THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GROUP-DISCUSSION USING
WORD WALL TO TEACH READING VIEWED FROM
STUDENTS’ INTEREST
(An Experimental Study in SD N 01 Gawanan and SD N 01 Tohudan
Colomadu Karanganyar in the 2008/2009 Academic Year)
THESIS By:
SULISTIYANI DYAH PURWANINGSIH
S 890907028
Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Graduate Degree in the Graduate Program of the English
Department
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
GRADUATE PROGRAM
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY
SURAKARTA
THE APPROVAL OF CONSULTANTS
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GROUP-DISCUSSION USING
WORD WALL TO TEACH READING VIEWED FROM
STUDENTS’ INTEREST
(An Experimental Study in SD N 01 Gawanan and SD N 01 Tohudan Colomadu Karanganyar in the 2008/2009 Academic Year)
By
SULISTIYANI DYAH PURWANINGSIH S 890907028
Approved to be examined before the Board of Examiners of the English Department Graduate Program, Sebelas Maret University Surakarta
Thesis Consultants :
First Consultant Second Consultant
Dr. Sujoko, MA Drs. Heribertus Tarjana, MA
NIP. 19510912 198003 1 002 NIP. 130 516 332
Head of the Graduate Program of the English Department
THE APPROVAL OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GROUP-DISCUSSION USING WORD WALL
TO TEACH READING VIEWED FROM STUDENTS’ INTEREST (An Experimental Study in SD N 01 Gawanan and SD N 01 Tohudan
Colomadu Karanganyar in the 2008/2009 Academic Year)
By
SULISTIYANI DYAH PURWANINGSIH S 890907028
Approved to be examined before the Board of Examiners of the English Department Graduate Program, Sebelas Maret University Surakarta
On the twelfth of January 2010
Position Name Signature
Chairman Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd ...
NIP. 19621231 198803 1 009
Secretary Dr. Abdul Asib, M.Pd ... NIP. 19520307 198003 1 005
First Examiner Dr. Sujoko, MA ... NIP. 19510912 198003 1 002
Second Examiner Drs. Heribertus Tarjana, MA ... NIP. 130 516 332
Director of the Graduate Program Head of the GraduateProgram of Sebelas Maret University the English Department
PRONOUNCEMENT
Name : Sulistiyani Dyah Purwaningsih
NIM : S890907028
Stated wholehearttedly that this thesis entitled “The Effectiveness of Group-Discussion Using Word Wall to Teach Reading Viewed from Students’ Interest”
(An Experimental Study in SD N 01 Gawanan and SD N 01 Tohudan Colomadu
Karanganyar in 2008/2009 Academic Year) is originally written by the researcher. It is not plagiarism or other’s piece of work. The things related to others’ works are written in quotation and included within the bibliography.
If it is then in the future proven that this pronouncement is incorrect, the researcher is ready to take the responsibility including the withdrawal of the academic title.
Surakarta, January 2010
The researcher,
ABSTRACT
SULISTIYANI DYAH PURWANINGSIH. The Effectiveness of Group-Discussion Using Word Wall to Teach Reading Viewed from Students’ Interest (An Experimental Study in SD N 01 Gawanan and SD N 01 Tohudan Colomadu Karanganyar in the 2008/2009 Academic Year. Thesis. Surakarta: the English Education Department Graduate Program, Sebelas Maret University of Surakarta. 2010.
This research is aimed at finding whether (1) group-discussion using word wall is more effective than expository teaching model to teach reading or not, (2) students’ reading competence of the students having high interest are better than those having low interest or not, (3) there is an interaction between the teaching methods and students’ interest or not.
The research was carried out at SD N 01 Gawanan and SD N 01 Tohudan Colomadu Karanganyar, from November 2008 to January 2010. The research method used was an experimental study. The population was the fifth graders of elementary schools in Colomadu Karanganyar in the 2008-2009 academic year. The samples were the fifth graders of SD N 01 Gawanan and SD N 01 Tohudan. The sample was taken by using the purposive cluster random sampling technique. The techniques of collecting data are a non-test (a questionnaire) and a test technique (a reading test). The questionnaire consisted of 46 items with five options, while the reading test consisted of 40 items with four options. These instruments were valid and reliable after both were tried-out in another school in Colomadu. The data were the results of the reading test, which were analyzed by multifactor analysis of variance 2 x 2. After that, the data are analyzed by using Tukey test. The Tukey test functions to determine which method is better or more effective.
Based on the result of inferential analysis of the data, there are some findings that can be drawn. First, group-discussion using word wall is more effective than expository teaching model for teaching foreign reading. Second, reading competence of students with high interest is higher than students with low interest. Third, there is an interaction between the teaching methods and interest.
The conclusion of the research is that group-discussion using word wall is an effective method to increase students’ reading competence in SDN 01 Tohudan Colomadu Karanganyar.
Dedication
To my family and parents whose sacrifices have made
this
‘
Graduate School Thesis
’
possible.
To my husband, Choy who has taught me to think
MOTTO
“...W ords are things, and a small drop of ink
Falling, like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions
think”.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Bismillahirrahmanirrahiim.
All praise and thanks just for Allah, S.W.T. the Almighty God and The Lord of The Universe. With the deepest hearth and soul, thank you Allah for Your Blessing that finally the writer is able to complete this thesis.
The writer is fully aware that the thesis would not be finished without any permission and helps from others. That is why, the writer would like to express her gratitude to the Director of the Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University for giving permission to write this thesis; the Head of English Education Department Graduate School, Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd who has given his support and guidance to the writer in writing this thesis; Dr. Sujoko, MA, her first consultant for giving support and useful advice during his busy time; Drs. Heribertus Tarjana, M.A, her second consultant for the critical advice and input that make her think deeper and broader. Thank you.
them English as a foreign language, for their real spirit that never ends, for their sincere heart that makes her soul calm, for their best hugs in every time when they wake up in the morning and when the writer was finishing this thesis, for their smiles in her hard time, for their presence that has taught her how to be a better mother and teacher for them, and for their love that gives her much strength to go on. Those all make her feel complete. The writer would also like to give her best gratitude to her big family for the big support.
Last but not least, the writer would like to thank all her friends of the English Department Graduate Program: Bu Enny (for her attention), Bu Vera D.M, Bu Vera A (Thanks for your support and inputs), Bu Lies, Bu Anis, Bu Tien, Mbak Nopi (for your jokes), Mbak Lilik, Mbak Yalik, De’ Ika,, Pak Hidayat, Pak Hardi, Pak Hartanto, Pak Samto, Pak Zein, Pak Kris, Pak Probo, and friends.
Finally, the writer realizes that this thesis is far from being perfect. Therefore, useful critical inputs and advice are happily accepted.
Surakarta, January 2010
TABLE OF CONTENT
Page
TITLE ... i
THE APPROVAL OF CONSULTANTS ... ii
THE APPROVAL OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS ... iii
PRONOUNCEMENT ... iv
ABSTRACT ... v
DEDICATION... vi
MOTTO... vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... viii
TABLE OF CONTENT ... x
LIST OF TABLE ... xiii
LIST OF FIGURE ... xiv
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xv
CPAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Identification ... 8
C. Problem Limitation ... 9
D. Problem Statements ... 10
E. The Objective of the Study ... 10
F. The Benefit of the Study ... 11
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURES, RATIONALE AND HYPOTHESIS A. Review of Related Literature ... 13
1. Reading ... 13
a. Definition of Reading ... 13
b. Aims of Reading ... 14
d. Micro-skills of Reading ... 20
e. Skilled Reading in English for Young Learners ... 21
f. Factors Affecting Learning to Read in English as a Foreign Language ... 23
2. Teaching Foreign Language to Young Learners ... 26
3. Discussion ... 36
a. Definition of Discussion ... 36
b. Types of Discussion ... 37
c. The Benefits and Limits of Discussion for Learners ... 39
4. Classroom Display (Word Wall) ... 41
a. Definition of Word Wall ... 42
b. Parts of Word Wall ... 43
c. The Benefits of Word Wall to Teach Reading for Young Learners ... 44
5. Expository Teaching Model... 46
a. Definition of Expository Teaching Model ... 46
b. The Benefits and Limits of Expository Teaching ... 48
6. Interest ... 51
a. Definition of Interest ... 51
b. Factors Influencing Interest ... 52
c. The Importance of Interest in Learning English... 53
B. Rationale ... 55
C. The Hypothesis ... 59
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METODOLOGY A. Place and Time of the Study ... 60
B. The Method of the Research and Research Design ... 61
D. Technique of Collecting the Data ... 67
E. Technique of Analyzing the Data ... 73
CHAPTER IV THE RESULT OF THE STUDY A. The Description of the Data... 80
B. Normality and Homogeneity Test ... 96
C. Hypothesis Testing ... 97
D. Discussion ... 101
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, SUGGESTION, AND IMPLICATION A. Conclusions ... 106
B. Implication ... 107
C. Suggestions ... 108
REFERENCES ... 109
LIST OF TABLE
Page
Table 1 Stages of Cognitive Growth ... 27
Table 2 Ways to Scaffold Children’s Learning ... 32
Table 3 The Schedule of the Research Activities ... 61
Table 4 Table of Research Design ... 63
Table 5 Table of Sample... 66
Table 6 The Score of Interest Questionnaires... 71
Table 7 The Design of Multifactor Analysis of Variance ... 76
Table 8 Frequency Distribution of Data A1 ... 82
Table 9 Frequency Distribution of Data A2 ... 84
Table 10 Frequency Distribution of Data B1 ... 86
Table 11 Frequency Distribution of Data B2 ... 88
Table 12 Frequency Distribution of Data A1B1 ... 90
Table 13 Frequency Distribution of Data A1B2 ... 92
Table 14 Frequency Distribution of Data A2B1 ... 93
Table 15 Frequency Distribution of Data A2B2 ... 95
Table 16 The Normality Test ... 96
Table 17 The Homogeneity Test ... 97
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 1 The Analogy of Reading a Text ... 19
Figure 2 Skilled Reading in English ... 21
Figure 3 Dividing up ‘language’ for child foreign language learning ... 33
Figure 4 An Example of Classroom Display ... 44
Figure 5 Characteristics of Children’s Interest ... 54
Figure 6 A Likert Scale ... 71
Figure 7 Histogram and Polygon of Data A1 ... 83
Figure 8 Histogram and Polygon of Data A2 ... 85
Figure 9 Histogram and Polygon of Data B1 ... 87
Figure 10 Histogram and Polygon of Data B2 ... 89
Figure 11 Histogram and Polygon of Data A1B1 ... 91
Figure 12 Histogram and Polygon of Data A1B2 ... 92
Figure 13 Histogram and Polygon of Data A2B1 ... 94
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1. Research Instruments
1a. Local Content... 113
1b. Blue Print of Reading ... 119
1c. Reading Test... 120
1d. The Answer Key of Reading Test... 138
1e. Blue Print of Interest Questionnaires... 140
1f. Interest Questionnaires... 141
1g. Lesson Plans... 147
Appendix 2. The Analysis of Validity and Realiability of the Instruments 2a. The Result of Validity of Reading Test... 237
2b. The Result of Reliability of Reading Test... 257
2c. The Result of Validity of Interest... 258
2d. The Result of Reliability of Interest... 277
Appendix 3. Research Data... 278
Appendix 4. Mean, Median, Mode and Standard Deviation of Scores... 283
Appendix 5. The Analysis of Normality and Homogeneity of the Data 5a. The Normality Test of : (1) The data of the reading test of the students or the groups who are taught through group-discussion (A1). ... 300
(2) The data of the reading test of the students or the groups who are taught through expository (A2). ... 301
(4) The data of the reading test of the students or
the group having low interest (B2) ...303 (5) The data of the reading test of the students or
the group having high interest who were taught
through group-discussion (A1B1). ...304 (6) The data of the reading test of the students or
the group having low interest who were taught
through group-discussion (A1B2). ...305 (7) The data of the reading test of the students or
the group having high interest who were taught
through expository (A2B1). ...306 (8) The data of the reading test of the students or
the group having low interest who were taught
through expository (A2B2). ...307
5b. The Homogeneity Test...308
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Globalization era demands many changes in human being’s life, in every life’s aspect: economy, politics, social, culture, and education. The existence of a country can not be separated from the existence of other countries in this globalization era. Cooperation is a form of dependency of those countries since they can not live alone. In performing the cooperation, a communication tool is essentially needed. English as one of international languages is used for communication both orally and in written forms. Thus, English should be mastered by people in a country so that they are able to communicate with people from other countries.
of the obligatory lessons was given at secondary schools. As the result, the Indonesian students’ English achievement either spoken or written is still low. This can be seen from the incapability of Indonesian students to write or speak in English, even those who are graduated from the English Department. Related to the problem, the Indonesian educators, educational researchers, practitioners and psychologists also assume that English is better to be taught as early as possible. Because of the reason, the phenomenon changes the educational curriculum in Indonesia, including in foreign language teaching.
Curriculum is a set of plans and a regulation of objectives, contents, teaching material and the ways to conduct learning activities to reach oriented educational objectives (Jumali, 2004: 86). There are two kinds of curriculum applied in Indonesia, namely national curriculum and curriculum of local content. National Curriculum is a curriculum which covers education nationally. Meanwhile, a curriculum of local content is an educational program which is adjusted to natural, social and cultural environment of the school.
languages will enrich the Indonesian cultures. Thus the languages should be kept from generation to generation to make them exist. Without the efforts of keeping the language from the government, they will be extinct because the young generation begins to leave the local language. At home, at school or in society, the Indonesian young learners prefer to use Indonesian rather than Javanese. Indonesian parents mostly are proud when their children can speak English than when they can speak Javanese.
The optional local content is an optional lesson that can be chosen and adjusted to the school need. The optional local content may be various, such as English, farming etc. Most of schools choose English as the optional local content since English will be needed for students’ future. They should master English as one of International languages. Besides, English given in elementary school will become a basic knowledge to acquire English at the secondary school.
With their purposes and intentions, the children will be motivated to get answers of their curiosities. Hence, Indonesian educators decide to include English as a foreign language in the early formal education as an optional local content.
Secondly, children are social human being. Vygotskyan theory sees that children are active learners in a world full of other people. Those people bring important roles in helping children to learn, bringing objects and ideas to their attention, talking while playing, reading stories, and asking questions. To master the language better, children need stimulus from their surroundings, including teachers, parents and others as social human being (Cameron, 2005: 5-7).
Thirdly, in both language and cognitive development, Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is a central for effective learning. For Bruner, language is the most important tool for cognitive growth. Scaffolding and routines are necessary in language teaching because those activities provide opportunities for meaningful language development. They allow the children to actively make sense of new language.
The last reason, based on many previous researches, children who have an early start of a learning a foreign language will develop and maintain advantages in some, but not all, areas of language skills.
acquire English at the secondary school. Formal objectives of the teaching English at elementary schools, as stated in the elementary school’s local content curriculum (Kurikulum Muatan Lokal Sekolah Dasar), are for pupils to become acquainted with the language and to be skillful in listening, speaking, reading, and writing simple English. They are expected to be able to use the language through classroom activities which are relevant to the learners’ development and interest.
Reading is one of essential skills in learning a language including foreign languages. Through reading, one can open his mind and broaden his knowledge. Besides, having ability to read in a foreign language can give better opportunities to get better jobs, access to literature or whatever (Nuttal, 1989: 3). Hence, the basic reading skill should be taught to thebeginners up to advanced students. The basic reading skills are needed to understand the reading material since reading is not only uttering words, phrases or sentences, but also catching the writers’ message. In such understanding, reading will be a meaningful activity for the readers since the readers understand the meaning and catch the content.
reading skill, the students of the fourth up to the sixth grade will have basic understanding of written texts, such as simple descriptions, simple recipes, simple poems, simple song lyrics, simple teachers’ messages, etc. Moreover, the reading skill opens chances to capture other reading materials, particularly authentic material from imported-English books or from internet. Besides, the reading skills give them an ability to access all information in the world.
Dealing with elementary-students’ characteristics that are different from adults, the teaching English is surely different from the teaching to adult learners. Consequently, the teaching method used by the teacher should be carefully considered. The teacher must also consider the aims of teaching, the students’ characteristics and the teaching material to get a maximum result in learning a foreign language.
The reading habit of the people in this country is low, even for reading Indonesian texts. That is why, the teacher’s method to teach reading skill is one of crucial aspects that must be considered. Many teachers still use expository teaching model in teaching reading. This method puts the teacher at the center of the teaching and learning process. Meanwhile, the students tend to be passive because the teachers limit the students’ activities in teaching and learning. These conditions make the English class boring and unattractive.
To respond to this condition, the researcher tries to use discussion using word wall to teach reading. Discussion is a teamwork in doing
something. Discussion methods are among the most valuable tools in the teachers’ repertoire. Teachers in large classes can use this method to make the teaching-learning process more effective and meaningful. The discussion implies active participation of group members, and the participation is directed to a definite goal. The idea of discussion and grouping may change the interaction style from teacher-centered approach to learner-centered one.
A classroom display is useful to encourage students in language learning (Argondizzo, 1992: 10). A Word Wall is a kind of classroom display. It is a large display on the classroom wall or bulletin board and may become a teaching tool that elementary teachers use to aid students during reading and writing lessons. The Word Wall is aimed at attracting students’ attention in learning reading. Teachers use various activities to help students interact with the Word Wall and increase students’ ability to read and to write. The variety of the written texts on the Word Wall will also keep students’ interest.
motivated to learn the vocabularies that will be used in reading. The new words, unfamiliar words, and their spelling can help them in learning the language.
Interest is needed in learning a foreign language because interest can lead the students to learn more. Interest makes the students pay more attention to the class during the language learning. In addition, the teacher should choose a teaching technique that is suitable to his students’ characteristics. The teaching technique functions to attract, to create and to keep students’ interest. In essence,interest must be kept during and after the learning process to further learning activities.
Therefore, upon thinking about the effectiveness of the discussion using word wall to teach reading at elementary school students, the researcher was motivated to analyze the effectiveness of this teaching technique, in connection with students’ interest, through a research entitled: The Effectiveness of Group-Discussion Using Word Wall to Teach Reading
Viewed from Students’ Interest (An Experimental Study in SD N 01
Gawanan and SD N 01 Tohudan Colomadu Karanganyar in 2008/2009
Academic Year)
B. Problem Identification
1. Why do students tend to have low reading competence? 2. What factors affect the low reading competence?
3. Can the teacher help students to improve their reading competence? 4. How does the teacher improve it?
5. Does the teacher’s teaching approach or method influence the students’ reading competence?
6. Do the teacher’s characteristics and professionalism influence students’ reading competence?
7. Does the students’ interest give influences to reading competence?
8. Does the students’ interest also influence the students’ reading competence?
9. Does discussion help students to increase their interest in a reading class? 10.Does the teacher need to consider the method of teaching related to the
students’ characteristics?
C. Problem Limitation
D. Problem Statements
Dealing with the background of the study, problem identifications, and problem limitation, the writer proposes three problems statements as follows: 1. Is group-discussion using word wall is more effective than expository
teaching model for teaching reading?
2. Do students having high interest have better reading competence than those having low interest?
3. Is there any interaction between the teaching method and students’ interest?
E. The Objectives of the Study
F. The Benefits of the Study
The research is expected to be very useful either theoretically or practically. The benefits are elaborated as follows:
1. Theoretical Benefit
Theoretically, the research can be used to develop a teaching method or technique particularly for teaching reading to young learners. Besides, the result of the research can be used for reference to conduct further researches.
2. Practical Benefits
The result of the research may practically be useful for: a. Students of Education Department.
This research may be helpful for students in giving information about the teaching reading through discussion which is supported by word wall. It may also give them inputs of interactive-teaching reading
methods.
b. English Teachers Teaching Reading.
use various teaching methods or techniques adapted for the situation or condition of the class in teaching - learning process.
c. Other Researchers.
The research can be used to stimulate them to conduct a further research of teaching reading, particularly teaching reading at elementary school.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE,
RATIONALE AND HYPOTHESIS
A. Review of Related Literature
1. Reading
a. Definition of Reading
Being able to read, not only in the first language but also in foreign languages, is an important foundation to achieve further knowledge. The following explanations describe reading definitions. According to Nuttal (1989: 2) the word reading has many meanings, several of which are involved when people speak of reading instruction. The word means (1) decode, decipher, identify; (2) articulate, speak, pronounce; and (3) understand, respond, meaning.
William (1996: 3) defines reading as :
everything in a given piece of written. The reader is not simply a passive object, fed with letters, words and sentences, but is actively working on the text, and is able to arrive at understanding without looking at every letter and word”. Rayner (1989: 23) argues that “Reading is the ability to extract visual information from the page and comprehend the meaning of the text”. Meanwhile, Goodman (in Rayner, 1989: 351) views the reading process as a ‘psycholinguistics guessing game’ in which reader tries to figure out the meaning”.
From the previous explanations, it can be concluded that reading is the ability to gain information by understanding the meaning of the text. At the elementary school, reading aloud is important because through this activity, students can practice how to say the words. In addition, the understanding of the texts is the main goal of teaching reading at elementary school.
b. Aims of Reading
Reading has three aims as follows: 1. Reading for information
Reading for information helps the readers recognize factual information in various forms, such as maps, charts, plans and notice. The readers also can use reading selection to get the information.
2. Reading for meaning
Reading for meaning helps the readers recognize and understand the purpose of reading selections. It also helps the readers to recognize how these purposes are reflected in the kind of language that writer uses.
3. Reading for pleasure
Reading for pleasure offers a variety of short text, fiction and non fiction from printed media as books, magazines, comics, brochures etc (Smith, 1971: 4).
Meanwhile, Rivers (1978: 189) says that there are five possible objectives for a reading class, namely reading for information; reading of informal material; fluent, direct reading of all kinds of material; literary analysis; and translation of texts. These objectives are explained in the following explanations:
1. Reading for Information.
English become ---German bekommen. Although these two words look alike, they have diverged in meaning. German bekommen means receive. Another example, English advertisement --- French avertissement. The French avertissement means a warning.
2. Reading of Informal Material.
Some students more interested in English for interpersonal communication may want to read correspondence, notices, newspapers, headings and advertisements. These informal styles will reinforce students’ speech pattern.
3. Fluent, Direct Reading of All Kinds of Material.
Being a fluent and direct reader is a hope of most of students in learning foreign language. The students will be easy to catch the meaning of written forms. They read the contents fluently for pleasure. A novel, a biography, or a magazine either light or serious will be interesting written materials for the fluent readers. 4. Literary Analysis
Literary Analysis is needed when one wants to develop deep analysis of literary material. In this case, one requires reading skills for literary analysis. Teachers may interest particularly in a teaching material. They will need for instance, “Literature in TESOL Programs: The Language and the Culture,” John F. Povey, TQ 1(1967),p 40-46.
Rivers says (1978: 201) “Translation is an art which requires a sophisticated knowledge of the native language as well as of English.” Students who focus on translation need specific skill for their reading. Translation of certain texts must refer to dictionaries available for the specialized vocabularies of medicines, physics, engineering, chemistry, electronics, business, and so on. To translate English texts, one also needs experience and broad knowledge about cultures. Reading much about the related material of the text will be very useful and helpful the translators.
Based on the above aims of reading, teaching reading at elementary school is focused on reading for information and reading for pleasure. In the reading class, students are motivated to get information in a simple form, and are encouraged to have fun with the reading material. Through visual and attractive information, such as comics, brochure, story etc, students will be interested in learning more. To reach those aims, an English teacher of elementary school must be aware of children opportunities to succeed in learning to read.
Related to the above aims, children are provided with the best opportunities for success in learning to read when teachers integrate the following skills:
2. phonics: the relationships between letters and sounds;
3. fluency: the ability to read quickly and naturally, recognize words automatically, and group words quickly;
4. vocabulary knowledge: new words and what they mean; and 5. text comprehension: understanding what is being read and
developing higher-order thinking skills
(http://www.acer.edu.au/resdev/15_Teaching Reading.html) In connection with the above skills, the research focused on the vocabulary knowledge (number four) and text comprehension (number five). Rivers (1978: 187-188) states that reading activities have some purposes as follows:
1. Readers want information for some purpose or readers are curious about some topics.
2. Readers need instruction in order to perform some tasks for works or daily life (recipe).
3. Readers want to act in a play, play a new game, do a puzzle, or carry out other activity which is pleasant and amusing.
4. Readers want to keep in touch with friends by correspondence or understand business letters.
the earth seen by satellite
6. Readers want to know what is happening or has happened through newspapers, magazines, reports and so on.
7. Readers want to seek enjoyment or excitement from novels, short stories, poems and words of songs.
c. Reading Skill for Children
According to Cameron (2005: 123), literacy learning in the first, second or foreign language needs informed and skilled teaching. Second language literacy is a complicated area. Literacy, in this sense is both social and cognitive. Socially, literacy provides people with opportunities to share meanings across space and time. Cognitively, literacy requires that individuals use specific skills and knowledge about how the written language operates in processing text.
Young learners learning to read English, surely, need to develop knowledge and skills at different scales. Children need to progress within each scale or level. They also need to practice integrating across the levels or scales. The following figure is the analogy of reading a text as seeing the earth by satellite at different scales (Cameron, 2005: 128).
a text read by a skilled reader
Context...space
Discourse...continents and oceans Paragraph...mountains
Figure 1. The analogy of reading a text as seeing the earth by satellite at different scales.
A skilled reader can access information together with his relevant previous knowledge. The skilled reader not only read given texts, but he also will understand the texts. Furthermore, the skills and knowledge involved in constructing meaning from reading a text are summarized in Figure 3. To reach an understanding of the text, all different information are integrated with previous knowledge to construct a coherent meaning.
d. Micro –skills of Reading Comprehension
There are fourteen micro-skills of reading comprehension. They are : a. Discriminate among the distinctive graphemes and orthographic
patterns of English.
b. Retain chunks of language of different length in short-term memory.
c. Process writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose. d. Recognize a core of words, and interpret word order patterns and
their significance.
e. Recognize grammatical word classes (noun, verb, etc) , system (e.g., tense, agreement, pluralization), patterns, rules, and elliptical forms.
f. Recognize that a particular meaning may be expressed in different grammatical forms.
g. Recognize cohesive devices in written discourse and their role in signaling the relationship between and among clauses.
h. Recognize the rhetorical forms of written discourse and their significance for interpretation.
i. Recognize the communicative functions of written texts, according to form and purpose.
k. Infer links and connections between events, ideas, etc., deduce causes and effect, and detect such relations as main idea, supporting idea, new information, given information, generalization, and exemplification.
l. Distinguish between literal and implied meanings.
m. Detect culturally specific references and interpret them in a context of the appropriate cultural schemata.
n. Develop and use a battery of reading strategies such as scanning and skimming, detecting discourse markers, guessing the meaning of words from context, and activating schemata for the interpretation of texts (Brown, 2001: 307).
e. Skilled Reading in English for Young Learners
Skilled reading is a process of constructing meaning from written language.
Knowledge
background knowledge of topic
function of literacy in uses of different genres/text types
organization and structure of texts
paragraphing
use and meaning of discourse markers
identify main points / detail
follow the line of argument
work out explicit / implicit meaning
work out how clauses relate to each other
identify verb and relation of other words to the verb
recognize formulaic chunks
recognize by sight
guess meaning of new words from context
spelling patterns
names/shapes of letters of the alphabet
break syllables into onset and rime
spot same rime / morpheme in different words
use analogy to work out word
relate letter shape to sound
notice initial and final consonants in words
blend sounds to syllables
Figure 2. Skilled reading in English (Cameron, 2005: 135)
Based on the above Brown’s micro-skills of reading, teaching reading for young learners related to this research is limited to skills of recognizing words, interpreting words, recognizing word classes (noun, verb and adjective), recognizing system (simple present, simple past tense, pluralization) and knowing the functions of conjunction ‘and’.
in Central Java, particularly in Karanganyar regency. Those skills are to locate key information, to identify main points / detail, to work out explicit meaning, to work out how clauses relate to each other, to identify verb and relation of other words to the verb, to recognize by sight, and to guess meaning of new words from context.
f. Factors Affecting Learning to Read in English as a Foreign
Language
Factors influencing learning to read English as a foreign language (L1) are first, the nature of the written forms of the first language; second, the learner’s previous experience in L1 Literacy; third, the learner’s knowledge of the FL; and fourth, the learner’s age (Cameron, 2005:134). Those factors are elaborated as follows:
1. First Language
language experience by looking for familiar cues. Moreover, according to Cameron (2005: 136), part of learning a foreign language is developing new understanding about the particular cues to meaning that the new language offers, and that differ from those of learner’s first language.
2. The learner’s first language literacy experience
Cameron (2001:137) says that the methodology of teaching literacy skills in the first language must also be considered. The way the child is being, or has been, taught to read the first language will create expectation about how foreign language reading will be taught. He also adds that a quite different approach in the foreign language classroom may be a good idea, since it helps young learners to differentiate the languages and the literacy skills required in each language. Some literacy knowledge and skill may be available for transfer.
3. The learner’s knowledge of the foreign language
words, will develop from oral activities, such as saying rhymes or chants and singing songs.
Cameron (2005: 137) says that vocabulary knowledge is extremely important : (a) when a written word is being ‘sounded out’ or built up from its component letter or morpheme sounds. The known words will speed up recognition, and (b) when a sentence is being read, known words will be easier to hold in short-term memory as meaning is built up
In addition, Cameron (2005: 138) argues that in the early stages, children should only encounter written words that they already know orally. If a text contains unknown words, the meanings must be completely obvious from the rest of the text. In the broader understanding of literacy, children gain much literacy experience before they come to school. In the foreign language, this is less likely to happen. The teacher can expand children’s experience of literacy in the new language by creating the environmental print for the classroom.
4. The learner’s age
names, reading single words or simple sentences around the objects in the classroom. Moreover, teaching children between the ages of six and nine years to read in the foreign language, a teacher can apply some methods that are used by the young learners for whom English is the first language. For example by giving extra stress of the aspects of English literacy that contrasts with the learners’ first language.
By the time children reach ten years, their first oral language and literacy are probably quite firmly established. They understand about how written text works. They are able to talk and think about the differences of languages. So, reading and writing can be parts for the foreign language learning at this age because reading and writing will be a foundation to get better knowledge. Furthermore, in teaching reading, one can utilize any transferable knowledge and skills from the first language literacy, such as sounding out words, breaking words into syllables or morphemes.
2. Teaching Foreign Language to Young Learners
that assisted first language acquisition. The period will be last before puberty.
The above hypothesis support educators to add English as one of lessons at their schools. As a result, the field of teaching foreign languages to young learners, particularly English has expanded enormously. There are several theoretical frameworks for teaching foreign language for young learners. They are Piaget’s, Vygotsky’s and Bruner’s ideas. Those ideas are elaborated in the following explanations:
a. Jean Piaget Theory
Jean Piaget, a Switzerland psychologist, has become known as a famous psychologist on cognitive growth. He divides the stages of cognitive growth into five stages as follows:
STAGES OF COGNITIVE GROWTH
glasses of water, they will tell us there is no change in volume. They understand the specific, or concrete. Now, they can measure, weigh, and calculate the amount of water. In this stage, their ability to understand the world is logical. For example, they can easily distinguish between dreams and facts. Furthermore, children in this stage play around with literal-mindedness. In the Piaget’s third stage, concrete operation, activities now can have rules. Schooling at this age should emphasize skills and concrete activity.
Implications of Piagetian Theory for Language Learning
Piaget says that children are active learners and sense-makers. According to Donaldson in Cameron (2005: 4), He emphasizes that “(the child) actively tries to make sense of the world . . . asks questions, . . . wants to know . . . Also from very early stage, the child has purposes and intensions: he wants to do”.
As active learners and thinkers, children seek out intention and purposes from other people doing. They will bring their knowledge and experience to make sense of other people’s actions and language. The important thing to note is that children’s experiences are still limited. Thus, environment must provide the setting for development through the opportunities that offer children for action.
foreign language, the skills must be oriented. The young learners’ skills of reading in a foreign language will be elaborated in the next sub chapter (Learning Literacy Skill - Skilled Reading in English for Young Learners).
b. Lev Vygotsky Theory
Lev Vygotsky, a Russian researcher, is famous for his social factors in learning development. Actually, Vygotsky’s view of the basic structural components of cognitions and stages is clearly similar to Piaget’s. The main difference between them is the social interaction that causes development. Piaget seems to view the learner as a solitary figure, meanwhile Vygotsky emphasizes the value of interaction among the students (learning in group). The interaction will produce different learners’ development since through the interaction students can interact with each other and share their ideas, experiences and so on. Besides, Vygotsy also uses the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development (or ZPD) to give a new meaning to ‘intelligent’.
Related to ZPD, Cameron (2005: 6) says the following statement “Rather than measuring intelligent by what a child can do alone, Vygotsky suggested that intelligent was better measured by what a child can do with a skilled help.”
help will maximize students’ development in learning. In another words, ZPD is what the child can do with the help of adults.
In addition, Vygotsky (in Sprinthall, 1994: 134) adds that meaningful learning occurs when the teacher is able to engage students in problem–solving activities that are just beyond their current level of functioning. He called this the zone of proximal development. Here is an example of ZPD in a foreign language teaching:
When a teacher gives a model of a new question “Do you like swimming?”, Students will be encouraged to ask similar questions.
One child may be able to use other phrases he has learnt previously and say, “Do you like drinking orange juice?”, whereas another may be able to repeat “Do you like swimming” and yet another would have trouble repeating it accurately (Cameron, 2005: 7). The example shows that the ZPD of each student may be different from others.
conventional instruction. Here are the characteristics of Mentored Cluster of Vygotsky – Piaget Groups:
Groups of five students meet without a teaching fellow each week.
Teaching fellow acts as resource between section meetings. Teaching fellow meets with student discussion leader before
and after each session.
One student acts as discussion leader each week. (Sprinthall, 1994: 135)
Implications of Vygotskyan Theory for Language Learning.
The Vygotskyan ideas will help teachers in constructing a theoretical framework for teaching a foreign language to children. Teachers can prepare lesson plans, reading materials and teaching techniques to maximize a teaching and learning process related to the idea of ZPD.
c. Bruner Theory
According to Bruner, “language is the most important tool for cognitive growth”. It means that language takes part to transfer knowledge and helps the cognitive growth. Therefore, scaffolding and routines are necessary for transferring language. Bruner (in Cameron, 2005: 8) says that “scaffolding is talk that supports a child in carrying out an activity”. Scaffolding is a kind of verbal version of the fine – tuned. It can be done when a mother feeds her baby. Bruner adds “scaffolding has been transferred to the classroom and teacher-pupil talk”. Good scaffolding will help students in learning a second or a foreign language. Furthermore, Wood (in Cameron, 2005: 8) suggests that teachers can scaffold children’s learning in various ways:
F
Table 2. Ways to scaffold children’s learning (from Wood, 1998). Teachers can help children to By
attend to what is relevant
adopt useful strategies
remember the whole task and goals
suggesting
praising the significant providing focusing activities encouraging rehearsal
being explicit about organization reminding
modeling
Meanwhile routines can provide opportunities for meaningful language development. The success of language teaching can be seen from the routines given in the language classroom. Classroom routines may provide opportunities for language development. The examples of classroom activities are teacher talking to the whole class, organizing distribution, perhaps using children as monitors, using appropriate language for pupil’s level for asking pupils to do something, etc. Routines can help young learners’ ZPD to make sense of the new language.
Thus, to make opportunities possible in a foreign language teaching, an English teacher should be aware of the foreign language as an inseparable thing. Cameron (2005: 17) says that it has been common to divide language into ‘the four skills’: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.
Furthermore, Cameron states that foreign language is indivisible.
The figure describes children learning a foreign language (Cameron, 2005: 19)
learning the foreign language
learning oral skills learning the written language
conversation extended talk
grammar
Figure. 3 Dividing up ‘language’ for child foreign language learning
The above figure describes that learning a foreign language is an indivisible thing. Learning oral skills and learning the written language are inseparable. Children will learn spoken language first than written language. Teaching literacy skills which includes learning to read and write in a foreign language needs distinct learning tasks. Teacher needs to plan and to support literacy skills that give knowledge and understanding of literacy issues. The literacy teaching can be integrated with spoken language development.
Related to a foreign language teaching, teaching English to young learners or children is different from teaching adults. Children have different characteristics that need different method in teaching them. The specific characteristics of eight to ten-year old are:
1. Their basic concepts are formed. They have very decided views of the world.
2. They can tell the difference between fact and fiction. 3. They ask questions all the time.
5. They are able to make some decisions about their own learning. 6. They have definite views about what they like and do not like
doing.
7. They have a developed sense of fairness about what happens in the classroom and begin to questions to the teacher’s decisions. 8. They are able to work with others and learn from others (Scott,
1990: 3-4).
Scott also adds that eight to ten-year old children have a language with all basic elements. They are competent users of their mother tongue. By the age of ten, children can understand abstracts, understand symbols (beginning with words) and generalize and systemize (Scott, 1990: 4).
d. Advantages to Starting Foreign Languages in Early Age
Many advantages are claimed for starting to learn a foreign language in primary school. Brewster et al (1992: 24) says that teaching a foreign language is better to start in the early age.
“The reason most commonly put forward for starting to teach a foreign language early is the indisputable fact that young children have a greater facility for understanding and imitating what they hear than adolescent, not to mention adults. They are less distanced from golden age when they acquired their mother tongue naturally.”
As the previous explanations of Piaget’s, Vygotsky’s and Bruner’s, starting English lesson in early education will be useful since children are active learners and social human being. Thus, educators must prepare well lesson plans, teaching material, and teaching technique before they teach their students. Lesson plans, teaching aids, scaffolding, routines, tasks and other stimuli should be adapted to the students’ level to maximize output in accordance with ZPD.
3. Discussion
a. Definition of Discussion
Discussion is one of teaching strategies that involves a number of people in a group to discuss something. Discussion needs cooperation and involvement among the group members in a problem solving. This teaching strategy tends to be an effective and meaningful for students active-learning.
Orlich (1998: 260) states that “discussion is an active process of student-teacher involvement in the classroom environment”. He also adds that a discussion allows the students to discover and state their personal opinion, idea or arguments.
(1998: 57) argues that small groups are limited in size and are used for discussion, not recitation. These are some keys in group-discussion: 1) Small groups are purposeful arrangements of up to six to eight
students.
2) Discussions are purposeful learning exchanges conducted by students in small groups.
3) Cooperative learning is an adaptation of the small-group teaching technique, used to promote individuals’ and group members’ achievement.
b. Types of Discussion
Orlich (1998: 257) says that there are six basic types of small- group discussion. Those types are:
1) Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a simple and effective skill-building technique to use when a high level of creativity is desired. In a brainstorming, the students can participate through their ideas. Brainstorming is an initiating process. A group might use the ideas generated in the brainstorming session as the basis for another type of discussion. Moreover, Orlich (1998: 267) argues the rules for brainstorming as follows:
a) All ideas, except for obvious jokes, should be acknowledged. b) No criticism is to be made of any suggestion.
d) The leader should solicit the ideas or opinions from silent members, then give them positive reinforcement.
e) Quality is less important than quantity, but this does not relieve group members of the need to think creatively and intelligently.
2) Tutorial
The tutorial discussion group is “mostly frequently used to help students who have difficulties learning or processing information at a satisfactory rate” (Scott, 1990: 267). The tutorial leader performs three major functions: questioning the students to pinpoint the problem, providing feedback or skills to facilitate learning, and encouraging the students to ask questions and to seek answers among themselves.
3) Task Group
Task group is tasks given for a group that should be accomplished by the group members together. Each student in a task group can make significant contributions to the discussion. Task groups tend to begin as teacher-dominated group because teachers usually select the tasks and assign each group member to accomplish a specific role.
Role playing is a process-oriented group technique that may involve almost any number of participants. Seven to ten members is ideal. Each role-playing group discussion is a unique experience, but there are some common criteria that is used in evaluation.
5) Simulation Inquiry Group
A simulation is a representation of a real object, problem, event, or situation. The learner is an active participant that is engaged in demonstrating a behavior, skill or knowledge. Interactive simulations can be used to stimulate interest, provide information, enhance skill development, change attitudes and assess performance (Orlich, 1998: 271).
c. The Benefits and Limits of Group-Discussion for Learners
Discussion in a peer group in school plays an important part in the developing self-concept of students. According to Schmuck (2001: 26), healthy self-esteem is enhanced when key people in a student’s environment respond toward that student in supportive ways. Furthermore, reward received will help students feel worthwhile and esteemed. Otherwise, punishment or disapproval cause students feel inadequate and worthless.
Students in a group begin relationships to group members through a sense of trust in others. A sense of trust, at whatever level, will affect future relationships. Schmuck (2001: 27) states that groups affect how students will demonstrate their needs affiliation, power and achievement. Thus, peer group can be quiet influential in providing emotional support to learn something in a class. The students can make classroom life comfortable or uncomfortable.
Related to the above reason, a teacher should be sensitive to respond to unconducive classroom situation.
According to Roestiyah, group-discussion has several benefits and limits. Those benefits are described as follows:
1. to create students’ independence to their teacher. Students are highly expected to be independent to solve problem in their life. 2. to increase students’ involvement in their group or class.
4. to share idea, experience and knowledge. 5. to develop questioning skills.
6. to broaden their knowledge.
7. to experience the meaning of leadership together that can increase responsibility (Roestiyah, 2008: 5).
Meanwhile, the limits of group-discussion are: 1. This method is not efficient for a large group.
2. The members of group receive limited information in their group. Thus, teacher should control each group to make sure about the students’ understanding in a group. Teacher can give suggestions for class after group discussion.
3. Active students may be dominant in their group. Otherwise, passive students can feel uncomfortable. To decrease such condition, teacher should give students motivation, ask group’s leader / active students to have ask passive students to be more active (Roestiyah, 2008: 6).
4. Classroom Display
Meanwhile, Argondizzo (1992: 10) calls the classroom display as English Corner, English Walls or English bulletin board. Those displays can be advantageous for displaying books, magazines, cartoons, brochures, drawings, flashcards that can be used in class or will use. The students also can contribute their idea to write down on the display, such as poems, letters, recipes, friends’ birthday etc. Argondizzo (1992: 10) adds that the display can be changed from time to time. The display will be fun for the children because it makes the classroom environment lively. Argondizzo also says that display provides language input introduced through them.
Reviewing the previous explanations of classroom display, the researcher chose the term of word wall as a classroom display in the research because of some reasons; first, the wall is more specialized for younger learners in learning to read and writing; second, the term of word is more simple but meaningful. Words have a special significance for young learners learning a new language; third, word wall can be used as an interactive media in learning reading and writing. Students can respond to the contents by sending answer of quiz through ‘post messages’ that is put on the word wall. They also can send a simple message to their friends.
a. Definition of Word Wall
Teachers use a variety of activities to help students interact with the Word Wall and increase students’ ability to read and to write. The variety will keep students’ interest in a learning process.
Word Wall technique is developed by Green (1993). It is originally designed to challenge and motivate language learning in an elementary or secondary classroom to develop vocabulary and to internalize new vocabulary. These vocabularies can help the students in catching the meaning. The word wall can also be used for various classroom lessons, accommodating individual, pair, small group, and whole class instruction. Such activities can promote vocabulary learning and support language skills development. Through Word Wall, students are hoped to be interested in reading the texts and in learning the vocabularies that will be used in reading. The new words, unfamiliar words, and the spelling can help them in learning the language.
b. Parts of Word Wall
Cameron (2001: 141) says that using written language for communication will create young learner’s interest and motivation. The written language also shows the learners some of the uses of writing. Furthermore, an English message board in the classroom displays simple messages from teachers or student’s friends. For example: Don’t forget your dictionary on Thursday. The board may also contain more personal messages that learners can write too. For instance: I like the spirit of group Yellow Lamp, or Today is Saskia’s
birthday. Happy Birthday, Sas! Be the best. Okay. Display in a classroom may also include a post box. It will encourage children to write and send ‘letter’ to each other and the teacher.
puzzle
Messages’ post
Our WOr d Wa l l COMICS
MAIN TEXT
STARS OF THIS MONTH (student’s birthday) SONGS
Day, date and month
Students’ corner
Figure 4. An example of a classroom display
c. The Benefits of Word Wall to Teach Reading for Young Learners
Good Surroundings will attract students’ interest to get involved in an attractive learning. Furthermore, Word Wall will be useful:
1) to attract students’ attention in reading English text as a foreign language.
2) to create and keep students’ interest in learning English. 3) to create students’ curiosity about the displayed text.
5) to stimulate students to read attractive additional material, such as comics, poems, songs etc.
Brown (1964: 271) argues that physical environment including reading corner, movable tables and chairs, colorful books, attractive pictures, bulletin board which are frequently changed, will help to create students’ interest in reading.
In relation to teaching and learning, Brown (1964: 280) said that teacher can use displays in a variety of ways since displays are flexible, easy to develop, and have many applications in learning. Some of the functions of displays are described as follows:
1) to provide information for study by all students in a class, particularly when only one copy is available.
2) to stimulate student interest. For example, colorful pictures, a box of message, students’ pictures etc.
3) to encourage student participation. Problems related to displays can be studied by student groups.
4) to provide review. A class divided into small groups, may prepare display to review main ideas studied.
5. Expository Teaching Model
a. Definition of Expository Teaching Model
One of the characteristics of expository teaching model is teacher centrality. It means that teacher has a power to direct or control his/her students. The teacher decides everything in teaching-learning process. Thus, the students are under the teacher control. The teacher’s control can be found when the teacher selects and directs the learning tasks.
According to Roestiyah (2008: 136), the most expository teaching model applied in educational activities is a lecture method. In line with this theory, Suwarna says that the lecture method is also called as an expository teaching (2006: 106). He adds that this teaching technique is a direct explanation done by a teacher in a class. To give detail or real explanations, a teacher can use teaching aids. Since the lecture is given directly to students, it can be named as a direct communication technique. In other words, the expository teaching is a teaching technique where the teacher presents students with the subject matter rules and provides examples that illustrate the rules. Those examples includes pictures, graphics, tables, diagrams or other representation to elaborate the subject. This teaching aids are also functioned to focuse students’ attention of the subject presented.
information and he/she becomes a center of attention in his/her class. Teacher talks much in his class so that students become more passive than active. Students’ activities are limited on listening to teacher’s explanation, noting important points, or sometimes asking questions to teacher. Thus, such communication is called as one way traffic communication.
organized as “reception learning,” that is, in situations where the learner is the receiver of information and ideas. Ausubel (in Joyce, 1972: 175) adds that expository teaching is never purely expository in the interactive situation. Students often break into an interesting topic with their own questions. A teacher can relate the questions to the well-prepared teaching material.
From the above explanaition of the expository teaching, it can be concluded that the expository teaching model is a teacher-centered teaching which depends learning activities on a teacher since the teacher as a planner, organizer, presenter, informant, motivator who will determine much the learning outcomes. Students will be passive rather than active, but in their passivity, actually they can be active through thinking activities when they accept, listen to, and note the lesson material in the class.
b. The Benefits and Limits of Expository Teaching
Some benefits of expository teaching are:
1) to inform important fact or idea that is related to past event or material that can not be found in literature.
2) to teach in a large class consisting more than thirty students. That is why, this technique is more efficient than other techniques. 3) to attract students’ attention by focusing attractive teacher’s
4) to motivate students for a whole class in teaching learning process. 5) to conclude important points to help students understand easily. 6) to explain new themes or topics Suwarna (2006: 106-107).
Meanwhile, the limits of expository teaching are as follows:
1) The role of teacher is dominant, thus students will be passive rather than active.
2) Teacher can not know well how far the students’ understanding to the material given.
3) There is little chance for students to express their ideas, opinion etc.
4) The technique gives learners less chance to sharpen their thinking to solve problems.
5) The students tend to follow the teacher’s way of thinking, nevertheless it is possible for the learners to have different concepts from the teacher’s.
6) The technique tends to be verbalism (Suwarna, 2006: 108).
