) 

Information transfer; after listening to some information, the students are asked to transfer the 

information to a visual representation, such as labeling diagram, identifying an element in a picture or 

completing a form. (3) Communicative stimulus-response tasks; the students present a stimulus 

monologue or conversation and then they are asked to respond to a set of comprehension questions. 

(4) Authentic listening task; such as note-taking, editing paragraph, paraphrasing, and retelling the 

information.  

Furthermore, for speaking assignment types, it was taken from University of Mary Washington, 

those are (1) presentational speaking; this assignment encourages students to understand course 

material well enough to communicate it to others. (2) Learning groups and class discussion; learning 

group activities give students specific oral tasks, such as analyzing a problem or examining the textual 

material. The assignment is designed so that collaboration by group members is essential to make 

progress on the task. (3) Task group project; in these assignments, students work together for longer 

periods of time and may be expected to produce a final report of some sort. (4) Interpersonal 

communication; these assignments involve projects in which two students communicate together for 

the purpose of achieving some common goal. Typical formats include Role-playing cases. (University 

of Mary Washington, 2018) 

Therefore, according to the writer’s preliminary research in English for Academic purposes 

class, types of the periodic assignments were essay, annotated bibliography, reflective journal or thesis, 

news report, tourism place report, role play, and writing a business plan. 

As society shares the common belief that learning in the class is not enough for teachers to teach 

all materials, it is necessary for lecturers to ask the students to learn outside the class through 

assignments. It is aline with the assigment purposes to support students’ learning in increasing their 

capabilities and practical skills to develop their academic achievement (Mulyasa, 2005; Bishop, 2008; 

and Susana, 2010), and to prepare them for the next lesson (Hong and Milgram, 2000).  

Indeed, many studies have examined the impact of assignments on students’ academic 

achievement at the elementary and secondary education levels, but only a few studies have 

investigated this issue in a university-level setting. Cooper (1989, as cited in Latif and Miles, 2011) 

provided an excellent about this in elementary and secondary school. He conducted a review of nearly 

120 empirical studies of homework assignment's effects and the ingredients of the successful 

homework assignment. His study revealed that homework assignment enhances students’ academic 

achievement.  

Trautwein’s carried out research (2007) about homework assignments-achievement relation on 

2.216 students in classes participating in a large educational assessment. The result of his research 

showed that students' learning achievement developed more favorably in classes in which teachers set 

frequent (but not necessarily lengthy) rather than infrequent homework assignments. Moreover, 

Hallam (2004) believed the students like the teachers who assign regular and reasonable amount of 

assignment. Similarly, Zhang (2002) investigated 82 Hong Kong university students and found that 

critical and creative thinking assignment types develop stduents’ achievement. 

Based on the previous elaboration, the researcher would like to explore deeper on the students’ 

perception towards periodic assignment and to determine whether it develops students’ academic 

achievement in learning English for Academic Purposes subject. 

 

METHODS 

This study employed the quantitative method. It was a method used to explain phenomena by 

collecting numerical data that will be analyzed through mathematically based method (Aliaga and 

Gunderson: 2002, as cited in Muijs 2004). The questionnaire was used for the research instrument. It 

was conducted at Department of English Language Education, Faculty of Education and Teacher 

Training, Ar-Raniry State Islamic University (UIN), Banda Aceh. Ar-Raniry State Islamic University 

is the Islamic University under the administration of the ministry of religious affairs. The former name 

of UIN Ar-Raniry was IAIN (The State Institute of Religious Affairs) Ar-Raniry. Department of 

English Language Education provides many subjects; one of them is English for Academic Purposes 

(EAP) subject which lecturers usually give the periodic assignment. Therefore, English Language 



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Education was chosen as the research location and the respondents were taken from semester VII as 

EAP subject was setting for them, in order to know their perception about the periodic assignment and 

whether it develops students' academic achievement.  

Additionally, the population of this study was 168 students in the 7th semester in academic year 

2018/2019. The researchers used a purposive sampling method. The sample of this research was taken 

based on the number of students who took English Academic Purposes subject and given periodic 

assignment by the lecturer. According to Sugiono (2008), if the population is large, then the sample 

can be taken between 10-15% or 20-25%. There were six classes of English for Academic Purposes, 

among them only two classes that were given the periodic assignment. Therefore, the sample of the 

questionnaire was 42 students at English Language Education Department of Ar-Raniry State Islamic 

University.  

Furthermore, to gain intended data, the questionnaire was distributed to 42 respondents. The 

researchers used a four-point Likert scale questionnaire adapted from Turanli (2009) as the instrument 

to find out the students’ perception toward periodic assignments. The scale was taken for exploring 

respondent’s personality as  Hadjar has explained (2006, as cited in Taniredja & Mustafidah, 2012) 

“it usually uses the Likert scale which aims to take a gauge of people's characteristic" (p.44). The 

questionnaire was close-ended questions with 4 points wherein the level was made up from one to 

four; (1) strongly disagree; (2) disagree; (3) agree; and (4) strongly agree. It consisted of 16 questions 

that asked the students' perception toward periodic assignment and the benefits of periodic assignment 

on students' academic achievement.  

In analyzing the questionnaire data, researchers followed Kasiram’s advice (2018) as there 

were several crucial steps to accomplish; checking, editing, coding, and tabulating the data. The 

researchers first checked all questionnaire items of missing characters or words to avoid any 

misunderstanding issue, then distributed those questionnaires to the participants. After distributing 

the questionnaire, the researchers collected the questionnaires from respondents and all data were 

gained, the researchers analyzed the collected data by using the statistical simple formula, it was 

appliying frequency distribution. The data would be presented in percentage by using the following 

formula (Sudjono, 2008) P =
F

N
 𝑥 100%. This percentage was grouped based on the scale so that the 

researcher were able to find out the students’ perception towards the questions. After analyzing the 

data from questionnaires, the data were presented in a table and it will be followed by brief explanation 

to describe the students’ perception.  

 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 

After collected the data through the questionnaire, the researchers acquired the findings as there were 

42 students filled the questionnaire.  

 

Findings 

The data analysis of the questionnaire were displayed in the following table. 

Table 1. The result of questionnaires 

No Statements  
Strongly 

Agree 
Agree Disagree 

Strongly 

disagree 

1 I am happy if the lecturer gives periodic assignment 14.3% 64.3% 21.4% 0% 

2 The periodic assignment is helpful for me to 

understand the related topic 
14.3% 64.3% 11.9% 

9.5% 

3 I find periodic assignment helps me in increasing 

my academic achievement 
16.7% 71.4% 11.9% 

0% 

4 I find periodic assignment facilitates my learning 
16.7% 76.2% 7.1% 

0% 

5 I find periodic assignment in EAP class is fun 

because it has a various form of assignment 
31% 47.6% 21.4% 

0% 

6 I find periodic assignment is interesting 
6.5% 61.9% 26.2% 

2.4% 

7 I find periodic assignment helps me to deal with 

many resources in doing assignment 
28.6% 66.7% 4.7% 

0% 

8 I find periodic assignment useful for my short term 

goals 
14.3% 78.6% 7.1% 

0% 



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9 I find periodic assignment useful for my long term 

goals 
16.7% 61.9% 21.4% 

0% 

10 I find periodic assignment help me to understand 

the next course material 
21.4% 59.5% 16.7% 

2.4% 

11 I find periodic assignment help me to become more 
innovative 

14.3% 59.5% 23.8% 
2.4% 

12 The due time to submit the assigned assignment is 
usually enough to do it properly 

14.3% 64.3% 19% 
2.4% 

13 I have enough resources/books to use for my 
assignment 

0% 76.2% 21.4% 
2.4% 

14 The lecturer checks regularly if I have done my the 

assigned assignment 
4.7% 73.8% 19% 

2.4% 

15 The lecturer usually help me correct my mistakes 
9.5% 66.7% 21.4% 

2.4% 

16 the lecturer assigns too much assignment in 

teaching English for Academic Purposes 
16.7% 50% 28.6% 

4.7% 

  
   

 

 

 In accordance with the table above, question number 1 displayed that 14.3% of the students 

answered strongly agree and 64.3 % of the students answered agree. It indicated that, most of the students 

were happy if the lecturer assigned them the periodic assignment. On the other hand, 21.4% of the 

students chose to disagree which meant they did not like to be given the periodic assignment. The 

percentage of agreement was above 50% which presented that the happy feeling the students had 

toward periodic assignment. 

 Then, Question Number 2 pointed out that 14.3% of students marked strongly agree and 64.3% 

of them marked agree. Meanwhile, few other students also marked disagree for 11.9% and strongly agree 

for 9.5%. However, it still designated that most of the students agreed that periodic assignment was 

helpful for them to understand the related topic. 

Furthermore, 16.7% of students chose strongly agree and 71.4% of students chose to agree for 

question number 3. It displayed that the periodic assignment help in increasing their academic 

achievement. On contrary, 11.9% of students chose to disagree which meant that periodic assignment 

did not help them in increasing their academic achievement. Their ‘above 50%’ agreement manifested 

the help that was provided by periodic assignment towards students’ academic achievement. 

In addition, the question number 4 pointed out that 16.7% of students chose strongly agree and 

76.2% of the students chose to agree. It reflected that most of the students agreed that periodic 

assignment facilitated their learning. Meanwhile, only 7.1% of the students who found that periodic 

assignment did not facilitate their learning.  

Based on the answer of 5th question, 31% of the students answered strongly agree and 47.6% of 

the students answered agree. It revealed that most of the students found periodic assignment was fun 

because it had a various form of assignment. Yet, 21.4% of the students found that the periodic 

assignment in EAP class was not fun. Indeed, this question was the highest percentage of students’ 

choice on strongly agree among other question listed. It revealed the strong positive feeling students 

experienced during accomplishing the periodic assignment that was given.  

In addition, the answer of question number 6 about students’ interest, it emphasized the former 

discussion as  9.3% of the students marked strongly agree and 61.9% of them marked agree, and only 

few other students also marked disagree for 26.2% and strongly agree for 2.4%. It confirmed the pleasant 

perception the students had towards periodic assignments as disagreement percentage was still below 

50%.  

Furthermore, the next answer of question number 7 pointed out that 28.6% of the students 

chose strongly agree and 66.7% of the students chose to agree. It designated that the majority of the 

students found that periodic assignment helped them dealing with many resources when 

accomplishing the assignment, only 4.7% of them who disagreed that periodic assignment helped 

them dealing with many resources.  

For question number 8, the table above displayed that 14.3% of the students chose strongly agree 

and 78.6% of the students chose agree. At the same time, 7.1% of the students disagreed that periodic 

assignment useful for their short-term goals. 78.68% was the highest percentage of the agreement that 

students revealed among other question listed. It reflected the most positive perception students had 

toward periodic assignment as it was useful for their short-term goals in learning EAP subject.   



Husnul Khatimah, Miftahul Jannah, Khairil Razali/ELT Forum 9 (2) (2020) 

126 

 

 In exploring about the students’ long term goals, the table above displayed that 16.7% of the 

students chose strongly agree and 61.9% of the students chose to agree. It indicated that students found 

that periodic assignment useful for their long-term goals. Despite, there were 21.4% of students who 

found that periodic assignment was not useful for their long-term goals. As the disagreement was 

below 50%, the positive perception still dominated the answer.  

Besides, the answer of question number 10 (about dealing with next course materials) showed 

that 21.4% of the students marked strongly agree and 59.5% of the students marked agree. It expressed 

that periodic assignments helped students to understand the next course material. On the other hand, 

16.7% of the students marked disagree and 2.4% of the students marked strongly disagree which displayed 

that periodic assignment did not help them to understand the next course material. 

In accordance with the table above, for question number 11, it could be seen that 14.3% of the 

students answered strongly agree and 59.5% of them answered agree. It showed that more than half 

students agreed that periodic assignment made them innovative. On the other hand, 23.8% of the 

students chose to disagree and 2.4% of them chose strongly agree which showed that periodic assignment 

did not make them innovative. Below 30% percent of disagreement did not distracted the positive 

perception that had been shown before. 

Additionally, the answer of question number 12, it could be studied that 14.3% of the students 

marked strongly agree and 64.3% of the students marked agree. It showed that most of the students 

agreed the due time to submit the assigned assignments was enough to do the assignment 

appropriately. Yet, still 19% of the students marked disagree and 2.4% of them marked strongly disagree 

which indicated that the due date was not enough to the assigned assignment properly. 

 It also can be seen that from the question number 13, even though there were 0% of students’ 

strongly agreement, but 76.2% of the students agreed that they had enough resources/books to use for 

their assignment. This number was the second highest result of students’ agreement among the 

questions that had been listed in the table above. Conversely, 21.4% of the students disagreed that they 

had enough resources/books to use for their assignment. Since the disagreement was below 50%, the 

indication of students’ positive perception was accepted.  

For number 14, the table above stated that 4.7% of the students marked strongly agree and 73.8% 

of them marked agree. It indicated that the lecturer checked regularly if they had done the assignment. 

Nevertheless, 19% of the students marked disagree and 2.4% of them marked strongly disagree. This 

showed that there were some students who did not agree if the lecturer checked regularly if they had 

done the assignment. In the next answer, it can be seen that 9.5% of the students answered strongly 

agree and 66.7% of the students answered agree. It indicated that most of the students found that the 

lecturer usually helps them corrected their mistake. Meanwhile, 21.4% of the students answered 

disagree and 2.4% of the students answered strongly disagree which showed that the lecturer usually did 

not help them corrected their mistake. The disagreement was below 50%, the positive perception was 

also reflected. 

Besides, question number 16 illustrated that 16.7% of the students marked agree while 50% of 

the students marked disagree. Nonetheless, 28.6% of the students marked disagree and 4.7% of them 

marked strongly disagree. It showed that more than half students agreed that the lecturer assigned too 

much assignment in teaching English for Academic Purposes. This was the highest number of students 

marked on disagreement among the questions listed, somehow it indicated the students negative 

feeling towards ‘too much assignment’ given. However, since the disagreement was still below 50%, 

otherwise the agreement was more than 70%, thus most of the students’ perception about periodic 

assignment was positive. 

Honestly, during the process of collecting data, the researcher found three students who did not 

submit their assignments. When comparing their answer in the questionnaires, they agreed that the 

lecturer usually assigned too much assignment but the due time to submit the assigned assignment 

was not enough to do the assignment properly. Hence, the researcher assumed that they did not submit 

the assignments because it burdened them and they did not have enough time to finish it.  

Discussion 

Regarding the table and brief explanation above, it revealed the result of students' perception toward 

periodic assessment.  The percentages of the questions were almost 100% on agree option. The highest 

result was 95.3 % on question number 7. This reflected the students’ agreement having many resources 

helped them in accomplishing the assignment. The second highest percentage was 92.9% on question 



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number 4 and number 8. They agreed that periodic assignment helped them in the learning process. 

Besides, they found enough resources to finish the assignment on time. 

Furthermore, the percentages were almost all above 50% agree on the question except for 

Question Number 5 which only 47.6%. However, question number 5 was the highest percentage of 

strongly agree answer, 31%, which profusely emphasized the fun feeling students had towards periodic 

assignment. Additionally, the highest result on agree answer was for question number 8, about 

usefulness of periodic assignment on the students’ short-term goals. This designated that periodic 

assignment provided real benefit in supporting students to visualize, identify and pursue their short-

term goals. The second highest result on agreement were for question number 4 and question number 

12. Question number 4 was about periodic assignment facilitates the students learning and question 

number 12 about the appropriate resources/books available for students’ usage to accomplish their 

assignment. For both questions, the percentage was akin, 76.2%. This reflected that periodic assignment 

facilitated the students’ learning as there were enough books and sources to be used. Indeed, the data 

exposed that most students agreed with the statement which was provided in questionnaire.  

Otherwise, there were seven questions which had 0% percentage on strongly disagree. Those 

questions were about; the students’ happy feeling towards periodic assignment, their though about 

periodic assignment was fun, the help that was provided by periodic assignment in dealing with many 

resources, it facilitated the students’ learning, it helped them dealing with their short-term and their long 

term goals, and the last but the most important one, the students’ marked 0% for strongly disagree 

option on the question about the periodic assignment helped them to develop their academic 

achievement. This 0% manifested that all of the students agreed on the questions (which elaborated 

about the students’ feeling and the help that was provided by the periodic assignment) that had 

mentioned above.  

However, the highest percentages on disagree option could be seen on question number 14. The 

data showed that 33.3 % of participants disagreed on the statement. They minded if the lecturer gave 

many assignments for them. It signalled that most of the students did not mind about all questionnaires 

statements, especially statement number 14. It meant students still bared the positive perception on 

periodic assignment. 

According to 16 statements on questionnaires which was answered by the correspondents, the 

first concern in the questionnaire was about how students feeling toward periodic assignment. The 

finding from the study manifested that more than half of the students (78.6%) were pleased when the 

lecturer gave them periodic assignment. Besides, 71.4% of students also found that the periodic 

assignment was interesting. According to Hallam (2004), teachers who assign regular and reasonable 

amount of assignment are liked by students comparatively more than other teachers. In other words, 

the respondents seemed to be happy and enjoy when the lecturer assigns the periodic assignment. 

The second concern in the questionnaire was about how helpful the students found the periodic 

assignment and what benefits they obtained from the assignment towards their academic achievement. 

Most of the students (78.6%) agreed that periodic assignment helped them to understand the related 

topic. It was in line with the result of a study by Turanli (2009) which indicated that the students 

believe the assignment helps understand the topics in learning. Pytel (2007) also added that the main 

reason for assigning the assignment is to reinforce material that has already been presented in class. 

Indeed, the participants approved that the periodic assignment was helpful to understand the subject 

matter. When students understood the subject materials, their learning process became convenient 

and smoother for them in performing better academic achievement.  

Furthermore, this finding emphasized the purpose of the assignment that was elaborated by 

Bishop (2008), which was to teach students to concentrate, to write a report, to spend time alone, and 

to develop a curiosity to be a continuous learner. All of those purpose ended up to one path, the 

development of students’ academic achievement.  It also supported the explanation of Susana (2010) 

and Mulyasa (2005) about the assignment purposes such as; academic as the major purpose and non-

academic as the minor purpose. The major purposes of the assignment are to practice and to improve 

student's academic achievement; to stimulate the students about the topic proposed or taught, to know 

to what extent the students’ mastery of the proposed assignment, and to see the weaknesses and 

shortage of students in their work.  Meanwhile, the minor purpose of the assignment is closely related 

to self-oriented goals. It is to help students develop time-management, self-confidence, and 

accountability; to develop initiative and learn to work independently, to gain a sense of personal 

responsibility for learning, and to develop self-belief and moral.  



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Further, the majority of students (88.1%) maintained that assignment contributes to the 

students' learning. Many students agreed that periodic assignment helped them in increasing their 

academic achievement. Latif & Miles (2011) and Trautwein (2007) reported that periodic or frequent 

assignment has positive effects on students’ academic performance and improves student’s learning 

achievement. By all means, the students believed that the periodic assignment was necessary for their 

academic achievement. 

Another concern of this study was to identify whether periodic assignment facilitates students’ 

learning. Almost all of the students (92.9%) agreed that periodic assignment facilitated their learning 

such as helped them to prepare and understand the next course material (80.9%) and to deal with 

many resources in doing the assignment (95.3%). It was in line with the purposes of assignment 

proposed by Pytel (2007) as assignment prepares the students in learning new materials so that they 

get the benefit while the new material is introduced in the class. In addition, Hong and Milgram (2000) 

mentioned that by doing the assignment, students are asked to review, practice, and drill material that 

has been learned at school and university. Besides, assignment also provides the students with the 

opportunity to amplify, elaborate, and enrich previously learned information. This emphasized by 

Susana (2010) that was by doing the assignment, students are expected to review and study over what 

they have already learned, to prepare for the next meeting, and to utilize the available sources such as 

library and laboratory.  

The next question in the questionnaire aimed to identify how necessary students found 

assignments for students' short-term and long-term goals (such as weekly quizzes, mid-terms, and final 

examination).  It was discovered that 92.9% of students agreed that periodic assignment useful for 

their short-term goals while 78.6% of students also agreed that periodic assignment useful for their 

long-term goals. Turanli (2009) said that students believed that doing the assignment is necessary to 

help them achieve their short-term and long-term goals. Simply stated, students agreed on the 

usefulness of assignments for their short-term and long-term academic goals. The students who were 

concious about their learning goals would have better chance to pursue the goal than those who were 

not. This awareness was needed for shaping their academic achievement. 

The enjoyable moment in completing the assignment was one of the factors that must be 

considered by the lecturers when assigning the assignment. The students were conveniently felt boring 

if assignments types were all similar. For this reason, the lecturer should highly put the effort in varying 

the assignment types. The majority of students (78.6%) agreed that periodic assignment in EAP class 

was fun because it had a various form of assignments such as a written assignment, video assignment, 

and project assignment. Paulu (1998, as cited in Mousavi et al, 2012) suggested that to vary the 

assignment in order to make the assignment is pleasant and enjoyable to do. 

As commonly suggested, monitoring assignments (whether and how well the students had been 

doning) may contribute positively to students' achievement. Most of the students (78.5%) agreed that 

the lecturer checked regularly if the students had done the assigned assignment. Somehow this activity 

motivated the students to do not deny the assignment that had been given. While 26.2% of the students 

also agreed that the lecturer helped them correct their mistake. It was in accordance with the study by 

Hashemnezahd and Mohammadnejad (2012) which found that when the lecturer checks the student’ 

assignment and gives the feedback, it will facilitate the students’ skill to identify the existence of their 

mistake. Understanding their mistakes promoted students to revise and relearn the materials as the 

washback impact of the assignment was available for them. 

Summing up, first, based on the finding of this research, the periodic assignments had helped 

students to internalize information that has been presented in the class and to practice materials that 

had just been learned.  Second, periodic assignment also had provided students’ preparation for the 

next lesson, had motivated students to pay attention in class, and had given the students’ chance to 

receive the teacher’s feedback on students’ strengths and weaknesses, so that the students had 

understood how well they have comprehended the lesson. In addition, it had helped the students to 

develop self-discipline and time management skill as well. 

However, the researcher also found some factors that inhibited the process of the periodic 

assignment facilitated the students' academic achievement. The first factor was the lecturer assigned 

too much assignment in a week. This resulted in the negative feeling as students received the 

assignment as the burden. It led to some students did not collect or finish their assignment. 66.7% of 

students mentioned in the questionnaire that the lecturer assigned too much assignment they could 

handle. Kohn (2007) asserted that there is not enough evidence to claim that assignment contributes 

to academic achievement and students’ academic performance will not decline even if they are not 



Husnul Khatimah, Miftahul Jannah, Khairil Razali/ELT Forum 9 (2) (2020) 

129 

 

given any assignment. Similarly, Bennet & Kalish (2006) and Buell (2004) revealed that too much 

assignment negatively affect family life, overburden many students, and cause negative emotions in 

parents and students. 

The second factor was the students did not have enough time for preparation. Although 78.6% 

of students agreed that the due time to submit the assigned assignment was usually enough for them 

to do it properly, still in the reality there were some students who were late or even did not submit the 

assignment. 21.4% of students answered that they did not have enough time to submit a well-prepared 

assignment. It was in line with the result of a study by Turanli (2009) which stated that lecturer should 

give the students enough time to prepare their assignment properly before they submit it.   

Therefore, in order to promote students’ academic achievement toward periodic assignment, 

teachers or lecturers need to consider about the length of time for students to accomplish their 

assignment, as well as the amount and the quality of assignment. When lecturer chose to provide 

many assignment at one time, lecturer needed to lower the difficulties level of the assignment, 

otherwise when lecturer assigned some assignments, the level of the difficulties had to be increased. 

Summing up, based on the questionnaire result that had explore the students’ perception 

towards periodic assignment, it could be concluded that the periodic assignment had developed the 

students’ academic achievement in learning English for Academic Purposes (EAP) subject.  

CONCLUSION 

The research was conducted to explore deeper on students’ perception toward periodic assignment 

and whether this type of assignment can develop students’ academic achievement. The participants 

were 42 students who were given periodic assignment in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) subject 

at English Department of UIN Ar-raniry. The researchers used quantitative method and the data were 

collected through questionnaires. To analyze the collected data, the researchers used the statistical 

simple formula. It was the statistical method applied by frequency distribution and presented in 

percentage.  

Based on the finding of study, it could be concluded that most of the participants showed 

positive perception towards periodic assignment in learning English for Academic Purposes subject. 

It was very helpful for their learning progress, for example, periodic assignment helped students to 

understand the related topic, to increase students' academic achievement, to understand the next 

course material, and to deal with many resources in doing the assignment. All of this process had 

provided the development of students’ academic achievement. 

The researchers suggest, the research findings should be used for practical process of teaching 

and learning, not only in English for Academic Purposes subject but also in many other subjects. Beside 

for practicing, the findings also could be utilize for further research for example by gathering more 

extensive data and by analyzing more types of periodic assignments. 

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