INSTRUCTIONAL WRITING MATERIALS USING TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING
FOR SMK BOPKRI I YOGYAKARTA
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
YOHANA IKA HARNITA SARI Student Number: 03 1214 024
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
i
INSTRUCTIONAL WRITING MATERIALS USING TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING
FOR SMK BOPKRI I YOGYAKARTA
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
YOHANA IKA HARNITA SARI Student Number: 03 1214 024
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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I dedicate this thesis to:
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STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Allelluia. Praise the Lord. Finally I have finished this thesis well. I could be in this point, not only because of my own effort but more because of God’s blessing and support from many people who love me.
Firstly, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my Jesus Christ and Mother Mary for the blessings to my life and for always listening and answering my payers, especially in accomplishing this thesis.
My deepest gratitude is addressed to Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd., my major sponsor, for her kindness and patience in guiding me to write my thesis. Her corrections, suggestions, and criticism were beneficial for me. My sincere gratitude goes to Laurentia Sumarni, S.Pd., my co-sponsor, for her patience in reading and correcting every page of my thesis. I could say that they were my inspiration.
I am grateful to Markus Budiraharjo, S.Pd., M.Ed., C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd., and Drs. Pius Nurwidasa P., M.Ed., who were willing to give their valuable comments on my designed materials. I also thank my academic advisor, Drs. P. Garanim Purba, M.Pd., in guiding me during my study. My appreciation goes to all of the English Language Education Study Program lecturers and secretariat staff and to all of the librarians.
vii
2 AK and 2 AP 2006-2007, and to the big family of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta who really helped me in doing my research.
I thank my beloved parents deeply, A. Adolf Sarjana and Ch. Sri Haryanti, for their endless love, prayer, support, patience, and everything. They are the reason why I should be successful. I want to be a daughter they can rely on and be proud of. I love them. I also thank my great and unique brother, Y. S. Gunawan Wicaksana, for his support and love. He always motivates me to graduate earlier than he does. I will always miss him, wherever he is.
I express my gratitude to the big family of TK/SD Kanisius Kalasan and SD Kanisius Kadirojo. I thank them for the understanding and motivation when I finished this thesis. I learned many things from them.
I express my thanks to all of PBI-03ers, especially Nila, Arum, Lala, Ardi, Lintang, and Gabo. I thank them very much to BEEs, Ratrex, Titin, Monchie, Ayu, Layung, and Emil. I express thanks to my friends in STM Pembangunan 15 boardinghouse, Uuth, Iyak, eMeM, and Agnest. I also express my huge thanks to the big family of UKM Kerohanian Sanata Dharma University and Bolo’T Community, Icha d, Papi, Paus, Kiki, Gaga, and Mama. I thank them for the time we shared together. They are the best friends I have ever had.
The last, I would like to express my deepest affection and gratitude to my dearest Eric Aji Wibowo, SE., for his never ending support and love in finishing my study.
May God always bless us.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE OF PAGE ... i
APPROVAL PAGES ... ii
DEDICATION PAGE ... iv
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... viii
LIST OF FIGURES ... xi
LIST OF TABLES ... xii
ABSTRACT... xiii
ABSTRAK... xiv
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 3
C. Problem Limitation ... 3
D. Objectives of the Study ... 4
E. Benefits of the Study ... 5
F. Definition of Terms ... 5
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 7
A. Theoretical Description ... 7
ix
2. Teaching Writing ... 9
a. Writing ... 9
b. Writing Model ... 11
c. The Principles of Teaching Writing to the Second Grade Students of SMK (Vocational School) ... 12
3. Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) ... 15
a. Definition of Task... 17
b. The Characteristics of TBLT ... 18
c. Writing in the Task-Based Learning Framework ... 21
d. Teacher’s and Learners’ Roles ... 21
4. Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP) ... 22
B. Theoretical Framework ... 22
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 26
A. Research Method ... 26
B. Research Participants ... 28
C. Research Instruments ... 30
D. Data Gathering Technique ... 32
E. Data Analysis Technique ... 33
F. Research Procedures ... 35
CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ... 38
x
B. The Results of the Surveys ... 44
C. The Presentation of the Instructional Design Materials ... 51
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 56
A. Conclusions ... 56
B. Suggestions ... 58
REFERENCES ... 59
APPENDICES Appendix A : Surat Permohonan Ijin Penelitian ... 62
Appendix B : Surat Keterangan ... 63
Appendix C : Proposal Penelitian ... 64
Appendix D : Questionnaire for Students ... 69
Appendix E : Interview Guideline ... 73
Appendix F : Questionnaire for Teachers or Lecturers ... 74
Appendix G : The Results of the Needs Survey ... 77
Appendix H : Syllabus ... 80
Appendix I : Silabus ... 84
xi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1 : The Aspects to be Considered in Writing ... 10 Figure 2.2 : Task-Based Learning Framework ... 20 Figure 2.3 : The Writer’s Instructional Model Adapted from ASSURE
xii LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 : Respondents of the Survey on the Designed Materials ... 30
Table 3.2 : Points of Agreement of the Respondents’ Opinions... 35
Table 3.3 : The Data of the Respondents’ Opinions (Blank) ... 35
Table 4.1 : The Topics and the Basic Competencies ... 40
Table 4.2 : The Topics and the Indicators ... 42
Table 4.3 : The Data of the Respondents’ Opinions ... 49
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the writer would like to discuss the background of the study, problem formulation, problem limitation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms that are employed in this study.
A. Background of the Study
In this globalization era, people are demanded to communicate with other people throughout the world using international languages. English is the most widespread language among other international languages and it makes learning English very important. There are four skills that must be acquired in learning English as a second or foreign language; they are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Writing is considered as an important skill in language learning since writing skill is needed in many fields. People need to write invitation letters, application letters, work contracts, papers, essays, and many others. Moreover, communication nowadays is often done in written form, such as fax and e-mail. Based on the details above, writing needs to be mastered well in order to communicate successfully.
2 school. In vocational schools, the students are expected to be able to communicate in English on novice level (for the first grade students), on elementary level (for the second grade students), and on intermediate level (for the third grade students) (Syam, 2006: 2-3).
Unfortunately, the students’ performance in communication using the target language, especially in written, is still far from the expectation. Many students say that writing is a difficult subject to learn. Tribble (1996: 3) agrees that “…writing is a language skill which is difficult to acquire.” Moreover, Nunan (1999: 271) states similar opinion, “in terms of skills, producing a coherent, fluent, extended piece of writing is probably the most difficult thing there is to do in language.” Many students find it difficult to express their ideas in written language. They do not know how to write what they want to say and even they have no idea about what they will write. Furthermore, they have to deal with some elements to be covered in writing such as grammar, diction, spelling, and punctuation. Those problems make writing become a difficult skill.
3 experiences. The model given by the teacher would help them to express their thought and ideas. Richards and Renandya (2002: 319) agree that “teachers should model the writing process at every stage and teach specific writing strategies to students through meaningful classroom activities.”
Based on the facts that writing is an important but difficult skill and that the students, unfortunately, did not have any handbook, the writer thinks that it is necessary to design materials to teach writing. In this study, the writer intends to design instructional writing materials using Task-Based Language Teaching for SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. Those materials, hopefully, enable the students to develop their writing ability through many tasks given so that they can communicate through written language well.
B. Problem Formulation
Considering the previous explanation, the problems are formulated as follows.
1. How are instructional writing materials using Task-Based Language Teaching for SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta designed?
2. What do the designed instructional writing materials using Task-Based Language Teaching for SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta look like?
C. Problem Limitation
4 because she wanted to give a contribution to that school as a follow- up action of her teaching practice (PPL II) seeing that the students really needed that. Then, the writer chose the second grade students and writing materials since they had interest in writing but they had no chance and media to develop their writing ability.
Furthermore, the writer chose Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) especially Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) because by using TBLT, the students had chances to explore and develop their writing ability through the tasks given. It is hoped that they will be able to communicate in written language well. Besides, the tasks given will also motivate them to learn, as it is said by Richards and Rodgers (2001: 229) that “tasks are also said to improve learner motivation and therefore promote learning.” Moreover, this materials is aimed to be used in the first semester of the second grade classes of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta, Accounting (Akuntansi / AK) class and Office Administration (Administrasi Perkantoran / AP) class, which focused on general English. The writer did not intend to implement or test them to find whether the designed materials are effective or not. Therefore, the writer will only present the designed materials.
D. Objectives of the Study
Two objectives will be achieved in this study. They are stated as follows. 1. To find out how instructional writing materials using Task-Based Language
Teaching for SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta are designed.
5 E. Benefits of the Study
The writer expects that the results of this study may give some benefits to the second grade students of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta, the English teachers of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta, the writer herself, and other researchers.
First, the results of this study are able to provide materials for the second grade students of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta that can help them to develop their writing ability through many tasks. Second, the result s of this study will provide instructional materials for the English teachers SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta to teach writing and inspire them to employ TBLT in other teaching- learning processes. Third, this study will give the writer knowledge, experience, and real example of designing instructional writing materials. Fourth, it is hoped that the results of this study can be used as a reference to support future relevant studies done by other researchers.
F. Definition of Terms
There are four terms that are used in this study; they are Instructional Materials, Writing, Task-Based Language Teaching, and SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta.
1. Instructional Materials
6 the writing ability.
2. Writing
Writing is “a method of expressing idea about any subject content” (Tiedt, 1989: 1). In this study, writing refers to a skill to express ideas in a written language communicatively. This skill can be reached through the tasks given in the teaching- learning process.
3. Task-Based Language Teaching
Richards and Rodgers (2001: 223) define Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) as “an approach based on the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instructions in language teaching.” Furthermore, Richards and Rodgers (2001: 224) say that Task-Based Language Teaching “proposes the notion of ‘task’ as a central unit of planning and teaching.” In this study, Task-Based Language Teaching is an approach that becomes the soul of the designed materials.
4. SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta
7 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
In this chapter, the writer reviews the literature related to the study in two parts, theoretical description and theoretical framework.
A. Theoretical Description
In this part, the writer describes the theories used in this study. They are instructional design model, teaching writing, Task-Based Language Teaching, and Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP).
1. Instructional Design Model
There are many instructional design models used in designing materials. One of them is ASSURE model. ASSURE model is an instructional design that is constructed by Robert Heinich and Michael Molenda from Indiana University and James D. Russell from Purdue University in 1982. The ASSURE model is defined as:
an ISD (Instructional Systems Design) process that was modified to be used by teachers in the regular classroom. The ISD process is one in which teachers and trainers can use to design and develop the most appropriate learning environment for their students (in http://www.unca.edu/education /edtech/techcourse/assure.html accessed on 2nd March 2007).
8 explanations of the six steps are as follows.
a. Analyzing Learner Characteristics
The first step is identifying the learners. There are two types of characteristics that should be identified; they are general characteristics, such as grade, age, economic level, sex, and many others, and specific entry characteristics, such as knowledge, skills, and attitudes about topic.
b. Stating the Objectives
The next step is stating the objectives as specifically as possible. The objectives may be derived from a course syllabus, stated in a textbook, taken from a curriculum guide, or developed by the teacher. A well-stated objective should include three elements; they are performances, conditions, and criteria. c. Selecting, Modifying, or Designing Materials
After identifying the learner’s prior knowledge, skills, and attitudes and stating the objectives of the teaching- learning process, it is necessary to ‘build a bridge’ between these two points; i.e., designing materials. There are three ways in designing the materials; they are selecting available materials, modifying existing materials, and designing new materials.
d. Utilizing Materials
9 e. Requiring Learner Response
To assure learning, the students must practice what they are expected to learn and they should be reinforced for the correct response. The students are expected to perform the behaviour stated in the objectives. There should be activities within the lesson that allow students to respond to the materials correctly and to receive feedback on the appropriateness of their performances or responses.
f. Evaluating
After completing the previous steps, it is necessary to evaluate the impacts and effectiveness of the steps. To obtain the total picture, evaluating the entire instructional process is needed. Although ultimate evaluation must wait to the completion of all instructional processes, evaluation is an ongoing process. Evaluations can be made before, during, and after the instructional processes.
2. Teaching Writing
Ideas, thoughts, and feelings can be communicated through writing but many students think that writing is difficult. Seeing the fact, the teachers need to understand the nature of teaching writing in order to teach writing successfully since writing is “a teachable and learnable skill” (Nunan, 2003: 106). Thus, the writer would like to describe three important points; they are writing, writing model, and the principles of teaching writing to the second grade students of SMK (Vocational School).
a. Writing
10 paper.” Writing and speaking are different processes. Learning to write is not as simple as learning to speak a language, even “many adult native speakers of a language find writing difficult” (Raimes, 1983: 4). In fact, a writer should deal with many aspects in order to produce a good piece of writing. Those aspects are illustrated in Figure 2.1.
SYNTAX CONTENT
sentence structure, relevance, clarity,
sentence boundaries, originality,
stylistic choices, etc. logic, etc.
GRAMMAR THE GRAMMAR
rules for verbs, Clear, PROCESS
agreement, articles, fluent, and effective getting ideas,
pronouns, etc. communication getting started,
of ideas writing drafts,
MECHANICS
handwriting, AUDIENCE
spelling, the reader/s
punctuation, etc.
ORGANIZATION PURPOSE
paragraphs, WORD CHOICE the reason for writing
topic and support, vocabulary, cohesion and unity idiom, tone
Figure 2.1 The Aspects to be Considered in Writing (Raimes, 1983: 6)
11 and interestingly in order to hold the reader’s attention. Furthermore, McCrimmon (1984: 6) says that writing is “also opportunity: to convey something about yourself, to communicate ideas to people beyond our vicinity, to learn something you did not know.” Besides, by writing the students are not only able to communicate their message and express their ideas, but also able “to explore a subject, to record experience, and to become familiar with the conversation of written English discourse (a text)” (Raimes, 1983: 3). He further adds that there are some advantages of learning writing. They are as follows.
First, writing reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms, and vocabulary that we have been teaching our students. Second, when our students write, they also have a chance to be adventurous with the language, to go beyond what they have just learned to say, to take risk. Third, when they write, they necessarily become very involved with the new language; the effort to express ideas and the constant use of eye, hand, and brain is a unique way to reinforce learning.
b. Writing Model
There are many aspects to consider in order to produce a good piece of writing as illustrated in Figure 2.1. Besides, there are some other aspects that influence the writing. In 1980, Hayes and Flower summarized those aspects in a writing model and it was reorganized into a new writing model. The new writing model has two major components. They are the task environment and the individual (Indrisano and Squire, 2000: 9-11).
12 produced so far and writing media, such as word processing, e- mail, and World Wide Web.
The individual component integrates motivation and affect, cognitive process, working memory, and long-term memory. In the writing process, the writer should have goals of writing that are able to motivate and affect him/ her in producing a piece of writing. Besides, the writer will deal with cognitive process; i.e., text interpretation, reflection, and text production. Moreover, the writer should manage his/her working memory and long-term memory. Working memory is the writer’s memory related to phonology, spatial, and semantics; while the long-term memory is the writer’s memory related to the topic, genre and linguistic knowledge.
From the writing model above, it could be said that environment and individual play important role in writing process. Those two components are interdependent. In brief, Indrisano and Squire (2000: 11) conclude that:
Indeed, writing depends on an appropriate combination of cognitive, affective, social, and physical conditions if it is to happen at all. Writing is a communicative act that requires a social context and a medium. It is a generative activity requiring motivation, and it is an intellectual activity requiring cognitive processes and memory.
c. The Principles of Teaching Writing to the Second Grade Students of SMK
(Vocational School)
13 science, dressmaking, office administration, mechanical engineering, and some others. Those departments prepare the students to be ready for particular jobs.
The SMK students are about 16 to 19 years old. Therefore, the second grade students of SMK are equivalent with the eleventh grade students of Senior High School. They are considered as adolescents who search for identity and stable values. They have strong idealism, want to be independent, and need to be recognized(Medinuss and Johnson, 1969: 742-743). In this stage, they like to get along with their peers and build group relationship, as stated by Fleming (1955: 164) that not only intellectual and physical growth but also their personal and social development determine their successful schooling.
Thus, these characteristics influence their learning styles and the teacher should be aware of these. The teacher also needs to recognize their strength and weaknesses in learning to make them independent and creative. It is important as well to make their relationship with others as their motivation of their learning.
Considering the importance of writing and the characteristics of second grade students of Vocational School, the teachers need to encourage the students to be active learners. However, in many schools, the English teachers do not teach how to write well. They assume that their students understand how to write and only focus on the writing errors such as syntax, grammar, mechanics, and organization, rather than on content. In fact, the students’ writing ability is far from satisfactory. Therefore, the teachers need to understand the principles of teaching writing so that the teaching- learning process will be successful.
14 According to McCrimmon (1984: 10-11), there are three stages of writing process. They are planning, drafting, and revising. Planning is a pre-writing process to find and produce information in writing. Drafting is a process to organize and develop a piece of writing. Revising is a post-writing process to re-examine and re-evaluate the piece of writing. As a writing teacher, the job is not simply to ask the students to compose a written text and after that check the grammatical errors, but encourage the students and give chances for them to work through all the processes in writing activity.
15 3. Task-Based Language Teaching
Learning a language means learning how to communicate in that language. For that reason, the writer applies Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) especially Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT). CLT is a broad and philosophical approach in language learning and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is the realization of this philosophy (Nunan, 2004: 10). Moreover, Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is one of the approaches that makes communication plays important role in language learning (Larsen-Freeman, 2000: 137).
CLT is an approach in language learning that help the students to improve their communication ability in the target language since it has communicative competence as the goal of the language learning. Larsen-Freeman (2000: 121) says that Communicative Language Teaching aims “broadly to apply the theoretical perspective of the Communication Approach by making communicative competence the goal of language teaching and by acknowledging the interdependent of language and communication. ” Moreover, Brown (2001: 69) says that:
Communicative competence is the goal of a language classroom, instruction needs to point toward all its components: organizational, pragmatic, strategic, and psychomotor. Communicative goals are best achieved by giving due to attention to language use and not just usage, to fluency not just accuracy, to authentic language and contexts, and to students’ eventual need to apply classroom learning to previously unrehearsed contexts in the real world.
16 develop procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication.” Brown (2001: 43) offers six interconnected characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching. Those characteris tics are:
1) Classroom goals are focused on all of the components (grammatical, discourse, functional, sociolinguistics, and strategic) of communicative competence.
2) Language techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic, and functional use of language for meaningful purpose.
3) Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying communicative techniques. At times the fluency may have to take on more importance than accuracy in order to keep learning meaningfully engage in language use.
4) Students in a communicative class ultimately have to use the language, productively and receptively, in unrehearsed contexts outside the classroom. 5) Students are given opportunities to focus on their own learning process
through an understanding of their own styles of learning and through the development of appropriate strategies for autonomous learning.
6) The role of the teacher is as a facilitator and guide, not an all knowing best owner of knowledge and students are encouraged to construct meaning through genuine linguistic interaction with others.
17 (TBLT) refers to “an approach based on the use of the tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching.”
a. Definition of Task
Task plays the most important role in TBLT. Richards and Rodgers (2001: 224) state that Task-Based Language Teaching proposes “the notion of ‘task’ as a central unit of planning and teaching.” Skehan (1996) (cited by Richards and Rodgers, 2001: 224) proposes this definition:
Tasks … are activities which have meaning as their primary focus. Success in tasks is evaluated in terms of achievement of an outcome, and tasks generally bear some resemblance to real- life language use. So task-based instruction takes a fairly strong view of communicative language teaching. Some linguists attempt to group tasks into categories as a basis for task design and description. Willis (1996: 26-27) originates six types of task. They are as follows.
• Listing
The processes in listing task involve brainstorming and fact-finding. In brainstorming, the learners draw on their own knowledge and experience either as a class or in pairs/group. In fact-finding, the learners find things out by asking each other or other people and referring to books or the others. • Ordering and sorting
18 • Comparing
Comparing task processes involve matching to identify specific points and relate them to each other; finding similarities and things in common; and finding differences.
• Problem solving
In problem solving tasks, learners are to deal with analyzing real or hypothetical situations, reasoning, and decision making.
• Sharing personal experiences
These tasks encourage learners to talk more freely about themselves and share their experiences with others.
• Creative tasks
These tasks involve learners in some kinds of freer creative work. They can involve combinations of the other task types.
b. The Characteristics of TBLT
19 difficulty of a task depends on a range of factors including the previous experience of the learner, the complexity of the task, the language required to undertake the task, and the degree of support available.
Moreover, Nunan (2004: 35-38) proposes seven principles for Task-Based Language Teaching. They are as follows.
1) Scaffolding
Lessons and materials should provide supporting frameworks within which the learning takes place. At the beginning of the learning process, learners should not be expected to produce language that has not been introduced either explicitly or implicitly.
2) Task dependency
Within a lesson, one task should grow out of, and build upon, the ones that have gone before.
3) Recycling
Recycling language maximizes opportunities for learning and activates the ‘organic’ learning principle.
4) Active learning
Learners learn best by actively using the language they are learning. 5) Integration
Learners should be taught in ways that make clear relationships between linguistic form, communicative function and semantic meaning.
6) Reproduction to creation
20 7) Reflection
Learners should be given opportunities to reflect on what they have learned and how well they are doing.
Besides, Willis (1996: 38) proposes three components in TBLT framework to create optimum conditions for language acquisition. Those three components are pre-task, task cycle, and language focus. The components are presented in Figure 2.2.
Pre-task
Introduction to topic and task
Teacher explores the topic with the class, highlights useful words and phrases, helps students understand task instructions and prepare.
Students may hear a recording of others doing a similar task. Task Cycle
Task
Students do the task in pairs/small group.
Teacher monitors from a distance.
Planning
Students prepare to report to the whole class (orally or in writing) how they did the task, what they decided or discovered.
Report
Some groupspresent their reports to the class, or exchange written reports, and compare results.
Language Focus
Analysis
Students examine and discussspecific features of the text or transcript of the recording.
Practice
Teacherconducts practice of new words, phrases and patterns occurring in the data, either during or after the analysis.
21 c. Writing in the Task-Based Learning Framework
As stated in writing theory, it is necessary to find out the students’ needs and want to set the tasks. Thus, writing could help the students develop their writing skill. Willis (1996: 61) states that writing is a learning process. It helps people to express and create ideas. Arranging the ideas into writing in the target language demands their current language mastery since it forces them to deal with many aspects of language.
Furthermore, Willis (1996: 61) argues that “in a Task-Based Approach, writing constitutes a natural part of the cycle.” Due to that statement, writing is useful and important skill in the task cycle. Sometimes, the end products of the tasks are in written. Willis (1996: 62) states that “this end product will first be introduced orally or through reading in the pre-task phase, then discussed as an integral part of the task stage, drafted collaboratively at the planning stage and finalised for the report stage.”
d. Teacher’s and Learners’ Roles
Some of the teacher’s and learners’ roles in TBLT overlap with the roles in CLT. There are some additional roles for teacher in TBLT. They are selecting and sequencing the tasks, preparing learners for tasks, and raising learners’ consciousness to learn (Richards and Rodgers, 2001: 236). Besides, Richards and Rodgers (2001: 235) mention primary roles of learners that are implied by task work; they are:
1) Group participant. Many tasks will be done in pairs or small group.
22 of facilitating learning.
3) Risk-taker and innovator. Many tasks will require learners to create and interpret messages for which they lack full linguistic resources and prior knowledge.
4. Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP)
The educational program is described in a curriculum. Today’s curriculum in Indonesia is Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP) in which every school in every level of education has autonomy to construct its own curriculum. This curriculum is developed from Competency Based Curriculum (CBC). Thus, its focus is still on communicative competence but the achievement indicators are determined by the schools.
Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK) or vocational school is one of the educational institutions in Indonesia which has the same level as Senior High School. The Indonesian government has competency standard for SMK. The first grade students of SMK should be able to communicate in English on novice level, the second grade students of SMK should be able to communicate in English on elementary level, and the third grade students of SMK should be able to communicate in English on intermediate level (Syam, in http://www.psmk. net/index.html, accessed on 2nd March 2007).
B. Theoretical Framework
23 In this study, the writer adapts ASSURE model and employs Communicative Language Teaching and Task-Based Language Teaching. The writer does not apply all elements of these theories. However, the writer employs some of them which can contribute to the processes of designing instructional writing materials using Task-Based Language Teaching for the second grade students of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta.
Since this study focuses on designing writing materials, the writer employs the writing process in the activities used in the designed materials. It includes planning (pre-writing process to find and produce information in writing), drafting (a process to organize and develop a piece of writing), and revising (a post-writing process to re-examine and re-evaluate the writing activities). It is hoped that the students can develop their writing skills through this process. Moreover, the students should deal with many aspects in order to produce a good piece of writing, such as purpose, content, organization, grammar, and mechanics, as illustrated in Figure 2.1. Besides, the students should recognize the environment and individual components in producing a piece of writing which include social environment, physical environment, motivation and affect, cognitive process, working memory, and long-term memory.
24 English in their daily life and in working world.
The writer also uses Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) since TBLT is an approach which uses tasks as the core or the main activity in the teaching-learning process. Tasks become the primary focus in the designed materials; thus, there are many tasks given in the designed materials that demand the students to write more. The tasks cover three components stated in the Task-Based Learning Framework. They are pre-task, task cycle, and language focus. The components are presented in Figure 2.2. The task itself is aimed at developing their writing skill. It is also believed that tasks can motivate students to learn in order to reach the learning objectives. Moreover, the teachers and the students have their own roles in the teaching- learning process to achieve the learning objectives.
The curriculum employed was Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP). Since the materials were designed for the second grade students of SMK, the writer adopted the competency standard for the second grade students of SMK stated in KTSP; i.e., the students of SMK are able to communicate in English on elementary level. Then, the writer elaborated the topics based on this competency standard.
25 modify, and design materials. The writer adds revising action in step six. As stated in the theoretical description that evaluation is an ongoing process, the revisions are also done before, during, and after instructional processes. Thus, the writer’s instructional model has four steps as presented in Figure 2.3. They are (1) analyzing learner characteristics; (2) listing the topics and stating the objectives; (3) selecting, modifying, and designing materials; and (4) evaluating and revising the materials.
Analyzing Learner Listing the Topics & Selecting, Modify ing, Evaluating and
Characteristics Stating the Objectives & Designing Materials Revising the Materials
Evaluation and revision line
26 CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the writer would like to discuss some important points of the research method, research participants, research instruments, data gathering technique, data analysis technique, and research procedures which are emplo yed in this study.
A. Research Method
This study attempts to find out the answers to the two questions as stated in the problem formulation. First, it is aimed at designing instructional writing materials using Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) for SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. Second, it is aimed to present the designed materials.
This study employed educational research and development (R & D) method. Sometimes, it is called research-based development. Borg and Gall (1983: 772) define educational research and development (R & D) as:
A process used to develop and validate educational products. The term ‘product’ includes not only materials object, such as textbooks, instructional films, and so forth, but it is also intended to refer to established procedures and processes, such as a method of teaching for organizing instruction. There are some steps in this process which is called R & D cycle. The R & D cycle (Borg and Gall, 1983: 772) consists of:
Studying research findings pertinent to the product to be developed, developing the product based on these findings, field testing it in the setting it will be used eventually, and revising it to correct the deficiencies found in the field-testing stage.
27 They are (1) research and information collecting, (2) planning, (3) developing preliminary form of product, (4) preliminary field testing, (5) main product revision, (6) main field testing, (7) operational product revision, (8) operational field testing, (9) final product revision, and (10) dissemination and implementation.
In this study, the writer only employed step 1 to step 5. It was because of the writer’s limitations of time to do all the steps and the limitation of place to do all the field tests. Thus, in step 4 (preliminary field testing), the writer did not conduct a test in the school but conducted expert and user verification on the designed materials. The verification was done by some lecturers of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University as the experts of designing materials and by the English teachers of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta as the users of the designed materials. This step was in accordance with survey on the designed materials. It will be explained further on the survey on the designed materials.
Furthermore, the product in this study refers to the instructional materials that were developed. To develop the materials, the writer conducted surveys. The surveys functioned as the means to gather the data from qualified respondents that were used to support the materials development. There were two kinds of survey conducted in this study; they were needs survey and survey on the designed materials.
1. Needs Survey
28 i.e., research and information collecting. It was aimed to find out the students’ needs, lacks, interest, and learning styles in learning English writing skill. In gathering the data, a questionnaire and an informal interview were used. The writer distributed the questionnaire to the second grade students of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. After distributing the questionnaire, the informal interview was conducted to the English teachers of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. It was intended to enrich the data from the questionnaire.
2. Survey on the Designed Materials
Survey on the designed materials was conducted after the materials were designed; hence it was called post-design survey. It was in accordance with step 4 of R & D cycle (preliminary field testing) as stated before. It was aimed to obtain the evaluations and feedback on the designed materials. In this post-design survey, a questionnaire was used. The questio nnaire was distributed to English teachers of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta and some lecturers of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University.
B. Research Participants
In this section, the writer describes the respondents of the needs survey and those of the survey on the designed materials.
1. Respondents of the Needs Survey
29 know their needs, lacks, interest, and learning styles. The samples were Accounting (2 AK) class and Office Administration (2 AP) class. The total number of the students was 53. The classes were chosen as the samples since the students had enough experience in learning English and understood their needs, lacks, interest, and learning styles. Moreover, to enrich the data about the students’ needs, lacks, interest, and learning styles, the writer conducted an informal interview with two English teachers of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. The English teachers were chosen as the respondents because they knew the students’ needs and the teaching- learning process in the class.
2. Respondents of the Survey on the Designed Materials
30 the respondents of this survey is presented in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1 Respondents of the Survey on the Designed Materials Educational
Background
Teaching Experience (in year) Group of
Respondents
D3 S1 S2 1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 =26
English Teachers
- 1 1 - - - - 1 1
English Lecturers
- - 3 - 1 1 1 - -
C. Research Instruments
Research instruments are needed in conducting surveys. There were two instruments that were used in the study; they were questionnaires and an interview guideline.
1. Questionnaires
31 difficulties in learning writing and how they solved the difficulties, and the activities and media they wanted in learning writing. Whether the tasks given by their teacher helped them in developing their writing skill was also asked in the first questionnaire.
The second questionnaire was for the survey on the designed materials. It was distributed to the English teachers of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta and three lecturers of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. The aim of the second questionnaire was to obtain evaluations and feedback on the designed materials.
The second questionnaire was divided into two parts; they were part A and part B. Part A contained closed-ended questions, in which the respondents should answer the questions by choosing the provided options. The questions were to ask whether the materials were well developed, whether the designed materials were relevant for the students, and whether TBLT was well developed in the materials. Moreover, part B contained open-ended questions, in which the respondents were free to express their comments about the overall designed materials, to mention the strengths and weaknesses of the designed materials, and to give suggestions to improve the designed materials.
2. Interview Guideline
32 students’ performance in writing, the strategies to solve the problems / difficulties and the strategies to develop the students’ writing skill, and the method applied in teaching writing. The questions were in the form of open-ended questions, in which the respondents could answer the questions freely since there was no provided options.
D. Data Gathering Technique
There are two important points to be discussed in the data gathering technique. They are data gathering technique of the needs survey and data gathering technique of the survey on the designed materials.
1. Data Gathering Technique of the Needs Survey
To gather the main data for designing the materials, the writer came to SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta, especially 2 AK class and 2 AP class, and distributed the questionnaire to the students. The students were asked to answer the questionnaire in the class and the writer waited for them. It was done in order to make the survey accurate. On the next day, the writer interviewed the English teachers to enrich the data about the students’ needs, lacks, interest, and learning styles.
2. Data Gathering Technique of the Survey on the Designed Materials
33 the designed materials and the questionnaire to them. Two weeks later, the writer met them to take the designed materials and questionnaire back in order to be analyzed and the results were used to revise and produce the final version of the designed materials.
E. Data Analysis Technique
There are two things that will be discussed in this part. They are data analysis technique of the needs survey and data analysis technique of the survey on the designed materials.
1. Data Analysis Technique of the Needs Survey
After gathering the data from the first questionnaire, the writer analyzed them. The data were calculated using percentage method. The formula is as follows.
n
x 100%
N
Note: n = the number of students who chose a certain option N = the total number of students
34 2. Data Analysis Techniques of the Survey on the Designed Materials
In the survey on the designed materials, the writer obtained the evaluations and feedback from the English teachers of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta and three lecturers of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University by using the second questionnaire. The second questionnaire was divided into two parts; they were part A and part B. Part A contained closed-ended que stions and part B contained open-closed-ended questions.
In part A the respondents were to give their opinions by choosing the provided options. The details of the options are in Table 3.2. The data of part A were calculated and analyzed by using the central tendency, that is mean, of the respondents’ opinions on the designed materials. According to Brown and Rodgers (2004: 128), mean is “the sum of all the values in a distribution divided by the number of values.” The formula is written as follows.
S x X = N Note:
X = mean
Sx = the sum of values
N = the total number of values
After the writer analyzed the data, the results were presented in Table 3.3.
35 revise, improve, and make the final version of the designed materials.
Table 3.2 Points of Agreement of the Respondents’ Opinions Points of
Agreement Meaning
1 If the respondents strongly disagree with the statement 2 If the respondents disagree with the statement
3 If the respondents neither agree nor disagree with the statement (doubt)
4 If the respondents agree with the statement
5 If the respondents strongly agree with the statement
Table 3.3 The Data of the Respondents’ Opinions (Blank)
Central Tendency
No. Respondents’ Opinions on N
Mean
F. Research Procedures
In this part, the writer would like to discuss the procedures in conducting the research. The procedures were divided into three parts. They were pre-design activities, design activities, and post-design activities. Those three parts were in accordance with the five steps of R & D cycle.
1. Pre-design Activities
36 were used to gather the data; they were questionnaires and an interview guideline. After that, the writer conducted the needs survey to know the students’ needs, lacks, interest, and learning styles by distributing the first questionnaire to the second grade students of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta and interviewing their English teachers. These activities were in accordance with step 1 of R & D cycle; that is, research and information collecting. Then, the writer analyzed the data from the questionnaire and interview.
2. Design Activities
In this part, the writer designed instructional writing materials using Task-Based Language Teaching for the second grade students of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. The writer used the results of the needs survey as the basis of the materials development. In designing the materials, the writer selected available materials, modified existing materials, and designed new materials. These activities were in accordance with step 2 and step 3 of R & D cycle ; i.e., planning and developing preliminary form of product.
3. Post-design Activities
38 CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
This chapter consists of three parts. The first part is the steps of designing instructional writing materials for SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. This part answers the first question in the problem formulation. The second part is the results of the surveys conducted by the writer. In this part, the writer elaborated the results of the needs survey and the survey on the designed materials. The last part is the presentation of the designed instructional writing materials for SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. It is the answer to the second question in the problem formulation.
A. The Steps of Designing Instructional Writing Materials for SMK BOPKRI I
Yogyakarta
The writer applied four instructional design steps in designing the writing materials for SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. The steps were analyzing learner characteristics; listing the topics and stating the objectives; selecting, modifying, and designing materials; and also evaluating and revising the materials. The writer discusses each of the instructional design steps as follows.
1. Analyzing Learner Characteristics
39 interview with the English teachers of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta on 28th May 2007.
Based on the data from the questionnaire and the informal interview, the writer analyzed the learner characteristics including their needs, lacks, interest, and learning styles. From the analysis, the writer found out that the learners aged between 16 and 18 years old. They had learned English for about 5 to 9 years. Most of them came from low-class family. They had low motivation to learn. Moreover, they were slow and passive learners. Seeing those facts, they really needed guidance in learning English. The complete data of the needs survey are presented in Appendix G.
2. Listing the Topics and Stating the Objectives
As previously mentioned in the problem formulation in chapter I, this study focused on designing instructional writing materials using Task-Based Language Teaching for SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. Thus, the topics were developed from the KTSP of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. They were:
a. Daily Activities b. Hobbies and Interests c. Writing Messages d. Professions e. Curriculum Vitae f. An Application Letter g. Past Events
40 Then, the objectives were adopted from the KTSP of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta. The general objective, which was called Competency Standard, was that the second grade students are expected to be able to communicate in English on elementary level. Furthermore, the specific objectives, which were called Basic Competencies, are presented in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1 The Topics and the Basic Competencies
Unit Topic Basic Competencies
1 Daily Activities
2 Hobbies and Interests
The students are able to communicate using simple daily conversations with non- native speakers in the professional context and/or the personal context.
3 Writing Messages The students are able to write simple messages based on direct interaction and/or interaction through media.
4 Professions
5 Curriculum Vitae
6 An Application Letter
The students are able to specify the jobs and the educational backgrounds of some professions orally and in written.
7 Past Events
8 Future Plans
The students are able to tell about past events and future plans.
41 three elements; they are performance, conditions, and criteria. An objective should always include what the learner is expected to be able to do after completing the course. Performance must be stated in an operationa l verb so that it is observable. Moreover, a statement of objective should include the condition of the performance and it should be relevant (Heinich, Molenda, and Russell, 1982: 38). Furthermore, a well- stated objective should include the criteria (or standards) of the acceptable performance that is observed. The criteria may be described in quantity or quality or both (Heinich, Molenda, and Russell, 1982: 39). Based on the explanations above, the writer took the achievement indicators from the KTSP of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta and made suitable use of them to be used in designing the materials. They are presented in Table 4.2 (overleaf).
3. Selecting, Modifying, and Designing Materials
42 Table 4.2 The Topics and the Indicators
Unit Topic Indicators
1 Daily Activities
1. The students are able to question using question word pattern in the context of daily activities correctly.
2. The students are able to answer the questions in the context of daily activities correctly.
3. The students are able to write their own daily activities correctly.
4. The students are able to write their partner’s daily activities correctly.
2 Hobbies and Interests
1. The students are able to talk about hobbies and interests using appropriate expressions.
2. The students are able to write their own hobby and interest correctly.
3. The students are able to write their partner’s hobby and interest correctly.
3 Writing Messages
1. The students are able to write messages based on telephone conversation correctly.
2. The students are able to write messages based on direct conversation correctly.
4 Professions 1. The students are able to explain the jobs of some professions in the form of Simple Present Tense appropriately.
2. The students are able to explain the educational
backgrounds of some professions in the form of Simple Past Tense appropriately.
5 Curriculum Vitae
1. The students are able to write a simple curriculum vitae correctly.
2. The students are able to write their partner’s curriculum vitae correctly.
6 An
Application Letter
1. The students are able to identify the form of a good application letter correctly.
2. The students are able to write an application letter well. 7 Past Events 1. The students are able to express past events using Simple
Past Tense correctly.
2. The students are able to write a personal letter about past events correctly.
8 Future Plans 1. The students are able to express future plans using Simple Future Tense correctly.
43 The details of the Task-Based Learning framework of the designed materials are presented in Figure 4.1.
What do you think? Introduction to topic
Brainstorming, answering questions, and sharing personal experiences Let’s do it
Write it down
Writing based on prior knowledge, personal experiences, and conversation.
Listing and ordering.
Think about
Preparing the report of the task.
Express it
Presenting the report.
Attention, please! Let’s analyze
Analyzing the language focus, comparing, and sorting.
Practice it
Practicing writing and revis ing the writing based on the analysis. Figure 4.1 Task-Based Learning Framework of the Designed Materials
4. Evaluating and Revising the Materials
44 feedback proposed by the respondents to make the final version of the designed materials.
B. The Results of the Surveys
The writer conducted two kinds of survey in this research. The first was the needs survey in order to find the students’ needs, lacks, interest, and learning styles. The second was the survey on the designed materials in order to obtain the evaluations and feedback on the designed materials. The results of the needs survey and the survey on the designed materials are presented as follows.
1. The Results of the Needs Survey
To find out the students’ needs, lacks, interest, and learning styles in learning English writing skill, the writer conducted a needs survey. It was done by distributing a questionnaire and conducting an informal interview. The questionnaire was distributed to the 53 students of the second grade students of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta on 17th and 21st May 2007. Moreover, the informal interview was conducted with the English teachers of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta on 28th May 2007. It was to obtain additional data of the students’ needs, lacks, interest, and learning styles in learning English writing skill.
a. The Results of the Questionnaire
45 presented in Appendix G but the general results are as follows.
In the first question, the students were asked “Generally, do you like writing? ” Forty five (84.9%) students answered “yes” and only eight (15.1%) students answered “no”. It meant that generally they had interest in writing and it was a good starting point for them to develop their writing skill. Writing is an interesting skill to develop. Concerning question 2, whether they liked writing in English or not, thirty two students (60.4%) said “yes” and twenty one students (39.6%) said “no”. It showed tha t they liked writing in English.
Question 3 was “How often do you write in English? ” Most of the students; i.e., thirty four students (64.2%), said that they only wrote in English in English class. The writer concluded that they only wrote when the teacher asked or assigned them to write. Question 4 asked about the difficulties they usually faced when they were writing in English. Thirty six (67.9%) students mentioned that the difficulty they faced was lack of vocabulary. Twenty four students (45.3%) found difficulty in writing words correctly and thirty eight students (71.7%) found difficulty in arranging words into good sentences. Moreover, nine students (17%) said that they had no idea when they were asked to write.
46 personally, and twenty four students (45.3%) preferred to practice writing in group. The writer concluded that they needed many exploration and tasks to develop their writing skill.
In the seventh question, the writer wanted to know whether the exercises or tasks given in the class were able to develop their writing skill. Fifty two students (98.1%) answered “yes” and only one student (1.9%) answered “no”. Moreover, question 8 asked their opinion “Can tasks develop your writing skill?” and the result was that 49 students (92.5%) agreed that tasks could develop their writing skill but four students (7.5%) did not agree. Then, question 9 asked their opinion whether listening, speaking, and reading in English class helped them in developing their writing skill. Fifty students (94.3%) said “yes” and three students (5.7%) said “no”. From those three questions, it was concluded that tasks and the other three skills were helpful in developing the students’ writing skill.
47 b. The Results of the Informal Interview
The writer prepared fourteen questions that were stated in the interview guideline. Since the English teachers of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta as the respondents of the informal interview were not willing to answer all of the questions prepared, the writer only obtained some additional data. The additional data were:
1) Most of the students came from low-class family. As a result, they had low motivation to learn and it was hard to motivate them as well. Because of that, the teachers needed to give extra assistance and have extra patience to assist them.
2) The students were interested to write if the topics to write were related to their life, their experiences, and the phenomena around them.
48 Moreover, the teacher often used Indonesian to convey the materials to make the students understand the materials well.
4) The common difficulties that the students often faced when they were writing have been stated in Appendix G point 4. In addition, they were often stuck when they were writing, they had many grammatical errors, and they spent very long time to write a very short paragraph. Thus, they really needed tasks to get them accustomed to writing in English and to improve their writing skill.
Based on the results of the surveys above, the writer listed the topics, stated the objectives, and designed the materials.
2. The Results of the Survey on the Designed Materials
To obtain evaluations and feedback on the designed materials, the writer conducted a survey on the designed materials by distributing a questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to two English teachers of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta and to three lecturers of the English Language Study Program of Sanata Dharma University. The distribution of the questionnaire was conducted on 23rd to 27th August 2007.
49 Table 4.3 The Data of the Respondents’ Opinions
CT
No. Respondents’ Opinions on N
Mean The Objectives
1. The indicators are well formulated. 3.8
2. The indicators are able to support the achievement of basic
competence.
5
4
The Learning Approach
3. Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is really developed in
the existing materials. 3.4
4. The activities using Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT)
help the students to develop their writing skill. 3.6 5. The tasks facilitate the students to meet the objectives.
5
3.4
The Content of the Designed Materials
6. The topics are well selected and arranged. 4.4
7. The topics are interesting for the students to write. 4.2
8. The instructions are easy to understand. 4.2
9. The writing models help the students to write better. 3.8
10. The media are well developed. 3.6
11. The designed materials provide tasks needed by the students. 4.2 12. The learning activities help the students to develop their
communicative competence. 4.2
13. The designed materials are able to help the students to develop
their writing skill. 4
14. The designed materials meet the objectives stated in the
syllabus. 4.2
15. The designed materials are suitable and relevant for the second grade students of SMK.
5
4.4
Note : N = Number of respondents
50 In the questionnaire, the respondents were to give their opinions and feedback as well. The data obtained were in the form of comments, criticisms, and suggestions on the designed materials. Their opinions and feedback were used to evaluate, revise, and improve the designed materials to produce the final version of the designed materials. In their comments, the designed materials were simply-designed but good, interesting, creative enough, well-prepared, and well-simply-designed. The designed materials were in line with KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan). The English teachers of SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta also said that it could help them teach English writing.
However, there were still weaknesses of the designed materials as stated by the respondents in their criticisms and suggestions. Considering the respondents’ criticisms and suggestions, the writer revised the designed materials to make them better. The y were as follows.
a. There were some minor grammatical mistakes on the designed materials. Then, the writer paid more careful attention to them. She re-checked the grammar and the spelling and also corrected the mistakes.
b. The time allocation in the syllabus was not specific. Considering the time allocation in the syllabus, the writer made them more specific based on the time allocation for each unit. The writer hoped that the syllabus became easier to understand.
51 C. The Presentation of the Instructional Designed Materials
The presentation of the designed instructional writing materials for SMK BOPKRI I Yogyakarta answered the second question in the problem formulation. The final version of the designed materials was presented after some revisions and improvement s based on the comments, criticisms, and suggestions from the respondents. The final version of the designed materials contained eight units. Each unit could be applied in 1 meeting (2 x 45 minutes). The order of the topics in the final version of the designed materials is presented in Table 4.4.
Table 4.4 The Order of the Topics in the Designed Materials
Unit Topic Title Unit
1 Daily Activities What Do You Usually Do?
2 Hobbies and Interests Hobby and Interest
3 Writing Messages Messages
4 Professions She is a Secretary
5 Curriculum Vitae Curriculum Vitae
6 An Application Letter My Application Letter
7 Past Events My Unforgettable Experience
8 Future Plans I’m Going to Go Abroad
52 a. What do you think?
This part contains the introduction to the topic. In this part, the students deal with some activities like brainstorming, answering questions, and sharing personal experiences. This part is useful to activate the students’ prior knowledge and prepare them to learn a certain topic. Thus, the students are involved in the topic they will learn.
b. Let’s do it
This part contains three parts; they are write it down, think about and express it.
1) Write it down
In almost all of the units, the students should write based on their prior knowledge, their own or their partner’s personal experiences, and conversation. Besides, in some units the students are asked to list and order about something. This part functions to measure how far the students’ prior knowledge and their writing performance on certain topic.
2) Think about
The students are asked to prepare the report of the task based on the type of the report. The reports are in the form of oral report or written report. This part is to make the students aware how they did the previous task and what they discover or decided.
3) Express it
