Investigating Students Preference of Classroom Seating Arrangement
in a Private Elementary School
A Qualitative Research in One of the Elementary Schools in Bandung
Imas Suparsih
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia
Keywords: Seating arrangement, students’ preference.
Abstract: This study is designed to find out EFL students’ preference of classroom seating arrangement and defined
their reason in one of the private elementary schools in Bandung. The participants were eighteen students,
consisting of nine boys and nine girls. A qualitative design is chosen to collect deeper understanding. Open-
ended questionnaire and interview as the instruments in this study were analyzed descriptively along the way
the process of completion of the paper. The findings showed that 28% students preferred on row classroom
seating arrangement while 72% preferred u-shape classroom seating arrangement. The results from interview
surprisingly found that all the students selected in the interview choose u-shape seating arrangement as their
most preferred in learning English. To sum up, it is suggested that the teacher should apply various seating
arrangements work best for students’ need.
1 INTRODUCTION
In the Indonesian context English used as a foreign
language that should be learned in the classroom.
Therefore, the teacher should be able to handle the
classroom during teaching and learning process.
Classroom management is the activities that used by
the teacher to produce a learning situation that helpful
for successful instruction, containing positioning the
physical setting, establishing rules and procedures,
keeping student’s attention to the lesson and involve
in every single activity (Brophy, 2011). According to
Harmer (2007b) classroom management can be
expressed as the determination of teachers to manage
or handle some classroom variables include the use of
voice, the use of first language, teacher’s instruction,
teacher’s talking, student talk and teacher talk, lesson
stages, grouping and seating arrangement.
During teaching and learning, the teacher and
students’ position can influence all the activities in
the classroom. One of the activities in the classroom
is classroom arrangement. Therefore, the seating
arrangement is one of the essential points in teaching
and learning process. According to Wannarka and
Kathy (2008) Seating arrangements are important
classroom setting because they have the possibility of
helping the teacher to avoid problem behaviors that
decrease student attention and reduce available
instructional time. According to Meeks, Knotts, and
James (2013) stated that, the student who have a
preference to sit in a comfortable position in the
classroom have a tendency to let their minds lose the
concentration. Meanwhile, students who prefer to sit
in less comfortable seating positions tend to be more
responsive and on authority. Moreover, Stipek,
(2006) being a kind, loyal teacher means holding
students reliable while delivering the support they
need to succeed. Therefore, the teacher should pay
attention in the entire of classroom activities because
the teacher has a responsibility to help the students’
accomplishment.
Several studies found that the shapes of seating
arrangement can positively affect student. Seating
position can influence the learning environment by
providing comfort, better view, or improved progress
(Meeks, et al., 2013). Moreover, forming an
atmosphere, through seating arrangement will
support student’s achievement in learning (Jusan &
Haghighi, 2011). The seating arrangement in the
classroom allowed interaction between teacher and
students. Furthermore, arranging students’ seating
position in the classroom affected teacher’s and
student’s communication (McCorskey & McVetta,
1978). The objective of the study is to find out the
Suparsih, I.
Investigating Students Preference of Classroom Seating Arrangement in a Private Elementary School - A Qualitative Research in One of the Elementary Schools in Bandung.
DOI: 10.5220/0007164301870191
In Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference
on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education (CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017) - Literacy, Culture, and Technology in Language Pedagogy and Use, pages 187-191
ISBN: 978-989-758-332-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
187

type of classroom seating arrangement preference by
students in learning English to find out the students’
reason about their seating arrangement choice.
Therefore, this study focused to answer the research
question below:
1. What type of classroom seating arrangement
preferred by student in learning English?
2. Why do students prefer such seating
arrangement?
The significance of this study will be expected to
give benefit in two areas, those are theoretical and
pedagogical. Theoretically, the result of this study
will be expected to be used to support the previous
theory about seating arrangements. In the term of
pedagogy, the result of this study provides a
description about students’ preference of seating
arrangement and exploring their reason. The result
also expected to help the teacher to understand their
students more especially in this site.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
The classroom situation should be conducive in order
to produce a comfortable environment in the
classroom. There are several factors that can
influence the students during teaching and learning
process. One influence point that influence students’
learning is seating arrangement. The seating
arrangement is classroom environment in which
arranging desk and chairs for student to learn in the
classroom. Arranging classroom seating arrangement
shown several advantages. In the language classroom,
the seating arrangement is important to create a
positive learning environment (Zerin, 2009).
According to Jusan and Haghighi (2011) modifying
seating arrangements may be approached to decrease
disruptive behavior that influences on the class
environment. Moreover, Denton (1992) argues no
matter what type of seating arrangement applies in the
classroom the main point, it must be flexible to
accommodate numerous activities planned by the
teachers in the classroom.
Harmer (2007b) lists some seating arrangements
that can be practiced in the classroom, those are
orderly row, circle and horseshoes and separate table.
In line with Harmer, Brown H. D. (2001), also
classifies some probabilities of seating arrangements
in the classroom. Those are semi-circle, U-shape
(similar with horseshoe) and circle. Moreover, Mc
Corskey and McVetta (1978) also stated that there are
modes of arranging a classroom: traditional similar to
row, horseshoe or semi-circular, and modular. Those
seating arrangements have different advantages and
disadvantage to student learning.
First, rows seating arrangement. This seating
arrangement is known as the shape of traditional
seating because it is the most common seating
arrangement in classrooms. The desks and the chairs
are arranged in well-systematized rows and columns.
The advantage of orderly row is helping the teacher
to view of all the students and all students can see the
teacher obviously (Harmer, 2007b). Moreover, in row
seating arrangement, the teacher requires to
participate the whole class while working and paying
full attention to the student such as moving around the
class to check the students (Zerin, 2009). Research
conducted by Simmons, et al., (2015) found that row
seating was the paramount classroom arrangement on
the student’s behavior. There were some
disadvantages of row seating arrangement. Row
seating arrangement is difficult for the teacher to grab
students’ attention. Row seating arrangement doesn’t
support natural communication among students
during teaching and learning process (Scott &
Ytreberg, 1990). Therefore, the students can have
difficulties to pay attention to focus on learning.
Second, circle and horseshoe seating
arrangement. In this seating arrangement the desks
and chairs are arranged in the shape of U. In this
seating position allowed the teacher to interact easily
with the students during teaching and learning
process. According to Harmer (2007b) in a circle and
horseshoe seating arrangement every student can see
and interact each other. The classroom situation is
more intimate, in this position also giving potential
for students to share their feelings and information
through talking, eye contact or communicative body
movements. According to Hakonsen (2012) semi-
circle allowed the students to interact more easily
with their classmate. It also suited for students to
engage directly or to join in every activity in the
classroom. Hilal (2014) stated that the disadvantage
of horseshoes or U-shape seating arrangement, the
students have difficulties sit their place and the
teachers have also difficulties moving easily between
students during giving lecture. It occurred because of
the flow of the desk too narrow.
Third, separate table seating arrangement. In this
seating position the students are seated in a small
group in a single desk in the classroom. Therefore,
students are able to join groups work effectively.
There were some advantages of the separate table
seating arrangement. Zerin (2009) stated that the
separate table seating arrangement allowing the
teacher to move and work with the students and the
students who were seated at the back of the classroom
cannot hide from the teacher’s attention. Moreover,
CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology
Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education
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this type of seating arrangement allowing the students
to talk and help each other. Harmer (2007b, p. 43),
stated some disadvantages in separate table seating
arrangement, firstly, students who sat in this position
may not always want to sit with the similar classmates
but they prefer to change their classmate anytime.
Secondly, it makes the whole teaching and learning
more difficult for the students are more wordy and
separated. Therefore, in separate table seating
arrangement with the teacher should pay full attention
because it is difficult to handle the whole class when
the students wanted the teacher’s help at a time.
3 METHODS
3.1 Research Design
This study is conducted under qualitative design. This
study applied the qualitative approach because the
open-ended questionnaire result arranged into
percentages and described the interview’s results
based on the student’s preference on seating
arrangement. Creswell (2007) stated that qualitative
is used to understand the setting in which participants
in a study address a problem or an issue. According
to Malik & Hamied (2014, p. 172) qualitative
research is a multi-method in focus, involving an
interpretive naturalistic approach to its subject matter,
a distinctive feature of qualitative research is that it
allows researchers to identify issues from the
perspective of participants and understand the
meanings and interpretations that they give to
behavior, events or object. Qualitative research
generally focuses on understanding the specific and
the characteristic of the research but not in essence
claim to generalize finding to other settings (Heigham
& Croker, 2009). Therefore, the results of this study
not to generalize to other settings.
3.2 Site and Participant
In terms of location, this research was conducted in
one of a private elementary schools in Bandung. The
selection was based on the accessibility. The
Participant were 18 students of elementary school in
pre intermediate level. Surprisingly the respondents
are balanced, they were 9 boys and 9 girls. The
researcher was one of the instructors from the
institution of English course at this site.
3.3 Instruments
In collecting the data, open-ended questionnaire and
semi structure interview were chosen as the
instruments in this study. Those instruments were
conducted to find out student’s preference seating
arrangement and exploring their reason for their
choice.
The first instrument is an open-ended
questionnaire. Open-ended questionnaire allows the
individual to response the items freely to express their
feelings and more flexible (Wiersma, 1991, p. 176).
The second instrument is interview. According to
Creswell (2008, p. 225), “in qualitative, ask open-
ended question allowing the participants to express
their voice about their experiences unconstrained by
any perspective of the research finding”. The
interview conducted to explore the student’s response
related to their choice on seating arrangement type.
The open-ended questionnaire was distributed to
the students every Saturday at the end of the lesson
about student’s preference on seating arrangement.
The questionnaire covered student’s preference on
seating arrangement. The questionnaire as a whole
should be easily read and should be not so long that
makes participants boring (Wiersma, 1991, p. 179).
The participants were elementary students.
Therefore, to avoid misunderstanding the
questionnaire translated into students’ first language.
The students asked to choose the type of seating
arrangement applied in the classroom. Then, the
result arranged in the percentage.
The interview conducted after distributing the
questionnaire. The interview aimed to explore the
student’s reason towards seating arrangement
preferred by students. The purpose of the interview is
to explore the respondents’ experiences, opinions, or
feeling (Richards, 2009). The data from interviews
which have been recorded and transcribed. The data
were analyzed descriptively.
4 FINDINGS
These findings are based on the questionnaire
complemented by the interview. The result of open-
ended questionnaire presented in the chart. The chart
showed every student has different preference of
classroom arrangement used in this study, namely
rows and u-shape seating arrangement. Student 1, 11,
and 16 preferred both row and u-shape seating
arrangement. Two out of eighteen students preferred
row classroom seating arrangement rather than u-
shape arrangement, they are student number 3 and 8.
Investigating Students Preference of Classroom Seating Arrangement in a Private Elementary School - A Qualitative Research in One of the
Elementary Schools in Bandung
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Moreover, student number 6 the only one who
preferred row classroom seating arrangement.
Furthermore, 12 participants preferred on u-shape
classroom seating arrangement rather than rows
seating arrangement, they are student 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10,
12, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 18.
The result of questionnaire also showed that every
student, respond differently on classroom seating
arrangement. The questionnaire showed 28% the
students at this site preferred on row classroom
seating arrangement while 72% preferred u-shape
classroom seating arrangement.
The interview results generally provided the
answers to the research questions about students
reason of the preference seating arrangement. The
results begin with a brief summary of the
interviewee’s responses toward seating arrangement
during teaching and learning process. Then it is
followed by their reason for choosing that type of
seating arrangement.
There are two types of seating arrangement used
in this study those are row and u-shape seating
arrangement. Before asking students preference
seating arrangement, the researcher makes some
conversation, such as asking the student’s name to
make the situation more comfortable and relax during
interview session. Then, the researcher showed the
picture of seating arrangement used during teaching
and learning process and asked them to choose which
one of seating arrangement the most preference by the
students.
Surprisingly, all the students selected in the
interview choose u-shape seating arrangement as
their most preferred in learning English. Even though,
all the students favor u-shape seating arrangement as
their preference seating type in learning English but
they have different reasons for their statement.
The first student preferred u-shape seating
arrangement. The student mentioned u-shape seating
arrangement allowed her to see the whiteboard clearly
that help easily in learning. She argued this seating
position allowed the teacher act wisely in the
classroom. This student believes that the teacher
position in the classroom simply helps more focus in
learning. The student also mentioned in row seating
arrangement preferred to sit on the front line of the
class.
The second student argued, u-shape seating
arrangement made her more comfortable in the
classroom. This student supposed that the sense of
comfort has a tendency to help her in learning. She
reasoned that u-shape seating arrangement allowed
her to interact with classmates. This seating position
that is closer to her friends also have a big
encouragement to understand the teacher’s
explanation. In this case, she rationalizes when she
misses the point of the teacher’s explanation allowed
her to ask the friends who are next to her. It means her
preference in seating arrangement affected by her
friend. The second student expresses the opinion
about row seating arrangement. In this seating
position, the students preferred seating in front line of
the class. She considered when she sat in the front line
that close to the whiteboard will help him to recognize
the information easily.
Moreover, the third student said he preferred u-
shape seating arrangement. This student point of view
in learning process u-shape seating arrangement
allowed him to look around the classroom. Moreover,
the interview showed this student does not like formal
environment in learning. Therefore, he preferred
seating at the side of his best friends. In this setting,
the student has a potential to chit chat with the other
students, which is made him enjoyed an informal
environment that he considered it helps easily in
understanding the materials.
Furthermore, the fourth respondent mentioned
English is a subject that he likes. He preferred u-shape
seating arrangement rather than row seating
arrangement. The student considered that he learned
better when he heard and wrote the teacher’s
explanation. Therefore, in u-shape seating
arrangement most of the time the student favored to
sit in the middle of the line that nothing is blocking
his view to see what the teacher wrote on the board.
In addition, the last students argued both row and
u-shape seating arrangement are the same. Both
seating arrangement did not really affect him to
understand what the teacher was talking about. In this
case, he explained the teacher’s position is further
influenced rather than seating arrangement. Although
he argued the two seating arrangement did not affect
the way he learned English. The interview showed he
preferred u-shape seating arrangement of delivering
idea that this arrangement make the teacher closer to
the students’ position. It is also easier for the teacher
to reprimand the students’ behavior that created noisy
classroom. Moreover, the student response this
seating arrangement more comfortable to interact
with the classmates. The student preferred to sit on
the front line in u-shape seating arrangement by
arguing that he can hear the teacher’s voice clearly
that help him understand the lesson. He also
maintained u-shape seating arrangement allowed the
teacher to see student’s behavior.
CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology
Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education
190

5 CONCLUSION
This study is designed to find out the EFL student’s
preference of classroom seating arrangement and
described their reason. The foundation that inspired
this investigation was the importance of classroom
seating arrangement in teaching and learning. The
finding from the questionnaire showed that 28% the
students at this site preferred on row classroom
seating arrangement while 72% preferred u-shape
classroom seating arrangement. Moreover, the results
from interview surprisingly found that all the students
selected in the interview choose u-shape seating
arrangement as their most preferred in learning
English.
Additionally, this study suggests the
recommendation. First, teachers should pay full
attention to the classroom seating arrangement,
because it is one of significant points can affect
students’ learning. Second, the teacher should apply
various seating arrangements that fit to student need.
Moreover, as the present study only focused on the
small number of participants, this study recommends
the further researchers can be conducted the same
area with extra participants.
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