THE ROLE OF
TEACHERS’ QUESTIONS IN THE
PRE-READING ACTIVITY AT PRIMARY LEVEL
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Nita Christiningtyas
112009023
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
THE ROLE OF
TEACHERS’ QUESTIONS IN THE
PRE-READING ACTIVITY AT PRIMARY LEVEL
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Nita Christiningtyas
112009023
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree of diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text.
Copyright@2013. Nita Christiningtyas and Anita Kurniawati, M. Hum
All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English Department, Faculty of Language and Literature, Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. The Importance of Teacher Questions ………. 5
2. Types of Teacher Questions ………. 6
C. Methodology……….. 9-12 1. Context of study……….. 9
2. Participants……….. 10
3. Instruments of data collection………. 10
4. Data collection procedure……… 11
2a. Clarifying –Reflective Questions……….. 23
2b. Clarifying –Interpretive Questions……… 25
E. Conclusion and Pedagogical Implication……… 26-29 1. Criteria of Good Questions in Warming-up activity………… 27
Acknowledgment ... .. 30
The Role of Teachers’ Questions in the Pre-reading Activity at Primary Level
Nita Christiningtyas
Abstract
This study aims to identify four types of teachers‟ questions that are used in the pre-reading activity in Bethany Elementary School, Salatiga, Indonesia. Non-participant observation was applied to collect the data in the three classes as the main instrument aided by field notes. This article presents the examples from each type of questions used in the pre-reading activity in the classes, the essentials why it is applied, and how it is used in different reading topic in the pre-reading activity. The result shows that the four types of questions are used in the pre-reading activity with the difference frequencies of used in each class. Meanwhile, there are new types of questions find in this study. They belong to the combination of questions used by teachers in the pre-reading activity. The findings suggest that the use of questions in the pre-reading activity help the students to have enough background knowledge of a particular topic that they will read. The strategic questions can be applied in the pre-reading activity to create active atmosphere in the classroom, help the students to have higher-level of thinking through particular topic, and make teachers aware of using a series of questions while teaching in pre-reading activity as Indonesia is EFL context.
Key words: pre-reading activity, reading, teachers‟ questions
A. Introduction
The purpose of this study is to identify the kind of teachers‟ questions that are used in pre-reading activity at the primary level. This study will be conducted in one of the private Elementary Schools in Salatiga, which is used “National Plus Curriculum,” where in this school teaching reading using text is taught starts from
the 3rd to the 6th Grade of Elementary School.
According to Heilman, Blair, and Rupley (1981) “reading is one of the
Farrell (2008) asserts that reading “involves both conscious and unconscious actions by the readers” where the unconscious actions of the readers can not be
seen. As a result, teaching reading in primary level needs some teaching stages to help the students activate their background knowledge through the particular topic. One of the teaching stages used to teach reading is pre-reading activity.
Pre-reading activity is any activities that the teacher used before the students read the text given. Pre-reading activity in Bethany Elementary School, Salatiga is included in the pre-teaching stages. It is because in the school, the students learn English based on the English skill in each meeting. In each meeting, they learn one of English skill only. In fact, there are many kinds of pre-reading activities used in the classroom, such as watching video, telling stories, questioning, and listening stories.
to understand and remember. In a research study about the use of pre-reading activity, Ghazemi (2011) shows that the students who are have difficulties in comprehending reading can be facilitated using appropriate pre-reading task. Moreover, Haque (2010) asserts that pre-reading activity helps the students comprehending the difficult reading passage easier than not using the pre-reading activity.
In fact, among those activities used in the Bethany Elementary School, teachers‟ questions are the most important part in it. Question is one of the teaching strategies that commonly used in the pre-reading activity remembering the students in the school learn English as a foreign language. However, according to Hedgcok and Ferris (2009), pre-reading activity is a step which often-neglected in the reading process. Questions as the part of pre-reading activity in teaching reading sometimes might be forgotten. It might be caused by the development of sophisticated technology, so that teachers might often use media, such as video or any kind of activities rather than ask questions to their students. In accordance with Dolores Durkins (1979), Pressley et al (1998) as cited in Pressley (2000), the classic research shows that most teachers ask questions after the students have read the text.
result, students understand the meaning and comprehending the reading material easier.
Different with the previous study conducted by Williams (1984) and Liu (2004), where the researchers describe some of the essentials of pre-reading activity in teaching reading, this study will focus on the kind of teachers‟ questions in pre-reading activity in primary level. It is because as English teachers, knowing about what kind of questions that can be used to facilitate the students before reading a particular text is very important. Teachers‟ questions will help a lot in activating students‟ background knowledge of a particular topic in a text.
B. Literature Review
1. The Importance of Teacher Questions
Question is one of the teaching strategies that commonly used in the pre-reading activity, especially for primary level students. It is because even though the teachers ask their students to predict, rearrange the jumbled paragraph, and guess the picture during pre-reading section, the teachers will facilitate their students using questions. Vogler (2008) believes that asking questions to check students‟ understanding has been a main component of teaching and learning. It also builds up the reader‟s background knowledge in the pre-reading activity.
2. Types of Teacher Questions
There are some types of teacher questions that are classified by Wrag and Brown (2001), the British educationalists.
1. „Conceptual questions‟ are important to get ideas and definitions of the subject that being studied. For example, when teacher teaches reading about Animals, he/she will ask the students, “What do you call animals with and without
bones?”
2. „Empirical questions‟ are based on the fact or experimental findings. It aims to show the connection between the facts and observations. This example is asked by the teacher when he/she teaches about Science, “When I blew up the
balloon, Sarah said that the air presses against the side of the cup up with the balloon. So what do you think is going to happen if I let go of the cup?”
3. „Value questions‟ are related to the moral value that stated in the reading passage. These kinds of questions are usually used in the post-reading to ask about moral value contained in the story. For example, the teacher asks the students, “What about that man? What are some of the problems you think he
might face?”
Actually, the examples of the three types of questions above are based on Wragg‟s
activating their background knowledge and also help them recalling the information based on their experience or the fact that they have learned.
Then, according to Dantonio and Beisenherz (2001) as cited in Mayberry and Hartle (2003), questions in teaching reading are differentiated into eight types. 1. „Clarifying‟ questions are usually used to get more information that students know about the reading topic. Mayberry and Hartle (2003) give an example of clarifying questions based on their observation, such as “Now how many of you know what to do when you see a bear?”
2. „Convergent‟ questions will be answered by the students in the simple words, single answers, or basic recall. For example, “HOW many bears do you see in
this picture?”
3. „Focus‟ questions are usually used in order to help students consider information needed, to solve a problem or complete a task. For example, “What would you have done, if you were Goldilocks?”
4. „Cueing‟ questions may be used for children who need help remembering key information which can take students back to the previous learned information. For example, teacher will ask the students to make prediction, “What was in
the story that you did not predict?”
5. „Divergent‟ questions are usually open-ended, higher-order requiring analysis, synthesis, or evaluation that emerge children‟s critical thinking. For example,
in the beginning of reading section, teacher ask, “What do you think is going
6. „Interpretive‟ questions require learners to analyze cause and effect of something or someone else and the consequences for ideas.
7. „Evaluative‟ questions are asked in the post-reading section in which require students‟ use social information or the moral value stated in the story. For example, “What should Goldilocks have done when she saw the open door to
the bears‟ house?” and “What do you do when you see other people‟s chairs or
toys?”
8. „Reflective‟ questions which can help the students reflect the story with their own experiences in the daily life.
Eventually, the examples of the types of questions above are based in Mayberry‟s
and Hartle‟s observation in English-reading class. The observation is focus on the types of teacher‟s questions in teaching reading. Actually, the reading material is about Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It can be seen that Mayberry and Hartle (2003) find six examples used in teaching reading out of eight types of questions identified by Dantonio and Beisenherz (2001).
Fortunately, „Evaluative‟ questions have the same term with „Value‟
questions by Wragg and Brown (2001) which are usually asked in the post-reading and it aims to ask the students about the moral value stated in the reading passage. In addition, „Reflective‟ questions also have the same term with „Empirical‟ questions by Wragg and Brown (2001) which requires the students to
by Wragg and Brown (2001). It aims to get ideas or information about the topic that being studied.
All in all, the questions classified by Dantonio and Beisenherz (2001) are similar with the three types of questions classified by Wragg and Brown (2001). However, the main difference of those questions is in how the questions applied. Thus, three types of questions by Wragg and Brown (2001) can be applied in all subjects. In contrast, the examples of questions given by Mayberry and Hartle (2003) prove that the eight types of questions can be applied in teaching reading. In addition, it can be applied in the pre-reading, whilst-teaching or even in the post-teaching also. However, Mayberry and Hartle (2003) shows that only two types of questions; Convergent and Divergent that the teacher used in the pre-reading.
C. Methodology
1. Context of study
students are difficult to understand the reading materials and are tend to be passive in discussing reading materials. Furthermore, teachers as facilitator must help the students to be active by using questions in pre-reading activity.
2. Participants
The participants of this research were three teachers; Teacher A, Teacher B, and Teacher C. They were from three different classes in Bethany Elementary School. They teach English from the 3rd – 5th Grader of Bethany Elementary School. The writer chose the participants by using a sample of convenience. It is because the location of where the writer‟s living. Actually, she lived in Salatiga, and then the location of the school was near from her house. Thus, it helped her easily to seek for the participants.
3. Instruments of data collection
In collecting data, the writer used observation as the instrument. In the observation, she did twelve times observation (see Table 3.1).
Teacher Date Duration (minutes) Wednesday, February 20th, 2013 12
C Monday, February 4th, 2013 13
Thursday, February 14th, 2013 18 Wednesday, February 27th, 2013 10
Wednesday, March 20th, 2013 20
According to the Table 3.1, in each observation, the writer conducted the observation in approximately seven to twenty minutes for each observation. The reason was because the writer just would like to focus on the teachers‟ questions during pre-reading activity. In this observation, the writer used real time observation because she wanted to get many examples of questions during the pre-reading activity and she would like to see the nature of the teaching learning process in the classes naturally. Moreover, in this research, the writer would add field notes to collect the data because it would be easier to analyze the data that she got during the real time observation.
4. Data collection procedure
First of all, the data for the study were collected by piloting using real-time observation, in which the researcher used observation template to write down the questions that the teachers ask in warming up activity (see Table 3.2).
Table 3.2 Observation template
Date: 12th September 2012 Topic: The Ocean
3.
I = Interpretive E = Evaluative
According to the Table 3.2, right after wrote down the teacher‟s
questions in the teacher‟s questions column, the writer tried to classified the
teacher‟s questions into eight types of questions. However, the writer just found that there were four types of questions out of eight questions emerge in pre-reading activity in the classroom (see Table 3.2).
5. Data Analysis Procedure
According to the writer‟s data piloting, there were four types of questions emerged in the classroom; Clarifying (C), Interpretive (I), Reflective (R), and Evaluative (E). The four types of questions might be emerged because the use of questions in pre-reading activity is not as much as the whole reading and they emerged depending on the topic that the students will learn. Thus, the four types of questions are important to build the students‟ background knowledge.
Right after wrote down the teacher‟s questions in the Teacher’s Questions column, the writer classified the questions into four by giving tick (√) in the Types of Teacher’s Questions column (see Table 3.2). In addition, the writer also wrote the students answer of teacher‟s questions in the Notes
D. Discussion and Finding
1. Types of Teacher Questions
Actually, the teacher‟s questions during pre-reading activity are identified in the terms of Clarifying (C), Interpretive (I), Reflective (R), and Evaluative (E). Moreover, the questions will be analyzed starting from the 3rd Grade to 5th Grade. Then, the following table below shows the distribution of teacher‟s questions used in pre-reading for each class (see Table 4.1).
Type of Questions
Class
C I R E Total
3rd Grade 2 3 17 1 23
4th Grade 2 0 19 0 21
5th Grade 9 7 30 0 39
Total Questions 13 10 66 1 90
Percentage 14.44% 11.11% 73.33% 1.11% 100% Table 4.1 The distribution of teachers‟ questions used in each class
According to the Table 4.1, Clarifying, Interpretive, Reflective, and Evaluative questions are used in the pre-reading activity. In addition, the four types of questions have different frequencies in use and it will be discussed further in the following explanation.
1a.Reflective Questions
class is about something that is familiar or well-known by the students. Here, there are some examples of the reading topic used in the classrooms; “Newspaper (3rd Grade),” “Short Story (4th Grade),” and “King Midas (5th
Grade).” In fact, this type of question will be asked by the teachers based on the students‟ own experiences and the fact that they have already known.
Moreover, these are the following examples of Reflective questions used in the pre-reading activity of the 5th Grade when the teacher taught about a Greek
Teacher C : Good. Everybody can see? (the teacher points the slide show)
All students : Yes.
Teacher C : So, now I want you to guess who is in the picture. It‟s all about the god and goddess. The first picture, who is this? (the teacher points the picture in the slide show) All students : Ares.
Teacher C : it is the god of …. All students : war.
(Based on classroom observation, 5th Grade, on February 4th, 2013)
When the teacher, asked this type of questions in the 5th Grade, it aims to check the students‟ understanding about Greek itself or something related to
the Greek before they read the Greek myth.
Therefore, by looking at the examples in Extract 1, it proves that the teachers facilitate the students to share their opinion about something they have experienced or observed that might help the students build their own background knowledge about the topic that will be read. In addition, it is in accordance with Mayberry and Hartle (2003) that Reflective questions help the students to reflect the story with their own life.
Even though sometimes, the Reflective questions asked by the teacher does not have any relation with the reading topic that will be read by the students (see Extract 2).
Extract 2
Teacher B : Have you ever heard novel? All students : Yes.
Teacher B : Is the novel can be seen? All students : Yes.
Teacher B : What is it look like? Student 1 : Thick.
Student 2 : Heavy.
Student 3 : No picture in it.
(Based on classroom observation, 4th Grade, on January 23rd, 2013)
Short Story looks like. However, the teacher asks about Novel as the basic questions before s/he asks about what Short Story is. In addition, it is good to asked about Novel as the basic questions because Short Story is an element resemblance to Novel. Moreover, it can help the students to think more about the distinctions between Novel and Short Story is. It seems like the teachers just want the students to be actively participated in the pre-reading activity for reading. Furthermore, it is in line with the aims of Reflective questions written by Dantonio and Beisenherz (2001) as cited in Mayberry and Hartle (2003); Reflective questions are the questions that „stimulate conversation and examine basic assumption.‟
1b.Clarifying Questions
According to the Table 4.1, another the type of question that often used in the pre-reading activity in the 3rd to 5th Grade of Bethany Elementary School is Clarifying questions. Based on the Table 4.1, it appears 13 times out of 90 (14.44%) in the pre-reading activity. In addition, it shows that this type of question is rarely used in the pre-reading activity, especially in the 3rd and 4th Grade. In fact, it might because the 3rd and 4th Grade of Elementary School students do not have enough background knowledge if they directly asked by the teacher about Clarifying questions.
questions in the first rank out of eight questions that they have identified. It indicates that it can be the first questions appear before the students learn about a particular subject. Moreover, it can be said that this type of question is always directly connected with a particular reading topic.
However, this type of question is not always to be first asked by the teachers when they taught in the pre-reading activity. Below are the examples of Clarifying questions used in the 5th Grade (see Extract 3).
Extract 3
Teacher C : Does anyone know what is Pandora’s Box? All students: Yes.
Teacher C : So, what is Pandora’s Box? Student 1 : Box that belongs to Pandora. Teacher C : Who is Pandora?
Student 2 : a person. Student 3 : a girl.
(Based on classroom observation, 5th Grade, on February, 14th, 2013)
According to Extract 3, the teacher in the 5th Grade still discussed about Greek myth using another reading passage. The title of the reading passage is Pandora’s Box. Here, it is clearly stated that the teacher asked Clarifying questions. It is because the teacher asked questions that directly connected to the reading topic. Actually, Pandora’s Box is the title of their reading text. At this point, the teacher asks Clarifying questions by often mentioning the title of the text. It is because the title of the reading is simple, so that the teacher tries to build the students‟ background knowledge by asking Clarifying
However, Clarifying questions emerge depending on the topic that will be taught by the teachers. There is an example of Clarifying question asked by the teacher in the 3rd Grade (see Extract 4).
Extract 4
Teacher A : Where you can find information? Student 1 : Book.
Student 2 : Magazine. Student 3 : Newspaper. Student 4 : TV.
(Based on classroom observation, 3rd Grade, on January 8th, 2013)
In line with the Extract 4, the teacher taught about Newspaper. When taught in the 3rd Grade, the teacher brought a newspaper in his/her hand. Then, s/he asked a Clarifying question (see Extract 4) to the students which aims to introduce the topic that the students will read later. Here, many students try to answer the question spontaneously with different answer. However, the teacher‟s expectation of the students‟ answer is Newspaper.
1c. Interpretive Questions
Derived from the Table 4.1, the third type of question that is used in the classrooms is Interpretive questions. It is shown in the table that Interpretive questions occur 10 times out of 90 (11.11%) in the pre-reading activity. Eventually, this type of question requires the teacher to ask about cause and effect or the reason of doing something.
Here, there are examples of Interpretive questions based on the particular topic in and 5th Grade (see Extract 5).
Extract 5
Teacher C : How do you know that it (the story in a blog) is true story?
Student 1 : it is said in the blog Miss.
Student 2 : the writer said it is his scary experiences. Teacher C : Why (is it scary)?
Student 3 : because he see ghost.
(Based on classroom observation, 5th Grade, on March 8th, 2013)
In fact, Interpretive questions are also asked depending on the topic that will read by the students. There is another example about Interpretive questions asked in the 3rd Grade (see Extract 6).
Extract 6
Teacher A : Why do you use telephone? Student 1 : I use it to call my parents, Miss. Student 2 : to communicate with people.
(Based on classroom observation, 5th Grade, on March 8th, 2013)
Here, the teacher will give a reading text about How the Telephone was Invented, so s/he asks an interpretive question which has relation with the reading topic. It is because the teacher wants to check and build the students‟
understanding about the function of telephone that might be stated in the reading passage.
Unfortunately, there are no examples of Interpretive questions used in the 4th Grade. Based on the writer‟s observation in the 4th Grade, it is impossible to apply the Interpretive questions because the topic of reading in the class. It is in line with Mayberry and Hartle (2003), they do not provide the examples of Interpretive questions in reading because the reading topic in the classroom might not possible to use this type of questions.
asking this type of questions to help the students think deeply about something.
1d.Evaluative Questions
Then, the last type of question hardly ever used in the pre-reading activity is Evaluative questions. Actually, in accordance with the Table 4.1, this type of question appears only once from the total ninety questions (1.11%) in pre-reading activity. It might be caused most teachers used Evaluative questions only in post-reading because the teacher will ask about what kind of moral value that the students learn from the story or what are the things that they learned from the topic that being studied. Mayberry and Hartle (2003) show the examples of Evaluative questions used in the post-reading. However, the fact that teacher asks about Evaluative questions in the pre-reading activity does not guarantee that this type of questions always used in the post-reading. In addition, the use of Evaluative questions depends on the reading topic that the students learn.
This is an example of Evaluative question in the 3rd Grade of Elementary School when the students learn about Folktales.
Extract 7
Teacher A : What did you learn from the story (Never Ride a Tiger)?
Student 1 : Never ride a tiger. Student 2 : don‟t do stupid things.
Student 3 : think first before you do something.
Eventually, based on the writer‟s observation, the Evaluative question is asked by the teacher when the students will read about some Indonesian folktales (see Extract 7). Here, the teacher gives pre-reading activity by asking questions related to the previous reading text about Chinese folktales entitled Never Ride a Tiger. When the teacher asks Evaluative questions, it aims to recall the thing that they learn from the folktales before they read Indonesian folktales.
From the example in Extract 7, it is clear that Evaluative questions can be used in the pre-reading activity. Again, it depends on the topic that the teacher will teach. Moreover, it is also used by the teacher to ask about the moral value stated in the story. Then, by asking the question, the teacher also helps the students to remember the main points of reading Folktales.
Among the four types of questions emerge in the pre-reading activity, the writer finds that there are two types of questions belong into two categories. They are Clarifying – Reflective and Clarifying – Interpretive questions. The two types of questions will be discussed further in the following explanation (see Table 4.2).
2a.Clarifying – Reflective Questions
According to the Table 4.2, Clarifying – Reflective questions appear 37 times out of 48 questions (77.08%) in the pre-reading activity. Actually, based on the writer observation, Clarifying – Reflective questions not only asked about a particular topic that will be studied, but also related it with the students‟ own experience. Moreover, it can be said that the teacher‟s questions of a particular reading topic has relation with the students‟ experience.
Furthermore, the following examples below are Clarifying – Reflective questions asked in the 4th Grade (see Extract 8).
Extract 8
Teacher B : Last story that you have read? All students : James and the Giant Peach. Teacher B : What is it about?
Student 1 : James lives with his bad Aunt.
Student 2 : His friends are Centipede and Earthworm. Teacher B : Who are they (the characters of the story)? Student 1 : James.
Student 2 : James‟s mother and father Student 3 : Aunt Sponge
(Based on classroom observation, 4th Grade, on February 6th, 2013)
The examples in Extract 8 were taken when the teacher discussed about Book Review in the 4th Grade, but s/he asked basic questions in the pre-reading using the last story that the students have read. It was about the James and the Giant Peach. In asking Clarifying - Reflective questions in the 4th Grade, the teacher asked about the main points of the previous lesson. It is because later, they will use the main points to make a book review.
addition, it seems that the teacher helps the students to remember the things they have learned in the previous lessons by asking Clarifying – Reflective questions. Consequently, it can be said that the teacher tries to introduce the reading topic by asking questions that have connection with the students‟ experience and the fact that they have known.
In the other hand, this type of questions also helps the students to reflect the reading topic with the fact or the experiences by imagining something which is related to the particular reading topic (see Extract 9).
Extract 9 (Based on classroom observation, 5th Grade, on February 14th, 2013) The examples of Clarifying – Reflective questions were taken when the teacher taught about Greek myth using reading text entitled Pandora’s Box. Here, the teacher asked the students to imagine if they given a box by someone (see Extract 9). In addition, the examples in Extract 9 have relation with the reading topic and also require the students to reflect the questions with their own opinion. Thus, the teacher in this class mostly asked about the students‟ opinion by using imagination rather than asked about the students‟
questions in this class aim to help the students focusing on the topic that will be read.
2b.Clarifying – Interpretive Questions
In line with the Table 4.2, another combination type of question emerges in the class is Clarifying – Interpretive questions. It comes up 11 out of 48 questions (22.92%). This type of questions is only used by the teacher of the 4th Grade of Bethany Elementary School in the pre-reading activity. It is because one of the reading topics that will be studied by the students is about Explanation Text. As a result, the teacher mainly asked about Clarifying – Interpretive questions which ask about cause and effect of something and it is related to the particular reading topic that will be read. The examples of Clarifying – Interpretive questions are shown in the Extract 8 when the teacher discuss about Explanation Text.
Student 2 : to smell something. Teacher B : Why do you have hair? Student 3 : to protect our head skin. Teacher B : Why do I have to stay here? All students : to teach us.
(Based on classroom observation, 4th Grade, on February 20th, 2013) According to the writer‟s observation in the 4th
effect of something which is simple and difficult before they read the reading text about Why do Cows have Four Stomach? The reason why the teacher used mixing (simple and difficult) questions is because s/he expects the students to think critically and logically. Thus, by asking this kind of questions, the teacher can help the students find the main point of the particular reading topic that the students will read later.
E. Conclusion and Pedagogical Implications
There are six types of questions that are used by the teacher in the pre-reading activity based on the finding. They are Reflective, Clarifying – Reflective, Clarifying – Interpretive, Clarifying, Interpretive, and Evaluative questions. Actually, Reflective questions are the types of questions commonly used in the pre-reading activity. Then, other types of questions that appear might be varied depending on the particular reading topic that will be read by the students. Moreover, the teachers of each class combine two types of questions by using Clarifying –Reflective or Interpretive. Again, it depends on the reading topic that will be discussed in the classroom by the teacher. Furthermore, the types of questions used in the pre-reading activity are different in each class, but they have the same aim which is to build the students‟ background knowledge through the particular reading topic.
criteria of it can be applied in the pre-reading activity. Therefore, by using the criteria of good questions in the pre-reading activity, the teacher can help the students to think critically, so that the students can have enough background knowledge about the reading topic that will be read later.
1. Criteria of Good Questions in Pre-reading activity
Actually, according to the writer‟s observations, all types of questions that are
used by the teacher in the pre-reading activity in the 3rd to 5th Grade of Bethany Elementary School have the criteria of good questions. It is in accordance with Spivey and Johnson (2007) who classifies six criteria of good questions in teaching children.
First, all of teachers‟ questions in the pre-reading activity for reading are „purposeful.‟ It aims to build the students background knowledge of a certain
reading topic. Here, some examples of „purposeful‟ questions are “Have you ever
read newspaper?”, “Who are the characters in the story?”, and “Who is Pandora?”
In fact, the questions can be said that they are „purposeful‟ in the pre-reading activity depending on how the questions have relation with the reading topic.
Second, all of them are „brief‟ and „clear‟ which means the questions used in
teaching children have to use simple word, grammar, and also not too long. In addition, there are teacher‟s questions in the pre-reading activity, such as “What is it (the story of James and the Giant Peach) about?”, “Is the novel can be seen?”, and “Do you know the symbol of this (Head of Medusa)?” Here, it can be seen
it is short. Thus, it helps the students understand the meaning of the questions easily since the students still in the primary level.
Third, unfortunately, only some of the teachers‟ questions in the pre-reading activity are „thought-provoking‟ which requires the students to have higher level of thinking. These are the examples of „thought-provoking‟ questions in the pre-reading activity; “How do you know that is true story?”; “What do you think about Greek?”; “Why do you use telephone?” By looking at the three examples,
„thought-provoking‟ questions are the most difficult questions for the Elementary School students. However, it is good to ask „thought-provoking‟ questions because it helps stimulating the students‟ thought and response.
The next criteria of good questions is „limited in scope‟ which aims to give a
reason the students to read at least one point of the lesson. Because of one of the essentials of pre-reading activity for reading is to give the reason to read the reading passage, it can be said that all types of questions can belong to this criteria. For example, “What is Greek?”, “What happened with the box (Pandora‟s
box)?” and “So, what folktales do you know?” Eventually, the three examples of
questions in the pre-reading activity give evidence that they can help the students interested in reading the text.
Acknowledgement
First of all I thank God for all the blessings and grace, so that this thesis can be resolved. Then, I would like to say that this thesis would not have been completed without the help and support from many people. Therefore, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my thesis supervisor, Anita Kurniawati M, Hum who has assisted and encouraged me in writing this thesis. Furthermore, I also would like to thank my thesis examiner, Nugrahenny T. Zacharias, Ph.D. for the feedback and suggestions to improve my thesis.
Besides, special appreciation goes to my parents who always support and pray for me, to Afian, thank you so much for your patience and understanding during my study, to my best friends; Magna, Kiki, Fitri, Vivin, thank you for always listening and supporting me in these 4 years, to big family of NINERS, I‟m proud to be part of you.
Last but not least, I would like to say thank you to my participants; teachers of Bethany Elementary School Salatiga for their cooperation during the process of data collection.
References
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