CONSTRUCTING TEACHER’S SELF-ASSESSMENT OF RAPPORT BUILDING IN EFL CLASSROOM

International Journal of Education Vol. 9 No. 2, Februari 2017, pp. 89-96 ©2017 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia doi: dx.doi.org/10.17509/ije.v9i2.5462 CONSTRUCTING TEACHER’S SELF-ASSESSMENT OF RAPPORT BUILDING IN EFL CLASSROOM Muhamad Nova English Education Department, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia First draft received: 4 November 2016 Final proof received: 18 February 2017 Abstract A good education is not only about academics, but also the positive social interaction in classroom. Therefore, there is a need to build rapport in classroom interaction. In building rapport, EFL teachers need to conduct several activities, and through self-assessment, teachers can monitor and evaluate their own teaching for professional development. However, self-assessment instrument for building rapport has not been developed yet by any researchers. To fill the needs, this study is established to construct a self-assessment for teacher in building rapport in EFL classroom. By applying design research from a curriculum perspective, the results revealed a self-assessment instrument of maintaining rapport for EFL teacher. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α = .928) of this instrument indicated high reliability and the instrument can be considered a reliable instrument to be used for the study sample. EFL teachers can do self-monitoring and self-evaluation on their rapport building in classroom interaction. Additionally, further research in investigating the effect of using this instrument in assessing teacher’s quality is required. Keywords: rapport; rapport in EFL classroom; teacher’s self-assessment; teacher development To cite this paper (in APA style): Nova, M. (2017). Constructing teacher’s self-assessment of rapport building in EFL classroom. International Journal of Education, 9(2), 89-96. doi: dx.doi.org/10.17509/ije.v9i2.5462 A good education is not only about academics, but also the positive development in social interaction (Bruney, 2012) since teaching is essentially a process of interaction between teacher and students in a social setting (Çakir, 2010). Establishing a good communication between teacher and students is a step of successful teaching and learning (Barmaki, 2014), and therefore maintaining the teacher-student relationship is a concern in classroom to foster positive development on students learning in classroom (Bruney, 2012; Nguyen, 2007; Pianta, Hamre, & Allen, 2012). This teacher and students’ relationship is defined as a rapport in which there is a positive, enjoyable, and respectful relationship (Harmer, 2007a; 2007b) and includes harmonious interaction and communication between teacher and students (Bernieri, 1998) in building trust and respects that leads the students to feel capable, competent, and creative in learning (Brown, 2001). The language learning process in the classroom can be facilitated through teacher and students’ interaction. In Nguyen’s study (2007), it is revealed that EFL teacher can use target language in giving instruction and guidance to the students and the students learn the target language and use the target language to communicate with the teacher. As the goal of language learning is to use language (Burns, & Richards, 2012; Johnson, 2001) and to create and maintain social interaction (Nguyen, 2007), building rapport can be an effective way in communicating with students in target language to encourage them in learning (Swenson, 2010; Webb & Barett, 2014). Therefore, the relationship between teacher and students can be categorized as a crucial factor in the process of the acquisition of a second language for the students (Sánchez et al., 2013) since the target language is seldom used outside the classroom, and the only input and language use is in classroom interaction especially in teacher-student interaction (Suryati, 2015). As a result, a positive relationship between teacher and students is needed to build a good language learning environment in the classroom. One way to maintain the teacher-students relationship is through having positive interaction between teacher and students. Interaction between the teacher and the students determines the success of teaching and learning activity (Bruney, 2012). Good classroom interaction is categorized as an important factor in student learning and enhancing effective teaching and learning activity (Özer, Atik, Şad, & Kiş, 2015; Swenson, 2010; Webb & Barett, 2014). It gives positive impact on teacher’s effectiveness and students’ learning (Pianta et al., 2012; Sánchez, González, & Martínez, 2013; Swenson, 2010). Bruney’s study (2012) reveals the presence of the classroom interaction in the classroom affects the students’ view of teacher’s performance in arranging activity and establishing any activities in classroom will not be effective if the relationship between the teacher and the students is not established well. Positive classroom interaction makes the students gain higher achievement (Nguyen, 2007) and create positive attitude from the students toward the learning activity (Pianta et al., 2012). Another study, conducted by Sánchez et al. (2013), reveals a positive teacher-student relationship influences students’ motivation in learning in which 89 Nova, M. Constructing teacher’s self-assessment of rapport building in EFL classroom students feel more confident and comfortable to approach teacher and share personal and academic issues. If the students feel they have a good relationship with the teacher, they will feel comfortable and motivated to pay attention to the teacher (Pianta et al., 2012; Sánchez et al., 2013). It has been shown by studies that positive rapport between teacher and students brings positive impact to teaching and learning activity. Related research of strategies in maintaining the teacher-students’ rapport has also been conducted by Bruney (2012) who investigated the process of the teacher-student relationship influencing the development of trust and emotional intelligence in the elementary classroom. Through conducting interview with two experienced teachers in the Greater Toronto Area, this study revealed that the presence of the teacher in the classroom affects the students’ view of teacher’s performance. This study also suggested 3 effective strategies in maintaining the teacherstudents relationship, by (1) sharing personal feelings; (2) seeking help for the students; and (3) storytelling. Similar research was also conducted by Pianta et al. (2012). They conducted a study on investigating the concept of interactions and engagement and how to improve teacher-student interactions. Their study revealed four concepts in maintaining teacher-student relationships and interactions: (1) evaluating background knowledge and cognitions of interactions; (2) establishing ongoing relational supports; (3) giving regular individual feedback; and (4) being focus in changing interactions. Another study was also conducted by Sánchez et al. (2013). Their stud (...truncated)