FROM UTTERANCE TO ESSENCE: VOCATIONAL STUDENTS' CAPACITY TO IDENTIFY MAIN IDEAS IN ENGLISH DIALOGUES : A STUDY AT SMK NOEBAUN, SOUTH CENTRAL TIMOR, EAST NUSA TENGGARA
Keywords:
main idea, dialogue, listening comprehension, vocational studentsAbstract
Listening comprehension, particularly in grasping the main idea of dialogues, is a crucial competency in English language learning for communication. However, most previous research has focused on main idea identification in written texts or general listening problems, leaving a gap in specifically examining the ability of vocational high school (SMK) students in the context of spoken dialogue. This study aims to (1) describe the ability level of SMK Noebaun students in identifying the main idea in English dialogues, and (2) analyze the difficulties they encounter. This research employs a quantitative descriptive method. The population was all 11th-grade students (100 students), with a random sample of 25 students. The instrument was a 25-item multiple-choice test adapted from authentic dialogues. Results show that overall student ability was in the Fair category (68% of students). Item analysis identified 8 difficult items (>47% error rate), with the main difficulties lying in understanding implicit meaning (61.90%) and vocabulary limitations. Although students’ average ability is adequate, significant challenges exist in understanding implied meaning and mastering contextual vocabulary in dialogues. The pedagogical implication is the need for teaching strategies that emphasize pragmatic inference and enrichment of context-specific conversational vocabulary.
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