The particular dialect or language that a person chooses to use on any occasion is called a code 2268 Copyright © 2022 The Author IDEAS is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 License Issued by English study program of IAIN Palopo IDEAS Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) Volume 10, Number 2, December 2022 pp. 2268 - 2276 Senior High School Students' Perceptions about the Use of Smartphones as English Learning Media Sri Damayanti1, Irwan2 1yanthie_uncok@ymail.com, 2iwaalfarabi@gmail.com 1Cokroaminoto Palopo University 2SMAN 6 Palopo Received: 2022-11-05 Accepted: 2022-12-31 DOI: 10.24256/ideas.v10i2.3564 Abstract This research focused on the students’ perception on the use of smartphone as an English learning media especially for Indonesian Secondary High School (SMA) students. This research applied mixed method which qualitative method is more highly used than its quantitative method. Data collecting techniques in this research are survey study with Likert-scaled questionnaire, direct observation, and interview. The survey results then classified and ranked statistically to know the frequency level of the smartphone use in learning English as well as to encounter students’ perception on it. To present more comprehensive data and information, the research result then quantitatively illustrated in an appropriate chart or diagram, and qualitatively described in narrative form. The result show that high school students in certain areas in SMAN 6 Palopo still have very little insight regarding the use of smart phone technology as a medium for learning English. Most of them use their smartphones for entertainment purposes. The implication about the use of smart phone is presented as well to give more insightful view for the students or teachers about how to maximize the advantages of smart phone media in learning English. Keywords: English learning; media; perception; smartphone Introduction As has been widely experienced in today's life, the use of the internet and social media which are so easily accessed via smart phones is not only done by adults, but also by children of elementary school age. The phenomenon of the increasingly widespread use of gadgets and increasingly sophisticated technological and information innovations are some of the main factors causing the low reading interest of the Indonesian people (Desfourina, 2019). In other words, now books are far less interesting than smart phones. Even though reading activities can be done http://u.lipi.go.id/1457703302 mailto:2iwaalfarabi@gmail.com IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 2269 using a smart phone, of course the nuances felt will be different from reading an actual book. This is caused by the many distractions that may be encountered when reading via a smart phone, such as the emergence of many incoming message notifications to message inboxes and to various users' social media accounts, and so on. Whereas when reading a book in its real form, the reader's attention will be focused on the book being read so that the level of understanding obtained is deeper. In this regard, the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (PMK) Puan Maharani once stated that based on the results of research that had been conducted, the average Indonesian only reads books 3-4 times per week with a reading duration of around 30-59 minutes per hour. day (Nadlir, 2018). This condition is the background for researchers to raise this problem as a research theme in the context of learning English for high school (SMA) students. As far as the researchers have observed, the use of gadgets, especially smart phones, among the millennial generation for specific purposes as learning media, especially English, is still very minimal. This can be seen from the many features of social media applications, online chatting, and online games which dominate the contents of the smart phones of high school students and the equivalent. In addition, based on observations that have been made by researchers in previous research, it was found that the English language learning model with digital media, especially smart phones, still sounds foreign to students at the high school level and equivalent. In fact, most high school students are currently using smart phones (Wahyuni, 2017). This means that the use of smart phones in educational contexts such as learning English still sounds foreign to students in Indonesia, especially senior high school students. Therefore, this study aims to determine the perceptions of high school students about the use of smartphones as a medium for learning English, and to find out the level of utilization of smartphones as a medium for learning English for high school students. In addition, this research is also expected to educate high school students about how to use smart phones as a medium for learning English. Research Questions The research questions to be studied in this study are as follows: a). What is the level of smartphone utilization as a medium for learning English among high school students? b). How do students perceive the use of smartphones as a medium for learning English? Perception is broadly interpreted as a form of thinking about something that forms a certain attitude pattern. According to Robbins & Judge (2008: 175) Perception is defined as a process in which individuals interpret and organize their sensory impressions to give meaning or impression to the environment. Perception is also a process of entering information or messages into the human brain (Slameto, 2010). Perception regulates patterns of attitudes and human interactions that are carried out continuously with their environment. This is because perception results from a series of experiences about an object, event or relationship that a person obtains by interpreting messages and synthesizing information (Rakhmat, 2005). In other words, a human's experiences will be interpreted by his brain to give rise to certain impressions and assumptions, and this process differs from one human to Sri Damayanti & Irwan Senior High School Students' Perceptions about the Use of Smartphones as English Learning Media 2270 another. According to Walgito (2004), there are several factors that influence a person's perception, namely; a. Objects that are perceived Objects cause stimuli that affect the senses or receptors. Stimulus can come mostly from outside the perceiving individual or from within the individual concerned. b. Sense organs, nerves, and central nervous system Sensory organs or receptors are tools for receiving stimuli. The stimulus is transmitted by sensory nerves to the central nervous system, namely the brain as the center of consciousness. c. Attention To be aware of or in holding perceptions, attention is needed which is the main step as a preparation in order to hold perceptions. Attention is the concentration or concentration of all individual activities aimed at something or a group of objects. Method This research is a mixed-method research using a concurrent embedded strategy. The statistical theoretical basis that the researcher uses is Cresswell's theory (2009) which states, "concurrent embedded: a strategy of mixed methods research can be identified by its use data collection phase, during which both quantitative and qualitative data are collected simultaneously. Unlike the triangulation model, a concurrent embedded has primary methods that guide the project and a secondary method that provides a supporting role in the procedure. In other words, research with this concurrent embedded model is carried out in combination research where qualitative and quantitative methods are carried out together, but the levels of use are different. In this case, the method used is divided into two, namely the primary and secondary methods. The primary method is used to analyze and obtain primary (main) data, and the secondary method is used to strengthen the data generated from the primary method. In this study, the researcher intends to conduct a qualitative survey study on the perceptions of high school students in using smartphones as a medium for learning English, then the results are analyzed qualitatively to produce qualitative descriptive data. The survey results are then calculated and classified quantitatively to support the qualitative data that has been produced. Because the main data that the researcher wants to obtain is qualitative, the weight of the qualitative method is used as the primary method in this study. While the quantitative method is used as a secondary method to support the data generated from the qualitative analysis. In terms of the use of qualitative methods which are higher than the use of quantitative methods, the research model that best fits the scope and objectives of this study is the concurrent embedded strategy. Subjects and objects of research. The research subjects in this study were high school (SMA) students in SMAN 6 Palopo, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. While the object of research is the use of smartphones as a medium for learning English. The population is a generalization area consisting of objects/subjects that have special characteristics and qualities determined by researchers to study and draw conclusions (Sugiyono, 2017). The population in this study were 200 high IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 2271 school students from SMAN 6 Palopo. The researcher used purposive sampling as a sampling technique, and chose 50 respondents as the research sample. Purposive sampling is a sampling technique with certain considerations in accordance with the researchers' objectives (Sugiyono, 2017) In this study, data collection and analysis techniques were carried out interactively and simultaneously with the stages of data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. To obtain quantitative and qualitative data about the level of use of smartphones as a medium for learning English, observations, interviews, and questionnaires with a Likert scale were carried out. Meanwhile, to find out how students perceive the use of smartphones as a medium for learning English, interviews will be carried out. One thing that is no less important in data collection is the observation technique. Prior to the process of compiling the instrument, the researcher made observations first to find out the conditions and general attitudes of the respondents in using smartphones. Observation is a form of observation of a human behavior under certain conditions. Observation becomes an important thing because in real life, what a human being says may not necessarily match what he does (Cristensen, 2008). Observations were made to see and understand the extent to which the level of use of smartphones as a medium for learning English was carried out by high school students in the area around the researcher's residence in the West Bogor area. In this process, researchers communicate and conduct unstructured interviews to find out how they use smartphones. Apart from that, the researchers also noted important things related to their opinions and knowledge about smartphone features. In the process of making the instrument, the researcher took the following steps: 1. Make a statement of willingness to fill out a questionnaire. A statement of willingness was made in order to get the respondent's consent to participate in filling out the questionnaire voluntarily and was willing if the data was used for research purposes. 2. Make a guide for filling out the questionnaire. A guide for filling out the questionnaire was created to provide respondents with a good understanding of the questions presented to make it easier for them to fill out the questionnaire. In addition, the researcher also asked the respondents to answer the questions as they were in accordance with the actual conditions. 3. Make a list of questions Question items are prepared based on the condition description obtained during observation and taking into account indicators of perception in accordance with the theoretical framework used. 4. Test the validity and reliability of the instrument The method of testing the validity and reliability of the instruments in this study is content validity, namely by consulting the contents of the questionnaire to experts who are experts in the field of educational psychology and language learning. Sri Damayanti & Irwan Senior High School Students' Perceptions about the Use of Smartphones as English Learning Media 2272 Results After testing the validity and reliability of the instrument, the questionnaire was distributed to the respondents. From a survey conducted on 50 high school students in SMAN 6 Palopo regarding their perceptions of using smartphones as a medium for learning English, it was found that the level of use of smartphones among high school students for learning media for English was still relatively low. Based on the results of filling out the questionnaire from the respondents, a recapitulation of the level/amount of smartphone use as a medium for learning English with a Likert scale is obtained as below; Table 1. Questionnaire’ results of students perception on the use of smartphone in learning English No Questions Very often often sometimes ever never 1 I use smartphone to read English News or English Text 6 16 24 4 2 I use Digital/Online Dictionary to increase my English vocabulary 5 15 8 12 10 3 I use my smartphone to increase my listening Skills by watching English videos 4 16 24 6 4 I use some learning application to learn English in my smartphone 5 14 16 15 5 I use my smartphone in 8 18 24 IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 2273 writing English for my blogs or my social medias 6 I use recording facilities in my smartphone to record my English speaking 40 10 7 I use my smartphone to increase my general knowledge included in English learning 8 12 26 4 The data shows that most of the students do not use their smartphone for learning English. Only 5 out of 50 students who used it for learning vocabulary. The highest frequency chosen were in sometimes and ever for each question given. No one choose very often, often and sometimes for the recording their speaking as learning process. The data shows that the students at SMAN 6 Palopo are still in low level of using smartphone for learning English. Discussion The questionnaires prepared by the researchers represented various indicators of skills in English, namely speaking, listening, writing and reading. From the analysis of the questionnaire distribution that was conducted on 50 respondents, it was found that the use of smartphones as a medium for learning English among high school students in SMAN 6 Palopo is still very low, especially in terms of speaking and writing skills. From the graph above it is also known that all respondents have never used the simple voice recording feature to practice learning to speak, and 18 out of 20 respondents have never practiced writing blogs in English. In fact, speaking and writing are types of productive skills in English in the context of a foreign language (EFL) which should be interesting and motivating (Harmer, 2001). One way to make it more interesting is to take advantage of the simple recording feature on a smartphone. For example, EFL learners can record their own voice using English for a certain duration and then listen to and review it by colleagues or by themselves so that the person concerned can find out what shortcomings and mistakes were produced during the speaking process in the recording (Wahyuni, 2017). This is where the important role of educators is to be more creative in motivating students to make better use of their smartphones for the process of learning English, especially in the context of speaking and writing Sri Damayanti & Irwan Senior High School Students' Perceptions about the Use of Smartphones as English Learning Media 2274 skills. Even so, the use of smart phones to access English videos as a listening learning medium is somewhat familiar even though the number only reaches 6 people, and the number of respondents who have never accessed them is still much higher than those who do to learn English. The simplest thing in terms of using a smartphone to increase vocabulary is the use of a digital dictionary, which in fact is still very minimal in frequency. However, apart from being a medium for learning English, as many as 13 respondents have used their smartphones for learni ng in other fields To corroborate the data obtained, the researcher used the interview method to find out how respondents perceive the use of smartphones as a medium for learning English among high school students. From the results of structured interviews that have been conducted, information is obtained that 10 out of 20 respondents use their smartphone to play online games, and 4 respondents use it more for social media, and 6 respondents use it to learn English through online videos. The diagram below illustrates the percentage of smart phone use based on the purpose of use by the 20 respondents studied. Thus, it is known that 70% of the respondents studied use smart phones for entertainment purposes. While those who use it as a learning medium, especially English, are only 30%. In other words, the use of smart phones as a medium for learning English among high school students in certain areas in West Bogor is still minimal and rarely used. Meanwhile, the cause of their lack of creativity and awareness in utilizing smartphones as a medium for learning English is due to low motivation and lack of insight into using smart phones as English learning technology. Conclusion From the discussion about the low level of smartphone use as a medium for learning English that has been described qualitatively and quantitatively above, it can be concluded that high school students in certain areas in the SMAN 6 Palopo still have very little insight regarding the use of smart phone technology as a medium for learning English. Most of them use their smartphones for entertainment purposes. Researchers hope that this research can open their insights about exploring the use of smartphones in a more positive and creative context, especially in terms of learning English. Learners, especially high school students, should be introduced to websites that are useful for improving English language skills such as the guardian, new york times, BBC Learning English, VOA Learning English, Hello Talk, and many more. 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