Teaching the Past Form to the Students of SMAN 5 Palu through Group Work Learning
Abstract
Grammar mastery, particularly in the use of past forms, is essential for developing students’ writing skills; however, many students still face difficulties in applying correct verb forms in sentences. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of group work learning in improving students’ ability to use past forms. This research employed a quasi-experimental design involving two groups: an experimental class and a control class, each consisting of 23 tenth-grade students of SMAN 5 Palu. The data were collected through multiple-choice and essay tests. The pre-test results showed that both groups had relatively similar abilities. After the treatment, the post-test results indicated a significant improvement in the experimental class (87.39) compared to the control class (81.19). The findings reveal that students taught through group work achieved better results in understanding and using regular and irregular verbs. Therefore, group work learning is effective in improving students’ mastery of past forms in writing.
Keywords
References
Afifah, & Kamaruddin, A. (2023). Improving the ability to identify regular and irregular verbs through reading narrative texts. e-Journal of ELTS (English Language Teaching Society), 11(2), 428–439.
Alamsyah, A. N. (2025). The impact of group-to-group exchange (GGE) method in grammar learning. English Edu: Journal of English Teaching and Learning, 4(2), 25–41.
Chiriac, E. H. (2014). Group work as an incentive for learning: Students’ experiences of group work. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 558.
Demir, S., & Erdogan, A. (2018). The role of teaching grammar in first language education. European Journal of Educational Research, 7(1), 87–101. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.7.1.87
Fitria, T. N. (2021). An analysis of regular and irregular verbs in students’ writing essay. LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching, 24(1), 276–287. https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v24i1.2595
Holandyah, M., Erlina, D., Marzulina, L., & Ramadhani, F. R. (2021). Grammar instruction in communicative language teaching classrooms: Student teachers’ perceptions. Edukasi: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pengajaran, 8(1), 66–77. https://doi.org/10.19109/ejpp.v8i1.8510
Lan, D. T. H., & Van, D. T. (2021). The effectiveness of group work in teaching grammar for students in accounting class 1 at Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration, Vietnam. International Journal of All Research Writings, 2(9), 24–32.
Polinsky, M. (2004). Word class distinctions in an incomplete grammar. In R. A. Berman (Ed.), Language development across childhood and adolescence (pp. 419–434). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Rahmasari, G. (2018). Verbs and phenomenon variations in mental process: A functional grammar analysis. Jurnal Makna, 3(2), 57–68. https://doi.org/10.33558/makna.v3i2.1420
Ramadhanti, S. Y., & Haryudin, A. (2021). The implementation of teaching grammar simple past tense through songs. PROJECT (Professional Journal of English Education), 4(5), 764–769.
Seftiani, A. S., Wilian, S., & Lail, H. (2024). Students’ errors in using past tense in writing recount text: A study at second grade of SMAN 1 Terara in academic year 2023/2024. Jurnal Lisdaya, 20(2), Juli–Desember.
Wahyuningsih, S. K. (2018). Group work to improve classroom interaction and students’ self-esteem of STAIN GPA. Research and Innovation in Language Learning, 1(3), 187–200.
Zaki, L. B., Wiwit, J., Marsevani, M., & Pratiwi, T. L. (2025). EFL teachers’ best practices of Merdeka curriculum implementation in Batam senior high schools: Challenges and opportunities. JOLLT Journal of Languages and Language Teaching, 13(2), 675–689.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31004/jele.v11i3.2357
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2026 Yohalis Selma Sunggudek, Wahyudin S.Pd., M.Pd., Desrin Lebagi S.Pd., M.Pd, Dr. Rofiqoh M.Ed
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
