TEXT-BASED SYLLABUS DESIGN AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN ACADEMIC WRITING CLASSROOM : A Case Study Conducted to One Lecturer in One Public University in Bandung, Indonesia.

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TEXT-BASED SYLLABUS DESIGN

AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION

IN ACADEMIC WRITING CLASSROOM

(A Case Study Conducted to One Lecturer in One Public

University in Bandung, Indonesia)

THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Education

Program Study of English Education

By

Raden Maesaroh 1200904

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDY

INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

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RADEN MAESAROH

TEXT-BASED SYLLABUS DESIGN AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN ACADEMIC WRITING CLASSROOM

Approved By: Main Supervisor,

Dr. Wachyu Sundayana, M.A. NIP 195802081986011

Co-Supervisor,

Prof. Emi Emilia, M.Ed., Ph.D. NIP 196609161990012001

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DECLARATION

Except where due acknowledgment has been made in the text to other materials,

this thesis comprises only original work by this writer.

Bandung, June 2014

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Raden Maesaroh , 2014

Text-Based Syllabus Design And Its Implementation In Academic Writing Classroom Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

TABLE OF CONTENT

1.5 Significance of the Study ... 5

1.6 Operational Definition ... 5

1.7 Outline of the Thesis ... 6

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ... 7

2.1 Definition of Syllabus ... 7

2.2 The Importance of Syllabus ... 8

2.3 Elements of Syllabus ... 10

2.4 Principles of Syllabus Design ... 11

2.5 Types of Syllabus ... 12

2.6 Text-Based Syllabus ... 12

2.6.1 Definition of Text-Based Syllabus ... 12

2.6.2 Foundation of Text-based Syllabus ... 13

2.6.3 Developing Text-Based Syllabus... 20

2.6.4 Negotiating Text-Based Syllabus in the Research Site ... 23

2.6.5 Planning the Lesson in the Research Site ... 27

2.6.6 Resourcing Instructional Materials in Text-Based Program... 28

2.6.7 Implementing Text-based Syllabus ... 31

2.6.8 Criticism of Text-Based Syllabus ... 33

2.6.9 Describing Differences/ Gap between the Plan, the Syllabus and the Actual Implementation ... 34

2.6.10 Assessing Program based on Text-based Syllabus Design ... 35

2.7 Research Paper ... 36

2.7.1 Research Paper Definitions, Criteria and Generic Structures ... 39

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2.8 Summary of the Discussion of Text-based Syllabus ... 45

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ... 47

3.1 Aims of the Study ... 47

3.2 Research Questions ... 47

3.3 Research Design and Research Method ... 47

3.4 Research Setting and Participant ... 48

3.5 Data Collection ... 49

CHAPTER IV TEXT-BASED SYLLABUS DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION IN THE RESEARCH SITE ... 57

4.1 Developing Text-Based Syllabus in the Research Site ... 57

4.1.1 Conducting Needs Analysis ... 57

4.1.2 Planning the Course ... 67

4.1.3 Planning the Course Evaluation and Referral, Recording and Reporting ... 74

4.1.4 Developing Text-based Syllabus in the Research Site ... 75

4.2 Summary of Syllabus Development ... 76

4.3 Negotiating the Text-based Syllabus ... 77

4.4 Planning the Lesson based on Text-based Syllabus in the Research Site ... 80

4.5 Resourcing the Materials in the Research Site ... 83

4.6 Implementing Text-based Syllabus in the Research Site ... 84

4.7 Summary of the text-based syllabus implementation in the research site . 120 4.8 Differences/ gap between the syllabus/ lesson plan and the teaching implementation ... 123

4.9 Summary of the differences between the lesson plan/ syllabus and its teaching implementation ... 124

4.10 Assessment in the program ... 125

4.10.1 Assessment used in the Classroom ... 125

4.10.2 Formative/ ongoing assessment ... 125

4.10.3 Summative/ Final assessment ... 135

4.11 Evaluation of the Teaching Program ... 144

4.11.1 During the course evaluation ... 145

4.11.2 After the course evaluation ... 147

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CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ... 154

5.1 Aims and Research Questions ... 154

5.2 Conclusion of the Study ... 154

5.3 Limitations of the Study ... 154

5.4 Recommendations for Further Studies ... ₁₅₅

REFERENCES ... 156

APPENDIX 1 PRELIMINARY INTERVIEW ... 167

APPENDIX 2 DIAGNOSTIC WRITING ... 171

APPENDIX 3 COMPLETE SYLLABUS ... 172

APPENDIX 4 LEARNING MATERIALS ... 176

APPENDIX 5 COMPLETE LESSON PLAN ... 206

APPENDIX 6 ONGOING INTERVIEW ... 221

APPENDIX 7 LEARNER’S WRITTEN WORK ... 232

APPENDIX 8 OBSERVATION RECORDING TRANSCRIPT ... 241

APPENDIX 9 EXAMPLE OF PRACTICE USED IN JOINT CONSTRUCTION ... 251

APPENDIX 10 INTERVIEW AFTER THE TESTS ... 252

APPENDIX 11 EXAMPLE OF THE TEST AND THE LEARNER ANSWER ... 254

APPENDIX 12 EXAMPLE OF ASSESSMENT REPORT ... 263

APPENDIX 13 EXAMPLE OF COLLEAGUE’S NOTES ... 266

APPENDIX 14 FINAL INTERVIEW ... 267

APPENDIX 15 CONSENT FORM FOR PERSON PARTICIPATING IN RESEARCH ... 269

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 A Planning Grid adapted from (National Curriculum Project Beginning Reading and Writing Nunan and Burton eds 1989:43 in Feez and

Joyce, 1998) ……… 24

Table 2.2 The Evaluation of Materials Developed by Teachers Teacher …... 27

Table 2.3 Diagnostic Assessment Checklist for Assessing Learner’s writing 34 Table 2.4 Example of an Abstract involving more than one tense …………. 40

Table 4.1 The Result of Diagnostic Assessment (Research Paper Abstract) .. 56

Table 4.2 Teaching-Learning Timetable ……… 62

Table 4.3 The Needs of the Learner based on the Needs Analysis ………… 63

Table 4.4 Topic-based Organization of Text-based Syllabus ……… 69

Table 4.5 Text-based Syllabus Viewed from General Elements ……… 68

Table 4.6 Lesson Plan of Research Paper Abstract ……… 78

Table 4.7 The Presentation of the Materials after the Modification ………… 100

Table 4.8 An Example of Practice in Text-structure of Abstract ……… 101

Table 4.9 An Example of Model of Results-driven Abstract ……… 102

Table 4.10 Example of Practice on Language Features of Abstract ………... 104

Table 4.11 Model of Text in the Field of Linguistics taken from Al-Kahtani (2012) (J. King Saud Univ., Vol. 18, Lang. & Transl., pp. 35-57, Riyadh (A.H. 1426/2005) ……… 106

Table 4.12 An Example of Model of Results-driven Abstract ……… 107

Table 4.13 An Example of Material presenting Skeletal Phrases …………... 109

Table 4.14 Joint Construction ………. 113

Table 4.15 The First Draft of the First Writing ………... 126

Table 4.16 The Final Draft of the First Writing ……….. 129

Table 4.17 The First Draft of the Second Writing ………... 131

Table 4.18 The Final Draft of the Second Writing ………. 133

Table 4.19 The First Test ………. 137

Table 4.20 The Answer to the First Test ………. 138

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Table 4.22 The Answer of the Second Test ………. 140

Table 4.23 The Results-driven Abstract of the Second Test ……….. 141

Table 4.24 The Answer of the Third Test ………... 142

Table 4.25 The Results-driven Abstract of the Third Test ……….. 143

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LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 2.1 The Summary of the Syllabus Development in the Research Site 23

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ABSTRACT

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time), whereas in terms of lesson plan, the teacher employed reorganization and simplification. Further, in the case of materials, the teacher utilized modification and simplification.

ABSTRAK

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the introduction of the study. It covers the background of the

study, focusing on the motivation behind the study, related research under the

topic of investigation and the importance of the conduct of the study. The rest of

the chapter highlights the aims of the study, research questions, the scope of the

study, the significance of the study, the clarification of the term central to the

study and the organization of the thesis.

1.1 Background

This study was concerned with the use of text-based syllabus design in teaching

academic writing, especially research paper. It explored the process of text-based

syllabus design and its application in the classroom and found any gaps (if any)

between the design of the syllabus and its application. The study also investigated teacher’s strategies in anticipating the gaps if occurred.

This study was conducted based on a problem faced by one non English

department lecturer of one public university in Bandung, Indonesia, in writing a

research paper in English. This problem was identified based on a preliminary

interview and a diagnostic test prior to the study. The result of the interview and

diagnostic test showed that writing a research paper in English in general and

research paper abstract in particular, for non English learners including lecturers is

a big issue. Furthermore, The result of interview and diagnostic writing showed

that her problems when writing a research paper lay in: (1) ideas presentation in

standard or acceptable English determining that most ideas conveyed are

Indonesian- English translation; (2) limited function of phrases usage; and (3)

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element of research paper and in the application of cohesive devices in the

writing.

The importance of syllabus in the teaching learning process has been noted

by many researchers such as Richards (2001), Brown (1995), Dubin and Olshtain

(1986), Nunan (1988) and Krahnke (1987). The syllabus organizes systematically

the course and the materials and is used as a map or guide for teachers and

learners in the teaching learning process by selecting and sequencing content

based on explicit objectives (Brown, 1995; Richards, 2001; Kranhke, 1987; Dubin

and Olshtain, 1986; Nunan, 1988; Finney in Richards and Renandya, 2002; and

Feez and Joyce, 1998). These objectives and contents, as a result of needs

analysis, define types of syllabus; whether, it is functional, structural, task-based

or notional (Kranhke, 1987).

Among those types of syllabi, text-based design is the central issue of this

study. It has been used in Australian language education system since 1980 (Joyce

and Feez, 2012: 113) and is a response to changing views of language and

language learning by incorporating an increasing understanding of how language

is structured and how language is used in social contexts (Feez and Joyce, 1998).

Its primary concern is on what learners do with language, centering on units of

discourse called texts (ibid) and these whole texts in context are taken as the

organizing principle for syllabus design (Tindale, 2003). In line with it, text-based

syllabus design working cycle operates on genre-based teaching of writing by

Callaghan and Rothery (1988) and is built on a social view of language and a

functional model of language in which texts are socially and purposefully

constructed (Thai, 2009; Feez and Joyce, 1998). Further details on the text-based

syllabus design are presented in chapter 2, section of literature review.

Studies in text-based syllabus design have also shown its application in

varying contexts. Kucherenko (2013) reported on the use of text-based syllabus

as one of the integrated syllabus elements in the teaching of English for Academic

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Higher schools of Economics in Russia. Previously, another study was conducted

by Haghighi (2012) in the same field but different setting. His study was

conducted to 120 first-year undergraduate engineering students from two EAP

classes at one university in Iran and suggested the use of text-based syllabus

design as one of the eclectic approaches in assisting students with their EOP

practices including report reading/ writing and development of technical

vocabulary knowledge. This is in line with a study conducted by Flowerdew

(2005) illustrating the application of text-based syllabus in the delivery stage of

teaching learning in an EOP-oriented course by integrating this syllabus with

task-based and content-based. Finally, Abbaszadeh (2013) suggested the use of

text-based syllabus to develop communicative competence in the areas of English

for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP).

Most of those studies have been devoted to the use of text-based syllabus

design in EOP-oriented scheme; reflecting specific field in English for Academic

Purposes (EAP) revealing similar education level of participants, who are

university students, and concerning same focuses that are report writing and

technical vocabulary knowledge. Other than that, the use of text-based syllabus

design in several studies aforementioned is integrated with other types of syllabi,

if not; its use is compared with another type of approach. Less attention has been

paid to its application in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) that focuses more

on research paper writing, particularly those occurred in Indonesian setting,

especially with those learners from non English department.

Since research paper writing is one of English for Academic Purposes

(EAP) and is considered important especially for academia, the use of a text-based

syllabus design as one alternative in teaching academic writing centering on

research paper is therefore worth trying. Thus, this study was conducted to serve

this purpose and aimed at exploring the process of text-based syllabus design and

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the text-based syllabus and its use in the classroom, and describing teacher’s

strategies in anticipating the gaps.

1.2 Aims of the Study

As aforementioned, the study was conducted in order to attain the following aims.

1. To identify whether text-based syllabus design can enhance the learner’s

performance in writing research paper.

2. To find out whether there are gaps between the text-based syllabus design and

its use in the classroom.

3. To explore teacher’s strategies when anticipating the gaps if occurred.

1.3 Research Questions

In line with the aims above, the study was conducted to answer the following

research questions.

1. Can text-based syllabus design enhance the learner’s performance in writing research paper?

2. Are there any gaps between the design of text-based syllabus and its use in the

classroom?

3. If there are any gaps, how does the teacher anticipate the gaps?

1.4 Scope of the Study

The study investigated the process of text-based syllabus design and its use in

academic writing class, centering on research paper writing. When designing the

syllabus, a framework suggested by Feez and Joyce (1998) was used. The content

of the syllabus only focused on research paper abstract due to limited space in the

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others are Swales and Feak (2004), Bem (2003), Emilia (2009), Clare and

Hamilton (2004), Paltridge (2002), Paltridge and Stairfield (2007) and Wallwork

(2011).

Further, in its implementation, the study employed three main stages of

text-based methodology as outlined by Feez (2002), Feez and Joyce (1998), Joyce

and Feez (2012) and Emilia (2011), encompassing modeling stage, joint

construction and independent construction. The stage was applied in this study

owing to the fact that lecturer as the participant of this study is likely to have some

knowledge on research paper writing and that research paper writing has been a

part of her academic life so that background knowledge of field as the most

common stage to start is skipped. Other than that, the topic for research paper

writing was predetermined including language education and linguistics.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The study is significant to the theory, the educational practice and the professional

development of English education especially to the development of English for

Academic Purposes in Indonesian context. In relation to the first significance, the

study is projected to be able to enrich the literature of syllabus design in the

context of EAP teaching in Indonesian setting and in foreign language context in

general. Second, in terms of educational practice, the result of the study will

enhance practitioners in education in terms of choices enrichment of syllabus

design that are in line with the needs of the students and alternative solutions to

make better teaching practices in EAP setting. Finally, regarding the area of professional development, this study is expected to increase EAP teachers’ awareness on the importance of the right type of syllabus chosen for teaching and

that these need to be well –prepared as well as the realization of being creative

and productive teachers through materials development especially in EAP setting

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1.6 Operational Definition

 Text-based syllabus refers to a type of mixed syllabus that draws on the systematic functional model language that incorporates an increasing

understanding of language how language is structured and how language is

used in social contexts (Feez and Joyce, 1998; Joyce & Feez, 2012) which is

selected and organized around the texts its social contexts (Richards, 2001,

Feez, 2002).

 Research paper is defined as a scholarly article that contains the results of original research or an evaluation of research conducted by others which then

undergo a process of peer review before they can be accepted for publication

in an academic journal (Winkler & Metherell, 2012).

1.7 Outline of the Thesis

The next chapters of the thesis are illustrated as follows. Chapter II discusses

theories that underpin the study. These include three major theories including

theories of syllabus, focusing more on text- based syllabus design, theories of

text-based implementation and theories of research paper. The first theory

includes definition of syllabus, importance of syllabus, elements of syllabus,

principles of syllabus design and types of syllabus in general. The first theory

mainly outlines definition of text-based syllabus, foundation of text-based

syllabus, design of text-based syllabus, negotiation of text-based syllabus,

planning the lesson in the research site and resourcing instructional materials in

text-based program. The second theory covers the implementation of text-based

syllabus, criticisms of text-based syllabus, description of differences or gaps

between the plan, the syllabus and the actual implementation and the program

assessment based on text-based syllabus design. The final theory contains

definition of research paper, elements of research paper, and contents of each

element of research paper. Chapter III elaborates methodology of the study that

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and participants, data collection and data analysis. Chapter IV outlines the process

of syllabus design and its implementation in the research site. The research

questions will be answered in this chapter too. Chapter V concludes the preceding

chapter, points out limitations of the study, and provides recommendation for

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CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter delineates the methodology used in the study that covers the purpose

of the study, research questions, research design and research method, research

settings and participants, data collection and data analysis. The chapter is ended

with the summary of the topics under discussion.

3.1 Aims of the Study

As outlined in chapter I, the study was carried out in order to attain the following

aims.

1. To identify whether text-based syllabus design can enhance the learner‟s

performance in writing research paper.

2. To find out whether there are gaps between the text-based syllabus design and

its use in the classroom.

3. To explore the teacher‟s strategies when anticipating the gaps if occurred.

3.2 Research Questions

In line with the aims above, the study was conducted in order to answer the

research questions formulated below.

1. Can text-based syllabus design enhance the learner‟s performance in writing research paper?

2. Are there any gaps between the design of text-based syllabus and its use in the

classroom?

3. If there are any gaps, how does the teacher anticipate the gaps?

3.3 Research Design and Research Method

The study used a qualitative design because most features of this study embraced

qualitative characteristics. Firstly, relevant to the purpose and the research

questions aforementioned, this study investigated the process of text-based

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and its application as well as the strategies used by the teacher to anticipate the

gaps. This is in line with the characteristics of qualitative study focusing on

process and product (Frankel, et.al., 2012; Hancock, 1998).

Secondly, the results from the study were elaborated in words and it

matches qualitative design in its nature as it concerns words than numbers in its

description (Berg, 2007; Stake, 2010; Miles and Huberman, 1990; Liamputtong,

2009; Connole, et.al. 1990; Frankel, et.al., 2012; Hancock, 1998). Secondly, this

study did not attempt to make generalizations of the focus under investigation and

this is also similar to the feature of qualitative study highlighting that it learns on

particulars and the interpretation resulted is in need of contextualization (Connole,

et al, 1990; Travers, 2001). Finally, the results of the study were highly depended

on the interpretation of the researcher that tended to be subjective and therefore it

matches qualitative study characteristics.

In line with it, the study employed a case study as the method. This was

used because the present study was focused on a single entity, low-scale case, yet,

provided a deep analysis on the topic under investigation and all of these

characteristics embrace the features of a case-study method as mentioned by

Hancock (2002), Holliday (2005: p. 17), McMillan and Schumacher (2011: p.

415), and Johnson (1995: p.75). See also Creswell (1998: p. 56, 2012 p. 22), Yin,

(2011: p. 17), Cohen, et.al. (2007:p.173), Connole, (1990), Liamputtong, (2009: p.

190), Merriam, (1988: p.16), and Emilia, (2000).

3.4 Research Setting and Participant

This study took place in the Japanese department in one public university in

Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. This was chosen because of three reasons. First,

the participant involved in the study is coming from non English department and

has been teaching in the Japanese department for 8 years and therefore she

preferred to study (the topic under investigation) in her room. This gave her

comfort and familiarity to the situations, hoping that by having this situation,

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Second, by having a place that is comfortable with the participant, an easy

access could be gained so that the feasibility of the study could also be attained.

Finally, it was expected that the participant gained more understanding on the

topic if she learnt in the place she felt comfortable with.

Further, the participant involved in the study was a female Japanese

language lecturer who has been teaching in a public university in Bandung, West

Java, Indonesia for 8 years. The participant is 35 years old, is a Moslem, and is

originally from the Sundanese ethnic group Indonesia. She speaks Sundanese

language as her mother tongue, Indonesian as her second language and Japanese

and English as her foreign languages. The participant has an excellent academic

achievement and was granted a scholarship to Japan for her master study and is

now granted a scholarship by Japan government for doctorate degree (in the first

rank of the 50 applicants in the world applied to the same university in Japan).

She also received several awards relevant with her academic achievement such as

the first rank in the speech contest.

Furthermore, the nature of participant involvement in the study was

voluntary based. It gives advantages for researcher in terms of costs and

accessibility (Elder, 2009). However, it also provides disadvantages in terms of

representativeness and generalization (Elder, 2009). Nevertheless, the

disadvantages given were not the issues in the study as the nature of the study was

qualitative and did not pursue for generalization.

3.5 Data Collection

In order to collect the data, this study involved multiple techniques of data

collections embracing three types of instruments namely observation (explained

together with the teaching program), interview and document analysis. Three

types of instruments above are fundamental and significant in collecting

qualitative data (Nunan and Bailey, 2009, in Emilia, 2011; Johnson, 1992;

Hancock, 1998; Maxwell, 1996; Alwasilah, 2001; Frankel, et.al., 2012; Meriam,

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2001; Yin, 2011; Alwasilah, 2002; Silverman, 2006; Travers, 2001; Marshal and

Rossman, 2006; Snape and Spencer, 2003). Each instrument is elaborated below.

3.5.1 Teaching Program

The teaching was conducted within 10 meetings that covered six meetings of

teaching, one meeting of review and three times of tests. The learning took place

for one half to two hours per meeting, focusing only on abstract because of three

reasons. Firstly, 10 meetings were considered enough to describe the process and

to find out the progress of learner‟s writing performance on the aspect researched.

Secondly, relevant to the first reason, the objectives formulated were alike

for each topic, reflecting similar achievement and therefore in this aspect, what

have been achieved by the learner in the topic in this study could probably be used

to mirror similar achievement in the rest of the topics. However, it was still open

to doubt and therefore it reflected the shortcoming of the study. Similarly, the

distinction that lay in each feature of the topics would also reflect the problem

unique to each topic. This is again the limitation of the study.

Finally, the reason for the number of meetings was because of the thesis

limited time and space. The choice of abstract sequenced in the first topic was

based on the learner and the researcher agreement, considering that abstract was

easier compared to other elements of research paper (see Appendix 1); assumingly

it can give shorter time of meetings. It also defined the sequence of the lesson

which started from the simplest to the most difficult (Richards, 2001; Feez and

Joyce, 1998; Brandl, 2008).

Further, before the teaching phase was conducted, a preliminary interview

was done and diagnostic test was conducted based on the learner‟s first attempt in

writing. The results of the analysis of both preliminary interview and diagnostic

test determined where to start and how to start. The teaching was then carried out

based on the lesson plan arranged daily before the teaching (Brandl, 2008;

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specifically was then put into cycles based on the process of teaching learning and

also the negotiation that occurred along the way.

In the present study, the cycle of teaching adopted three main stages

including modeling stage, joint construction stage and independent construction

stage as suggested by Joyce and Feez (2012), Callaghan and Rothery (1988), and

Emilia (2010, 2011) as can be seen in the following figure.

Fig. 3.1 Stages of Teaching in Text-based Syllabus

In those five stages viewed in the figure above, only three main stages were used

as mentioned in the previous paragraph. Further, as cyclical in its nature, the cycle

can be started from any stages along with the needs, paces and progress of the

students as well as the objectives set (ibid) and can go back to any cycle if

necessary (Feez, 2002).

The materials in the teaching are relevant to the needs of the learner,

viewed from the results of the student‟s analyses (Brown, 1995; Feez and Joyce,

1998; Joyce and Feez, 2012; Richards, 2001; Brown, 200; Gagne, Briggs and

Wager, 1992; Dubin and Olhstain, 1986; Nunan, 1988; Finney, 2002; Nation and

Macalister, 2010). It highly focused on language education and linguistics,

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In the case of teaching cycle in the study, the first six meeting was

allocated to the abstract teaching. The teaching was started with independent

construction and was also ended with independent construction. These cycles

were resulted from the negotiation during the teaching and learning process as

well as feedback from the previous teaching. In line with it, in the teaching

program, the researcher acted as the teacher, conducting teaching cycle elaborated

in the syllabus. This implied that the role of the researcher in the observation was

participant observer in which she involved herself in all activities (Marshall and

Rossman, 2006; Faisal, 1990 in Sugiyono, 2008; Creswell, 1998). Moreover, the

language used when teaching the participant for most of the time was Indonesian

as agreed by both the researcher and the participant.

During the teaching program, observation was also employed in order to

explore the use of the syllabus in the classroom. In this case, the observation

involved the use of recording, allowing information in the activities can be

recorded minute-to minute and further enabling the researcher to track down what

is said and done by the teacher and the learner in the classroom (Emilia, 2012;

Hancock, 2000; Johnson, 1992; Maxwell, 1996).

The researcher also took notes after each session of teaching, while the

memory is still fresh to recall what had just happened (Van Lier, 1988 in Emilia

2005). This was intended to confirm the recording. Similar to the recording, the

notes revealed what is said and done by the teacher in the teaching cycle (Emilia,

2011). Further, to confirm the result of observation, a colleague of the researcher,

Ms. Helen (pseudonym) was invited. Her observation was used to check the

researcher‟s observation and to maintain the reliability of the study (Berg, 2007;

Emilia, 2005: p. 92; Liamputtong, 2009).

3.5.2 Interview

Other than observation, another method of data collection was interview. In

contrast with the observation which was done in an ongoing way, the interview

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(preliminary interview), in an ongoing way and at the end of the study. The reason

behind these two last stages was because of the single number of the participant so

that the reliability of study could be maintained.

Further, the types of all stages of interview was semi-structured and

tape-recorded, “suggesting for what to say in the beginning and end of interview

regarding the purpose of the interview as well as providing questions to use for

probing for additional information” (Johnson, 1992; Kvale, 1996). This type of

interview also gives an opportunity for both interviewer and interviewee to

discuss some more topics in details (Emilia, 2011; Hancock, 1998). Related to the

tape- recorded interview, it was done so that the researcher does not have to go

over the notes and fill in gaps the same day of interview considering the memory

weakness that may begin to fade and important information is lost (Johnson,

1992). Additionally, the interview was conducted in mixed languages; Sundanese

and Indonesian. This was done because both the researcher and participant come

from the same ethnic group and because of the participant‟s convenience, hoping

that more information could be explored since the participant felt comfortable

with the language she spoke.

The first stage of interview, preliminary interview, was conducted in order

to dig out some information as guidelines what to teach and learn in the study as

well as the part of the needs analysis (Feez and Joyce, 1998; Brown, 1995;

Richards, 2001; Thai, 2009). The questions were related to the problems of the

participant in writing a research paper, including the reasons for learning writing a

research paper, experience in writing a research paper in English and in other

languages, assumptions on difficulties the participant may find when writing an

English research paper, efforts to „get to know‟ relevant to English research paper writing, and the participant‟s expectation after learning writing a research paper.

This interview was transcribed afterwards and analyzed simultaneously as

mentioned by Connole, et al, (1990) that “data collection and data analysis in

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as a guideline to build the program by using text-based syllabus design (the details

of the analysis results are elaborated in chapter 4).

Further, the second stage of interview was in an ongoing basis, in which

the tape-recorded interview was delivered to the participant questioning her

thoughts and feelings related to the teaching learning cycle, materials, and

technique and method used by the teacher in the classroom as well as her

difficulties and interests found during the learning process. The ongoing interview

was conducted after each session of teaching and learning process and therefore

the questions raised were specifically related to each topic of learning. The

interview provided every end of each session would be expected to promote some

strengths and weaknesses of the teaching learning process leading to the

effectiveness of the text-based syllabus design, the gaps existence, as well as the

enhancement of the participant‟s research paper writing performance.

Finally, at the end of the study, the last stage of interview was carried out.

It was more related to the whole program that was delivered to the participant,

what she had learnt, how she progressed, and what challenges she found during

the learning program. This also had to do with the participant‟s impression on the

program, hoping to gain more information on the effectiveness of the text-based

syllabus design, the existing gaps and more importantly, the participant‟s

improvement in writing research paper.

Apart from that, the interview was also conducted after each assessment,

asking information about her impression on and procedures of the assessments

and her process of doing the writing in the assessment. It was done so that types

of assessment can be evaluated, whether these types of assessments contributed

effectively to the teaching program.

3.5.3 Document Analysis

The last source of data collection was document analysis that was implemented to

three types of documents consisting of syllabus, materials and the learner‟s

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the results of the study. This was in line with Patton (1987) in Emilia (2011),

asserting that when using the document to be analyzed, some aspects should be

taken into considerations, among others are the purpose, the relevance in terms of

meaning of data and the sufficiency. The documents were analyzed in order to see

whether the syllabus designed, the lesson plan, the materials developed and the

teaching cycle conducted are in line one another by using the criteria suggested by

Joyce & Feez (2012) which are also in line with Brown (1989a) in Brown (1995).

The results were expected to reveal the effectiveness of the text-based syllabus

design. In addition, it was conducted in order to see the gaps between the design

and its use in the classroom.

The syllabus, lesson plan, learning materials and the teaching cycle were

analyzed after each teaching session so that the gaps could be viewed and its

anticipation for the gaps could be applied. Those were done by seeing the internal

elements whether they are in line one another or not and whether what stated in

the syllabus was realized in the lesson plan, the learning materials and the

teaching cycles. Afterwards, the participant‟s written texts were also analyzed,

taken from both the writings she did in the joint and independent constructions

and those from the tests. It was done to illustrate whether the objectives/ purposes

stated in the syllabus and the expectation were achieved, hoping that this could

provide evidence that promoted the participant‟s performance in writing the

research paper abstracts.

3.6 Data Analysis

In this study, the data was analyzed during and after the study was conducted.

During the study, the analyses were focused on the documents and the ongoing

interview. The former data involved syllabus and materials and the field notes,

viewing the consistencies among the syllabus, the materials and the teaching

cycle. The field notes were also used to support and confirm the results. The

results of analysis from the former data reflected the gaps and further viewed the

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important to conduct as it gave opportunity for teacher to review the syllabus,

evaluate and modify the materials and improve the teaching cycle.

Relevant to the later analysis, constituting the ongoing interview, the data

was transcribed after each interview was conducted in order to avoid technical

problems such as loss data because of computer virus and so on. Afterwards, the

data was analyzed by using thematic organization (Kvale, 1996, Emilia, 2009),

involving the process of categorization and interpretation in order to answer

research questions. In this case, the name of the participant was coded as Mrs.

Aiko. This was conducted so that the confidentiality of the participant is protected

as well as respected (Liamputtong, 2009; see also Merriam, 1991; Maxwell, 1996;

Alwasilah, 2001; Frankel, et.al., 2012; Hancock, 2000; Emilia, 2009; Marshall

and Rossman, 2006; and Miles and Huberman, 1994). Further, the transcription

was then showed back to the participant in order to ensure its originality in terms

of meaning as well as to confirm the answer (Kvale, 1996: 189-190). Likewise,

the interview after the study, covering the impression of participant on the whole

program and the materials, was also transcribed and then confirmed to the

participant. It was also analyzed by using thematic analysis (Kvale, 1996; Emilia,

2009) by categorizing and interpreting so as to answer research questions.

Meanwhile, the document analyzed after the study was the learner‟s

research paper abstract writings she wrote in the independent and joint

constructions and the writing tests. It was done to see the participant‟s progress in

writing elements of research paper and to view the enhancement of the learner‟s

writing performance, especially research paper. The analyses of the learner‟s

written texts (both practices and tests) were based on the criteria applied to the

diagnostic assessment as mentioned in chapter 2 (see table 2.6).

Since the collection of data involved multiple techniques of collections,

the triangulation was employed to confirm the validity of the study (Stake, 2010;

Liamputtong, 2009; Berg, 2007; Emilia, 2009; and Yin, 2011). This involved the

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what is called as methodological or data triangulation (Berg, 2007) and another

observer notes or observer/ researcher triangulation (ibid).

3.7Summary of the Methodology

This chapter has presented research methodology used in the study by briefly

illustrating aims of the study, research questions, research design and method,

research setting and participant, data collection and data analysis. This chapter is

ended by the summary of methodology. Chapter IV discusses the design of text-

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

This chapter sets out the conclusion of the study. It is commenced by restating

aims and research questions. It further presents brief summary of the findings of

the study. This chapter also outlines the limitations of the study as well as

provides recommendations for further research.

5.1 Aims and Research Questions

The study concerns the investigation of text-based syllabus design and its

implementation in the academic classroom. It aimed to identify whether

text-based syllabus design can enhance the learner’s performance in writing research

paper, to find out whether there are gaps between the text-based syllabus design

and its use in the classroom and to explore teacher’s strategies when anticipating

the gaps if occurred. Thus, the study was carried out to answer the following

research questions: (1) can text-based syllabus design enhance the learner’s

performance in writing research paper? ; (2) are there any gaps between the design

of text-based syllabus and its use in the classroom? ; and (3) if there are any gaps,

how does the teacher anticipate the gaps?

5.2 Conclusion of the Study

The study concludes that despite some limitations found in the study, text-based

syllabus design to most parts is effective to enhance the learner’s performance in

writing research paper, in particular writing research paper abstract. This

enhancement can be seen from clear text structures, appropriate skeletal phrases

and improved language features in the learner’s writing. With respect to text

structures, the learner has successfully applied the text structure that results in her

organized texts. It is accompanied with the use of appropriate skeletal phrases

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some minor weaknesses, the learner is much improved in terms of text unity,

clause grammar, group words and graphology.

Those enhancements are, among others, closely associated with five main

following aspects; first, the learner awareness of the importance of the benefits

provided by the teaching stages including the models or examples provision, the

understanding of the recursive writing and the good grasp of the application of the

references and at the same time the consideration of the recursive writing;

secondly, the positive characteristics of learner who makes an opportunity to learn

inside and outside of the classroom and is responsible for her own learning;

thirdly, the teacher clear instruction and guidance; and finally, the clear and detail

materials. All reflect the syllabus effectiveness in its use in the classroom.

Further, the study also shows that the gaps occur between the lesson plan

and the teaching implementation. It is attended in four factors including steps of

teaching, activities, materials and time. These gaps are then managed by the

teacher by using different strategies to the teaching, lesson plan and materials. To

the teaching, the teacher uses the strategy of context adjustment (teaching steps,

activities and time); to the lesson plan, the teacher uses the strategy of

reorganization and simplification; whereas, to the materials, the teacher uses the

strategies of modification and simplification. Therefore, in general, the text –

based syllabus deign could help the learner in the study enhance her performance

in writing research paper abstract by using the design as elaborated in chapter 2

and 4 and by considering the gaps as well as the strategies to anticipate the gaps.

5.3 Limitations of the Study

There are some limitations of the study. Firstly, the involvement of the researcher

in teaching and evaluating the results leads to subjectivity as it highly depends on

the researcher interpretation affecting the validity and reliability of the study.

However, it is anticipated by the use of multiple data collections as well as the

involvement of another researcher to strengthen the judgment, providing an

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triangulate the data. Secondly, due to the single number of participant, people who

are interested in the generalization could not meet their expectation in this context

of study. Despite the fact, it is already mentioned in chapter three that this study is

not aimed for generalization, instead, it is intended to see in depth a single entity

in its natural setting. Thirdly, the irregular meetings of the teaching learning

process that may result in the effectiveness in the learning process because of this

irregular contact. It is handled by the provision of some reading tasks and

homework. Fourthly, in terms of the syllabus, the objectives formulated are alike

for each topic, reflecting similar achievement and therefore in this aspect, what

have been achieved by the learner in writing research paper abstract in this study

can probably be used to mirror similar achievement in the rest of the topics.

However, it is still open to doubt and therefore it reflected the shortcoming of the

study. Similarly, the distinction that lay on each feature of the topics would also

reflect the problem unique to each topic.

5.4 Recommendations for Further Studies

There are several recommendations for further research. Firstly, due to single

number of participant, it is suggested that future researchers can conduct similar

research with more number of participants. Secondly, the context of study is

writing, it is recommended that future researchers can apply the text-based

syllabus design in the context of academic speaking. Finally, based on the

limitation above in that the irregular meetings in the teaching learning process

occurred, it is suggested that future researchers can conduct similar research with

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