The Significant of Parents’ Income toward Students’
Ability in Learning English
Hanif, Henny Irawati, and Rasyimah
Faculty of Economics and Business Faculty, Universitas Malikussaleh University, Aceh,
Indonesia
Abstract. This research was done to know the study of parents’ income toward
students’ ability in learning English. The purpose of this research is to find out
the influance of parents’ income toward students’ ability in learning English.
Family’s income is one of the students’ backgrounds that effect the students’
success in learning English at college. The test and questionares were used as an
intrument to collect the data and information. The population of this study was
the students at pre-internasional at accounting programe of Economic faculty of
Malikussaleh university was taken as the sample for this study. The data collected
was analyzed by using the statiscal procedures. The anova analysis was used to
test the hyothesis that the students who are coming from better ecomic family
income will have higher capabilty in the English than those who come from lower
economic family income. This finding revealed that the students from lower
family income have the equal abilty in learning English with the students from
middle or higher family income one.
Keywords: Family income ꞏ Abilty ꞏ Learning english
1 Background of the Study
Teaching method and students’ backgrounds are the factors that effect the students’
success or failure. Students at any universities in Indonesia are coming from diffrent
backgrounds. They are different in many ways; their family’s status, their culture and
the language they used at home. Meanwhile, the status of a family is usually associated
with family’s income, parent’s educational level, parent’s occupation and social status.
Family’s income is one of the students’ backgrounds that effect the students’ success
in learning English. Students differ by the time they spend to study and to work
depending on the family’s financial status and attention of parents toward education.
Parents face major challenges to provide optimal care and education for their children.
The children are more likely to succeed academically if their parents support their
learning actively. However, the challenges are felt among poor families that they have
to sruggle in providing the basic needs to rise up their family members.
The students with lower family income often lack of the financial, social and
education support than the student with higher family income. Those who come from
low-income family have to help their parents working part time to earn money to
444
Hanif, ., Irawati, H. and Rasyimah, .
The Significant of Parents’ Income toward Students’ Ability in Learning English.
DOI: 10.5220/0010435500002900
In Proceedings of the 20th Malaysia Indonesia International Conference on Economics, Management and Accounting (MIICEMA 2019), pages 444-451
ISBN: 978-989-758-582-1; ISSN: 2655-9064
Copyright
c
 2022 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

support their life. Contrary, the students who come from better economic status do not
necessary to do it. Their parents can provide them with learning needs at home such as
good English readers, textbooks, exercise book, and other material related to the subject
at school. They can also send their children to the English courses and or give a private
tutor at home to reinforce their children work done for the school. Valdez (2001) stated
in his essay that: at home, parents’ engagement in their children’s learning to strengthen
children capabilities for intellectual growth and allows them to make sense out of
everyday activities, thereby deepening their understanding of mathematics, science,
and technology.
It is generally believed that the students from high and middle class family income
status are better expose to learning environment at home because of the availability of
extra learning facilities. In contrast, the student from low family income do not have
such learning facilities, so the opportunity to get better of educational grade may not be
very easy. In addition, Parker (1999:4) wrote that low income parents is associated with
a higher level of frustration and aggravation with their children, and these children are
more likely to have poor verbal development and exhibit higher levels of distractibility
and hostility in the classroom. His statement is supported by Dahl (2005) by saying
that” in particular, children growing up in poor families are likely to have advese home
environment or face other challenges which would continue to affect their development
even if family income were to incraese substantially”.
Related to the above problems, some finding, however, are different in the field.
There are some students who succeed in their study even though they are coming from
low economic family status. Beside the economic status, many other factors also
influance the students’ success in their study; they are motivation, learning strategy and
learning process. It can be seen from what Ryan et al (2006:4) found: children
invidual’s charateristics often emerge as importan predictor of school success. The
evidence suggest that various individual characteristics, namely general self esteem,
educational aspiration can improve their language proficiency. Every student has
potensial to become a successful learner and achieve the success of learning English
task when obtaining the knowledge, depents on them how to integrate the learning
srategy.
2 Operational Definition
This study attempts to isvestigate the influances of parent’s economic status in students’
English learning process. Since English learning is not separated from learning process,
the learning process itself will be described as follows.
Learningis change in human disposition or capability, which can be retain, and
which is not simply ascribable to the process of growth Gagne (196:5). The kind of
change that called learning is change in behavior, and the inference of learning is made
by comparing what behavior can be exhibit after such treatment. Meanwhile, in
Wkipedia (2006) learning is explaned as the process of gaining understanding that leads
to the modification of attitudes and behavior through the acquaisition of knowledge,
skills and values, through study and experiance.
The Significant of Parents’ Income toward Students’ Ability in Learning English
445

English learning process depends on the students’ environment especially their
family, in this case family’s income. According to Granzow (1999:208) income is
money that received, especially as pay for work, or as interest on savings.
3 Theoretical Rationale
Students’ parent economic situation-the ability to pay fees, rent and support their
children while studying is primary determinant of ability to access education. While
access to education is determined by others factors, financial one is significant. Karolyn
(1998:15) stated that early education programs have larger effects for economically
disadvantaged populations, primarily because these children come from homes with
lower quality learning environments. Definitions of at-risk students vary among
educators. According to Costello (1996:2):
Students are placed ‘at-risk’ when they experiance a significant mismath
between their circumstances and needs, and the capacity or willingness of the
school to accept, accommodate, and respond to them in a manner that supports
and enables their maximum social, emotional, and intellectual growth and
development.
The condition of low family income is always lack of food and clothes. The parents are
very busy to fulfill their basic needs, so that they have no time to encourage their
children to learn. They can not provide their children with learning facilities. The result
is their children lazy to learn especially English because of lack learning facilities and
encouragement. According to Ogwu (2004:24) the high socio-economic status parents
are able to provide their young children with high quality child care books and toys to
encourage them in their various learning activities at home.
Crinic and Lamberty (1994:94) believed that, segregating the nature of social-
economic class, etnicity and race may well reduce the variety often enriching
experiances thought to be pre-requisite for creating readiness to learn among children
social class.
Economic status of the family therefore can refer to such a position in relationship
to the social and economic position of parents occupying various positions among
groups in the society. These positions are looked in relationship toward education
achievement.
4 Socio-economic Status
The another research done by Lubienski (2006) found that socio-economic status
influances students’ achievement; students from higher socio-economic families tend
to get higher achievement compared to students with lower socio-economic status. First
of all, the research found that the gaps appeared to be more closely tied to socio-
economic status than race, because students with high socio-economic status tend to
have better access to computers, and learning tools such as calculators, books,
dictionaries etc. Teachers can provide better inputs for students to improve their
learning achievement.
MIICEMA 2019 - Malaysia Indonesia International Conference on Economics Management and Accounting
446

Culturally disadvantaged students may not receive an adequate education due to
limited experiences with what the teacher is saying. These school experiances that
reinforce inadequacy hinder self-esteen and provide little motivation as to what real
world provides (Bakken, 2002:5). Furthermore, Bakken(2002:7) added that:
“Many students who do not have easy access to better learning situation believe
learning English is mostly memorizing subject which adds to their low
achievement. However, students move away from this belief as they study more
and deeper. The longer they remain in school, the farther below the avarage
grade level they fall, finally drop out, become delinquent, and perhaps join the
mass of unemployed youth”.
The children at the bottom of the socio-economic scale generally achive far below
the normal levels. Several factors are suggested as factors why students fail to meet the
standard requirements. At times, young people see no relationship between the day-to-
day activities of the school and the opportunities are open to them in the future.
Lubienski (2006:71) said, “by providing fair learning opportunities to different
population will help narrow the achievement gap. Existing economic power in the
comunity showed srong influance”. Furthermore, he found that nearly 50% of the
variance in test passing rates was determined by the demographic opportunity sructure
such as financial capital, human capital (level of parents’ education), cultural capital
(status and expectacy), and geographic capital (level of urban influance), rather than
the oppotunity sructure provide d within schools (economic opportunity sructure). As
English (2002:34) wrote that, demographic opportunity sructure is largely influanced
by economic opportunity sructure and other capitals, and it has srong impact on
students’ achievement rate.
5 Social Class Classifications
According to Adler (1993:45) social economic status is traditionally measured by
eduaction, income, and occupation. By using these criteria, the social classification is
grouped.
Numerous designations have been developed to categorize different levels of social
class continuum. The three most popular designations are:
1. Three subgroups: upper class, middle class, and lower class
2. Five subgroups: upper class, upper-middle class, lower-middle class, upper-
working class, and lower-working class.
3. Six subgroups: upper-upper class, lower upper class, upper middle class, lower-
middle class, uper-lower class and lower-lower class.
These subgroups are considered only as abroad label. They cannot account for
variety of pattert to be found within each class level or do justice to an individual who
is catagorized as being at specific class level. They suffice only to point out main group
differences in life styles as they relate to such factors as home background, race,
education, income, and occupational status.
The calculation of a social has been controversy. According to Anderson(1995:26),
the eventual classification is devided into three different social groups namely labeled
as ‘high’, middle’ and low’,. The indicators of social class are residcupatential area and
The Significant of Parents’ Income toward Students’ Ability in Learning English
447

parents’ oion represent social indices in their own right, while the
employed/unemployed distinction is used as a slight modification of the occupational
index.
6 Parental Influence
Heller and Fantuzzo (1993:22) discuss how parents are the earliest and most lasting
influance that their children have in their lives. They explained that until the age of 18,
children only spend 13% 0f their waking hours in school and 87% of their time with
families.
According to Sandra (2001:32), families play a meaningful role in children’s
education success and interface at family and school is an element that must be
accounted for when examing children’s school performance: that is, parents and
teachers are educators, but not all education is schooling. Parents play a key role in
improving the understanding and school achievement of their children. However,
schools need to play a key role in developing ideas, which will encourage greater parent
parcipation and involment in their children’s lives. Furthermore, Heller and Fantuzzo
(1993:30) note that teachers who include parent participation in their classroom on a
regularly will have two results:
1. Parents fell more positive about their contributions and abilities within
themselves, and
2. Students show improvement in the areas of academic achievement and
attitudes.
Benjamin (1993:44) revealed that one the most important factors that influance a
child’s achievement in school, particulary reading level, is the level of the parents’
education. It found that the avarage level of proficiency is lower for students with
parents that did not graduate from high school. It was found tha more highly educated
parents succeed greater in providing their children with the cognitive skills that promote
achievement in school. Martin (1990) said that parents who are not as highly educated
have a tendency to be more isolated and fear commitment and responsibility when it
comes to involment in their child’s academic life.
7 Parents’ Occupation Influence
Most of people in Indonesia work in agricultural field, especially who live in the
countryside and some are public servant in the goverment office. The farmers are still
using tradional system in cultivating their farm namely using the workers in their work.
The result is many farmer live underline poverty. Therefore, many parents ask their
children to work in the farmland to help them. The problem becomes more complex if
the parents ask their children to work during the school time. The students achievement
in school is becoming lower especially in English. Low parents’ income, as contextual
factor to aid understanding performance.
Heidenrick as quated by Natzke (2002:4) says that economically disadvantanged
children have diffuculty in the school system because of family circumstances. At
MIICEMA 2019 - Malaysia Indonesia International Conference on Economics Management and Accounting
448

times, the family environment limits students’ perceptual, concepual, and linguistic
experiance in their early yaers, poorly preparing them for school. In addition, Knapp
(1990:58) says that, disadvantaged students often see less purpose in skills-based
learning task than advantaged students because of frequent disparities between school
and home. Therefore, poverty children are more likely to fall behind and never move
past repetitive practice of basic skills.
Many students suffer deprivantion in terms of economic needs, personal
development, and quality of their education. The students are deprived in these are due
to low-income levels, increasing tensions between their study and their work in
supporting their parents. Students have no choice but working to support their parent’s
income.
It is difficult for students from lower family income to successfully compete in
school in order to obtain better qualification skill. Low levels of income and
indebtedness can have serious consequences for personal of students. Students from
lower family income are at risk of developing low self-esteem due to their lack of
financial means and inability to fully in social activities.
Competing study and work demands are a major source of stress for students.
Students from lower family income worry about meeting coursework deadline and
working enough shift to cover their living expenses. As the result, students are
prevented from maximizing their education levels due to financial and time pressures.
Students often deprive themselves of sleep have significant impacts on the mental and
physical well being of the students. Financial hardship has effected on students’ability
to focus on their study. Work commitment often interferes with a student, ability to
attend the classes and to complete assessment task and study.
8 Parents’ Education Influence
According to Drazen (1992:11), in a study measuring student achievement and its
relationship to family socioeconomic standing, the level of parent’s education is a factor
that directly affects student achievement. Parents are the first responsible person toward
their children education. Parents have to raise, protect, and educate for their children,
which is not so easy to be implemented. It is supported by Zappala (2002:17) who states
that students who had a parents with niversity qualification achieved higher levels of
academic performance than students who did not have a parent(s) with university
qualification.
The duty of parents is provide educational environment at home. It can directly be
linked with the educational level of the parents. Although the parents send their children
to formal school, their parents affect the students’ achievement at school.. clay (1998)
found that most children talk and act like their parents and do things they see done in
their home. Each parent has different way of treating their children in supporting and
encouranging their children in learning. The ability of parents to successfully support
their children’ achievement largely relates to their ability to affordable childcare at
home.
Good educated parents can help developing academic and social competencies at
home by encounraging good study habit and helping their children with homework
assignment. Benefit of parents’ involvement can be academic, social and emotional.
The Significant of Parents’ Income toward Students’ Ability in Learning English
449

Additionally, when parents convey high academic expectation to their children, the
children have high expectation for themselves. Parents of high achieving students are
more likely, however, to participate in school govermance and school activities than
are parents of avarage or struggling students and parental involvement both at home
and at school is correlated positively to the educational level of the parent.
(Miller,2001:13).
9 Students from Low Family Income
Low-income families have been labeled in different ways, it was labeled with children
with poor families, low-economic status and student at risk. According to Castello
(1996:2), children are being placed”at risk” when they experiance a significant
mismatch between their circumstance and need. Many children are the victims of this
condition, which they cannot control. Where they live, how they are raised, and the
amount of money their family has impacts the extent to which they can learn.
The condition of low family income is always lack of food and clothes. The parents
are very busy to fulfill their basic needs, so that they have no enough time to encourage
their children to learn. They can not provide their children with learning facilities. The
result is that their children are lazy to learn especially English because of lack learning
facilities and encourangement. Taylor (2003:17) said that economic distress
iincludinginsufficient resources to meet family needs and unemployment is related to
parental depression, pessimism about the future and marital problem. Such parental
distress affects child-rearing practices negatively.
Base on the quotation above, it can be seen that the children from low family income
cannot fully concentrate to their study. They focus not only on their study but also on
their daily life. In addition, the children from lower family status have lower or less the
opportunity to develop their language performance than the children from middle or
higher family’s status. The differences may be caused by the way of their parents
thinking, especially their mother in communicating with their children. The child’s
language evolves through labeling of his enviroment, that is, his description and
reaction to audiovisual stimulation.
10 Research Methodology
A case study approach supported with quantitative data collection is adopted for this
reaserch. This research is done by giving a test and questionnaires for the pre-
internasional syudents at acounting progrome of Economics and business faculty,
Malikussaleh university. The test was given in order to get the students’ score, which
is associated with the students’ background in finding out if there is a relationship
between the students background, in this case, their parent income, toward their ability
in learning English. In the same time, the questionnare was distributed to the students
in order to get their background parents such as what their parents’job is, how much
money their parents earned per month and so on. Hereafter, the data collected is
analyzed by using the recommended statistical procedure.
MIICEMA 2019 - Malaysia Indonesia International Conference on Economics Management and Accounting
450

11 Conclusion
The result from this research showed that parents’ income has no significant influence
on students’ abilty in learning English from the pre- internasional students of
Accounting major at Economic and business faculty, Malikussaleh university. The
result of the test shows the equal abilty in answering the questions given by writer.
From the Annova analysis above, the value of F count is 2.19 and F table is for 5%
error is 3.33 and for 1% error is 5.52. It meants that the value of F count is smaller than
the value of F table (2.19<3.33<5.52). in view of the fact that the value of F count is
smaller than the value of table for 5% and 1% error, therefore, the null hypothesis (Ho)
is accepted and Ha is rejected.
As a result, the present study confirms that students performed the equal ability in
learning English either with higher or lower income. The parents’ income of the
students does not take effect to much toward their abilty.
References
Adler, NE. 1993. Socioeconomic inequalities in Health: NO Easy Solution. (online)
(http://tip.psycho;ogy.org/lave.html) (accessed on January 8, 2015)
Anderson, P.J. 1995. Community School and Parent Dynamic: A synthesis of Literature and
Activities (online) (http:// www.uic.edu/classes/ 1997.pdf) (accessed on January 14,2015)
Bakken, Aleah.2002. the socioeconomic Status of Learners (online)
(http://www.charis.wlc.edu/publications/symposium_ spring02/bakken.pdf) (accessed on
January 20, 2015)
Benjamin, l.A. 1993, parents’ literacy and their Children’s success in School: Recent Research,
Promising Practices, and Research Implications. U.S. Department of Education, New Orleans
Clay, M. 1998. By Different Path to Common Outcomes. New York Sternhouse Publication
Costello, M.A. 1996. Critical Issue: Providings Effective Schoolong for Student at Risk.(online)
(http://www.ncrel.org, (accessed on December 05, 2014)
Crinic, K & Lamberty, G. 1994, Reconsidering School Readiness: Conceptual and Applied
Perceptive. Early Education and Development volume 5, No.2.
Dahl, Gordon. 2005. The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement, (online), (http://www.
Irp.wisc.edu/publication/dps/pdfs/dp130505.pdf) (accessed on December 17, 2014)
The Significant of Parents’ Income toward Students’ Ability in Learning English
451