USING GUIDING QUESTIONS TO PROMOTE STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING.

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Eman Supratman, 2015

USING GUIDING QUESTIONS TO PROMOTE STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | \.upi.edu perpustakaan.upi.edu

USING GUIDING QUESTIONS

TO PROMOTE STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING

A THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fufillment of the Requirements

for

Master’s Degree in English Education

By

EMAN SUPRATMAN

1101675

ENGLISH EDUCATION PROGRAM

SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

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2015

USING GUIDING QUESTIONS

TO PROMOTE STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING

Oleh Eman Supratman

Sebuah Tesis yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Magister Pendidikan (M.Pd.) pada program studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris

SPs UPI Bandung

Agustus 2015

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Tesis ini tidak boleh diperbanyak seluruhnya atau sebagian, dengan dicetak ulang, difoto kopi, atau dengan cara lainnya tanpa ijin dari penulis

APPROVAL SHEET

EmanSupratman

This Thesis is entitled

USING GUIDING QUESTIONS

TO PROMOTE STUDENTS’ CRITICAL THINKING

Approved by: Supervisor

Dr. BachrudinMusthafa, M. Ed., Ph.D. NIP

The Head of English Education Program School of Post Graduate Studies Indonesia University of Education

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ABSTRACT

Critical thinking is the ability that can be promoted through the explicit and direct teaching of four basic language skills. It is also said that questions lead to the act of thinking. However, teaching critical thinking through reading is still the case

for junior high school students because this skill hasn’t been nurtured when they

were in elementary school. The study was an attempt to explore classroom practice and collect empirical evidence that allowed reasonable conclusions regarding the influence of the implementation of Guiding Questions in teaching reading on both learning process and outcomes dealing with the development of

students’ critical thinking skills as well as students’ perceptions towards it. A

qualitative case study design was employed, involving fifteen eight graders of a Junior Secondary School in Majalengka. This study was descriptive interpretive in

nature since it described the phenomena under investigation in participants’ point

of views and interpreted what they perceived concerning the topic at hand. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through classroom observations, semi-structured interview and achievement tests. The qualitative data were analyzed against five dimensions of learning (Marzano, 1992) and critical thinking theories proposed by some experts in terms of classroom climate,

classroom tasks and activities, students’ attitudes and their progress in critical

thinking skills and dispositions. The test results were calculated in terms of their mean scores and compared to each other in order to find out the progress. The findings reveal that the implementation of guiding questions in reading

instructions could to a certain extent promote students’ critical thinking skills. The

critical thinking test results indicated the increasing mean scores. The average of

students’ scores in the pre-test was 3.6. They made a one-point increase in the mid test (4.6) and a 0.4 point (5) in the post test. The findings also show that students responded positively towards classroom climate and tasks. It was indicated by the

increasing number of participating students from lesson to lesson. Students’ active

engagements in classroom activities increased from only 53,33% (8 out of 15 students) in the first three meetings; 80% (12 out of 15 students) in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh meetings; until 86,67% (13 out of 15) students in the eighth and last meeting.

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ABSTRAK

Berpikir kritis adalah kemampuan yang dapat dikembangkan melalui pengajaran eksplisit dan langsung empat keterampilan dasar bahasa. Dikatakan bahwa pertanyaan dapat mengarahkan proses berpikir. Namun, mengajar berpikir kritis melalui membaca kepada siswa SMP masih sulit dilakukan karena keterampilan ini belum dikembangkan ketika mereka belajar di sekolah dasar. Penelitian ini merupakan upaya untuk mengeksplorasi praktek pembelajaran dan mengumpulkan bukti-bukti empiris yang memungkinkan untuk menarik kesimpulan yang wajar mengenai pengaruh penerapan Pertanyaan Penuntun baik terhadap proses maupun hasil pembelajaran membaca terkait dengan perkembangan keterampilan berpikir kritis serta persepsi siswa terhadap pembelajaran itu. Sebuah desain studi kasus kualitatif diterapkan, dengan melibatkan 15 orang siswa kelas VIII sebuah sekolah menengah pertama di Majalengka. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif interpretatif karena menggambarkan fenomena yang diselidiki dalam sudut pandang partisipan dan persepsi mereka tentang topic penelitia. Baik data kualitatif maupun kuantitatif dikumpulkan melalui observasi kelas, wawancara semi-terstruktur dan tes prestasi. Data kualitatif dianalisis dengan dimensi belajar (Marzano, 1992) dan teori-teori pemikiran kritis yang diajukan oleh beberapa ahli terkait suasana kelas, tugas-tugas dan kegiatan pembelajaran, sikap siswa dan kemajuan keterampilan serta disposisi berpikir kritis mereka. Nilai rata-rata hasil tes dihitung dan dibandingkan satu sama lain untuk mengetahui kemajuan mereka. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penerapan pertanyaan penuntun dalam pembelajaran membaca, sampai batas tertentu, bisa meningkatkan keterampilan berpikir kritis siswa. Hasil tes berpikir kritis menunjukkan nilai rata-rata yan meningkat. Rata-rata skor siswa dalam pre-test adalah 3,6. Mereka membuat kenaikan satu poin pada tes yang dilakukan pada pertengahan penelitian (4,6) dan 0,4 poin (5) dalam tes akhir. Temuan penelitian juga menunjukkan bahwa siswa merespon positif suasana kelas dan tugas-tugas pembelajaran. Hal ini ditunjukkan dengan meningkatnya jumlah peserta siswa dari pertemuan ke pertemuan. Keterlibatan siswa secara aktif dalam kegiatan kelas meningkat dari hanya 53,33% (8 dari 15 siswa) di tiga pertemuan pertama; 80% (12 dari 15 siswa) pada pertemuan keempat kelima, keenam dan ketujuh; sampai 86,67% (13 dari 15) siswa dalam pertemuan kedelapan dan pertemuan terakhir.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL SHEET ... Error! Bookmark not defined. DECLARATION ... Error! Bookmark not defined. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... Error! Bookmark not defined. ABSTRACT ... Error! Bookmark not defined. LIST OF TABLES ... Error! Bookmark not defined. LIST OF FIGURES ... Error! Bookmark not defined. LIST OF APPENDICES ... Error! Bookmark not defined. TABLE OF CONTENTS ... 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.1 Background of the Study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.2 Research Questions ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.3 Aims of the Study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.4 Significance of the Study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.5 Scope of the Study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.6 Definition of Key Terms ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.7 Organization of the Thesis ... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.1 Guiding Questions ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.1.1 Functions of Teacher Questions ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.1.2 Types of Teacher Questions ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.1.3 Using Guiding Questions in Teaching Critical Thinking ... Error!

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2.4.2 Metacognition Theory ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5 Narrative Text ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.6 Five Dimensions of Learning ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.6.1 Dimension 1: Positive Attitudes and Perceptions Error! Bookmark not

defined.

2.6.2 Dimension 2: Acquire and Integrate Knowledge . Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.6.3 Dimension 3: Extend and Refine Knowledge ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.6.4 Dimension 4: Using Knowledge Meaningfully ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.6.5 Dimension 5: Productive Habits of Mind ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.7 Bloom’s Taxonomy ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.8 Previous Study ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.9 Conclusion of Chapter Two ... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .. Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.1 Research Design ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2 Research Setting and Participants ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2.1 Research Setting ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2.2 Research Participants ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3 Data Collection Techniques ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.3.1 Classroom Observations ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3.2 Semi-Structured Interview ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3.3 Achievement Tests ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.4 Data Analysis ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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CHAPTER IV ... Error! Bookmark not defined. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.1 The Development of Students’ Critical Thinking Skills Error! Bookmark not

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4.1.1 Improved Students’ Critical Thinking Skills ... Error! Bookmark not

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4.1.2 The Shift from Teacher Provoked Questions to Self Questioning. Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.1.4 Improvement in Learning Outcomes ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.2 Students’ Perceptions toward the Use of Guiding Questions in Critical-

Thinking-Based Reading Instruction ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.1 Student Perception towards the Classroom Climate of Reading

Instruction ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.2.2 Students’ Perception towards Teaching and Learning Activities .. Error!

4.2.3 Students’ Perception toward Classroom Tasks .... Error! Bookmark not

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4.2.4 Student’s Classroom Participation Progress ... Error! Bookmark not

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4.2.5 Summary of Students’ Perceptions toward the Teaching Program Error!

4.3 Conclusions of Chapter Four ... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This chapter as an introductory section supplies the conceptual background and an overview of the present study and discusses selected theoretical and empirical studies. It comprises background, research questions, aims of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, definition of key terms, and organization of the paper.

1.1 Background of the Study

Human quality of life is primarily determined by his/her thinking (Elder and Paul, 2013:1). Critical thinking is a highly valued life competence needed to succeed in the age of technology and information (Paul and Elder, 2002). Recently, students are facing the world developments in which the advances of technology and information do not only give them the advantages but also bring negative influences from mass culture such as broadcast media, newspapers, magazines, internet and popular music (Ruggiero, 2009). Further, he states that individuals are under the bombardment of messages, issues, slogans and propagandas, and hence, they should respond to what they read and hear critically in order to avoid being unknowingly and negatively influenced (Che, 2002).

To do otherwise, they could be susceptible to undesirable consequences of being victims to persuasion (Ruggiero, 2009). Such cases as consumers who are

tricked by advertiser’s blandishments, voters who are wooed by politicians’ campaign, TV audience wasting time on pure dross of TV and innocent girls who fall into man’s trap by trusting easily his flattery are examples of the disadvantages caused by the lack or absence of critical, logical or rational thinking in mind (Nickerson as cited in Kurfiss, 1988).

According to Paul and Elder (2002: 1) the accelerating change and

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the key for individuals to successfully take part in such a complicated life. Critical thinking is the way to cope with so much circulating information and so many people trying to assure others (Epstein, 2006). Further, Epstein explains that critical thoughts lead individuals to think in a more systematic and guided way in making any decision. It means when facing issue or problem critical individuals think over it on the basis of their own thinking without another person’s influence. Thus, applying such critical thinking technique as considering ideas thoroughly and judging argument in open-minded way could help individuals to be sure about the decisions upon which their actions or beliefs are based. In daily life, critical thinking could help them avoid making fallacious judgment that is at risk of failure. Nickerson (as cited in Kurfiss, 1988) states that most failure is not caused by lack of knowledge, rather it is because of human irrationality.

In the context of secondary education, the importance of critical thinking skills for students of junior high school is by all means not merely to sort and filter information and to avoid its bad effects, but also to help their intellectual developments (Freseman, 1990; Kagan, 1988 and Matthews, 1989). Another advantage of having the ability to think clearly and critically is that students can live successfully in their society (Hayes and Devitt, 2008). Thus, the ability to think critically is essential to succeed both academically and socially.

In classroom context, the ability to think clearly and critically is essential to make sense of content of any discipline. Applying critical thinking in the learning process, students could evaluate issues or arguments on the topics they are learning in a deeper and broader way through the process of reasoning for the purpose of developing their knowledge (Bassham et al., 2011).

In the social context, critical thinking skills help students to live better within community. Living in community, students are often faced with problematic matters of life in their surroundings that demand them to be good thinkers as well as problem solvers. They can use good thinking as the guide for

being productive, contributive and responsible community members. “Critical

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unexamined assumptions and biases of our upbringing and our society” (Bassham et al., 2011).

The need for critical thinking as an outcome of education has been widely recognized. Bell (2003), Day (2003) and Long (2000) assert that it is of paramount importance to set skillful thinking as the goal of education. UNESCO

(2005) states that “many educators now agree that the most effective and enduring

approach to counteracting the pressures and influences faced by young people is to teach critical thinking skills, judgment and discerning insight, focusing on the

process of values formation” (p.9).

In the Indonesian context, critical thinking skills have been the educational objectives of any discipline. The 2003 National Education System Act of Indonesia stated that the quality of Indonesian human resource needs to be increased and developed continuously to fulfill the demand of the globalized era. One of the ways to improve the quality of Indonesian human resources is by equipping them with ability to think critically (Ministry of National Education, 2009). Curriculum 2006 states that Science and technology, one of Subject Clusters and Scopes at junior high school, is intended to develop basic

competency in knowledge and science as well as to enhance the learners’ habit of

scientific thinking critically, creatively, and independently (Depdiknas, 2006). Moreover, Curriculum 2006 has set critical thinking ability as one of the Competence Standards for junior high school graduates as stated in Ministerial Regulations No. 23 of 2006 (framework standard or Graduate Competence Standard) as follows: 1) to search and implement information from their environment and other sources logically, critically, and creativelly and 2) to demonstrate the ability to think logically, critically, creatively, and innovatively.

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engage in a process that encourage them to evolve their potential of thinking skills (King, 1995; Yang, Newby & Bill, 2005 and Khatib & Nazari 2012).

To realize this, English teachers should point up more on designing learning experience that enables students to empower their thinking. Teachers should not only teach four basic language skills comprising listening, speaking, reading and writing but also foster critical thinking skills through them (Alwasilah, 2010). Accordingly, the outcomes of teaching language are students who are able to not only use language well as a means of communication but also become critical language learners.

Fostering critical thinking through formal instruction can be done by implementing particular teaching methodology, teaching media and learning materials. For example, Khodadady and Ghanizadeh (2011) investigate the efficacy of concept mapping. Khatib, Marefat and Ahmadi (2012) explore written and audio-taped dialogue journals. Thadphoothon (2005) focuses on media, especially computer network, combined with collaborative learning. Tung and Yang (2009) explore reading literary works or literature.

In terms of teaching methodology for teaching critical thinking, there are a lot of techniques, methods or strategies that can be used to promote students’ critical thinking skills and disposition. One of the strategies that is commonly used by teacher to enhance students’ critical thinking skills and disposition is questioning. It is an instructional technique using teacher’s questions to direct students’ thinking and learning. The notion that teacher’s questions are crucial to learning process is that “thinking is driven by questions, not answers” (Elder & Paul, 1998). Moreover the level of students’ thought depends on the level of question posed by teachers.

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(Elder & Paul, 1998). The continuing interaction makes the students keep on thinking and learning.

Using Guiding Questions in questioning means applying teacher’s questions which are planned and constructed in such a way that they can provoke students’ thinking and help them demonstrate intended responses. Additionally, the guiding questions that are used in learning process can lead students to participate in guided in-class discussion (Tung and Chang, 2009). Through questioning process students are demanded to respond actively to questions in all levels of cognitive domains in the classroom practices. Active classroom interactions in which thought provoking or stimulating questions are asked become a learning environment that provides learning experience for the students to demonstrate and practice critical thinking skills and disposition (Brown & Kelley, 1986).

However, even though using teacher’s questions in questioning has been reported to be effective in promoting critical thinking through reading, most English teachers in Indonesia tend to just use the questions available on the text books that are in fact asking lower-level thinking. Besides, there has been very little research reporting the effectiveness of the teaching strategy, especially at junior high school level. Most of the research on this area was conducted at tertiary level of education. Moreover, the majority of the research was quantitative in nature emphasizing on students’ attainment as a result of specific pedagogical treatment (Higgins et al., 2004). The recent study, hence, sought to fill in the gap in this research area. The study attempted to explore the classroom practices in EFL classroom and collect empirical evidence that allowed reasonable conclusions as to how the implementation of Guiding Questions in teaching reading influenced both learning process and outcomes dealing with the

development of students’ critical thinking skills as well as students’ perceptions

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1.2 Research Questions

Given with the abovementioned context, this research attempted to answer the following questions:

1) How do students’ critical thinking skills develop through critical thinking-based reading instruction using Guiding Questions?

2) How do students perceive the use of Guiding Questions in critical-thinking-based reading instruction?

1.3 Aims of the Study

The overall purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of critical thinking in education and investigate the phenomena of teaching reading narrative text specifically designed to develop students' critical thinking in EFL classes in junior high school. In addition, this study is also intended to raise awareness of teachers as educational practitioners of the importance of such valuable skill. The results of this study are expected to develop a framework of instruction that is effective in nurturing critical thinking.

More specifically, this study focuses on exploring: 1) the development of

students’ critical thinking skills and dispositions through classroom practices of reading narrative texts in which Guiding Questions are implemented in English classes of a junior high school, and 2) disclosing the responses that are demonstrated by students of junior high school during the implementation of Guiding Questions in the teaching of reading narrative text.

1.4 Significance of the Study

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Practically, the results of this study will provide teachers with a valuable insight on how to use Guiding Questions in the teaching of reading to develop critical thinking skills and disposition. The findings of this study are expected to provide them with ideas and suggestions of how to manage effective learning experience. The nature of the reading instruction in which Guiding Questions is implemented could not only avoid the emphasis on the memorization of information but also enhance reasoning ability to deal with complex tasks that involve complex thinking so that they can nurture critical thinking and disposition. The implementation of Guiding Questions in the classroom practices of reading might be helpful for students to develop their critical thinking and disposition both as a life skill and academic success.

Professionally, inasmuch as the central focus of this study is to investigate the value of Guiding Questions on students’ critical thinking and disposition, English teachers and the school may have the description on the development of the students’ reading and thinking skills. Other researchers, especially, those who are interested in conducting research on the same area may take the results of this study into account as reinforcing reference. Guiding Questions used in questioning may be taken into consideration as one of the strategies that could

effectively promote students’ critical thinking ability.

1.5 Scope of the Study

This study limits the investigation on two aspects. Firstly, it focuses on investigating whether or not the implementation of in the teaching of Guiding Questions in teaching reading narrative texts promotes students’ critical thinking skills. Guiding Questions used in this study are specifically designed for teaching reading narrative texts. In this study, the students were encouraged to reflect on what they read and discuss their point of views and practice to be critical readers

who can “question, organize, interpret, synthesize, and digest what they read”

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Secondly, critical thinking includes a wide range of skills. The current study does not largely concern all aspects of critical thinking. Rather, it focuses only on some components that are compatible and can be developed through reading instruction.

1.6 Definition of Key Terms

Critical thinking is defined as the process through which individuals

consciously and deliberately involve a set of cognitive skills like analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating and reasoning to make sense of both written or spoken text on the bases of criteria they have in order to draw reasonable conclusion about the text.

Critical reading refers to applying critical thinking to the process of

reading texts; readers are consciously and deliberately involved in the process of comprehending, interpreting, evaluating and reasoning critically the text they read to make reasonable decisions about the information as they read it.

Guiding questions refer to the fundamental queries that direct the starch

for understanding (Traver, 1988). Guiding questions are a series of teacher questions in both spoken or written form that are prepared or planned before teaching and used in the act of questioning process before, during and after

reading to provoke students’ thinking and learning in active classroom interaction.

1.7 Organization of the Thesis

This thesis paper consists of 5 chapters and is organized as follows:

Chapter 1 as an introductory section supplies conceptual background and an overview of the present study and discusses selected theoretical and empirical studies. This chapter comprises background, research questions, aims of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, definition of key terms, and organization of the thesis.

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strategy in teaching reading, the concept, skills and disposition of critical thinking, critical reading, schema theory, meta cognition theory, narrative text, five dimension of learning and Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Chapter 3 discusses the research methodology and research design that are employed in the present study: a qualitative approach with single case study design. Participants, research procedure, data collection method, research instruments and data analysis techniques are also outlined. The summary of chapter 3 is included in the last part of this chapter.

Chapter 4 presentsthe development of students’ critical thinking skills and

students’ perception toward the use of guiding question technique in critical thinking-based reading instruction. The last part of this chapter is summary of chapter four.

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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter concerns about the methodology—procedures of conducting the research—and research design adopted to frame conceptually the practice of the study. It outlines the research objectives and the way the research achieves them. It also provides such practical elements as research site, participants, and data collection method as well as data analysis techniques.

3.1 Research Design

This study aimed at describing a phenomenon in a classroom. It focused on investigating how a certain strategy was applied and how much influence it had on the students. Therefore, a qualitative approach was employed. A qualitative research is described as ”an in-depth exploration and understanding of a

phenomenon by gaining insights into the meanings that people give to the world”

(Creswell, 2009; Denscombe, 2010 cited in Law; 2012). Cassel and Symons (1994), for instance, define qualitative approach as having some characteristics as described below:

a focus on interpretation rather than quantification; an emphasis on subjectivity rather than objectivity; flexibility in the process of conducting research; an orientation towards process rather than outcome; a concern with context—regarding behaviour and situation as inextricably linked in forming experience; and finally, an explicit recognition of the impact of the research process on the research situation (p.7).

A qualitative case study design was employed in this study since it was intended to gain deep understanding of phenomenon under investigation (Creswell, 2008:62) and to find meanings of the phenomenon that people bring to their natural settings (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994). Through case study the researcher strived "to uncover patterns, determine meanings, construct conclusions and build theory" (Patton & Appelbaum, 2003: 67).

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researchers to establish cause and effects within the case being investigated. Further, they propound that the establishment of cause and effects are strongly determined by context. Moreover, case study “allows investigators to retain the holistic and meaningful characteristics of real-life events" (Yin, 2003).

Seen from research purpose, qualitative case study is cateqorized into types: descriptive, interpretive, and evaluative (Merriam, 1988). This study served descriptive and interpretive purposes. It is descriptive in that it describes phenomenon occurring in the real-life context and the context itself (Yin, 2003), involving practices and forming a database with which future researcher can compare, and hence, theory can be built (Merriam, 1998). It is interpretive in nature as the researcher relies heavily on the interpretation of the phenomenon being studied against the theoretical assumptions framing this study in an attemp to make sense of the meanings participants assign to. In this study, not only did the researcher observe what was going on in the classroom but also develop

conceptual categories on how the participants’ involvement in the activities

resulted in particular learning outcomes. 3.2 Research Setting and Participants

3.2.1 Research Setting

The study was undertaken in a Junior High School in Jatiwangi-Majalengka. This school was chosen as the research site because of three

considerations. First, the research findings are expected to be taken into account in an attempt to improve English language teaching in the school for the better quality of the school outcomes. Second, the school provides self development program in which English is one of the choices of courses. The students joining the program are considered to have better proficiency of English. Therefore, they are judged to be quite representative for being participants of the research.

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The researcher selected 15 eighth graders—comprising 10 female students and 5 male students—joining self development program of English course as the participants of the study. They were selected based on their membership in a subgroup, that is, self development program of English course. The defining characteristics they shared was their similar interest in and proficient capability of English. They are considered to have best understanding of phenomenon being studied.

Self development is an extracurricular program aimed to provide students with opportunity to develop and expresses themselves in either academic or non academic field according to their needs, talents, and interests in accordance with school conditions (Depdiknas, 2006). Self development of English course is one of extracurricullair programs available for students in each grade in this school. It is held to faccilitate students who are interested in English or those who have got talent of English and want to develop their competence. is carried out for eighty minutes (2 periods) every week.

The participants have joined the program since they were in grade seven. All of them join the program because of interest. They were chosen as they are considered to have better proficiency of English compared with those who do not participate in the program. Moreover, they have more motivation to learn English as it is their interest. Therefore, they were considered to be able to provide the researcher with data reflecting their best understandings of reading lessons in which critical thinking is incorporated.

3.3 Data Collection Techniques

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observation and in-depth interview and document. The quantitative data were gathered from tests. Each technique of collecting data is elaborated below.

3.3.1 Classroom Observations

Observations were conducted in this research to capture the real portrait of classroom learning atmosphere in which critical thinking-based of reading instruction was carried out. They enabled the researcher to acquire data on the setting of physic, human, interaction and program (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007). The researcher obtained information on how the teacher created a classroom learning atmosphere including activities, events, object, condition,

students’ emotions and feelings; subjects’ behavior during learning process;

interaction between teacher and students or among students; the critical thinking skills and disposition the students demonstrated during the lessons; and other crucial things that were considered to be relevant occurring within the setting. The data found from classroom observation were used to answer research questions 1 and 2.

During the observation process the researcher acted as participant observer and teacher as researcher. In the participant-observer role the researcher got involved in the setting, observed and interacted closely with the participants. The involvement of researcher in the setting was intended to achieve the establishment of meaningful entity within their group (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2013: 268) and see experiences from the views of participants (Creswell, 2008: 222). He made careful, objective notes about what he saw and recorded all accounts and observations as field notes using data recording protocols (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2013: 233), that is, forms specifically designed and used to record data during observation and interviews.

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Another data collection technique used in this study was interview. In the interviews, the researcher meant to gather information from the students that were related with the topics of the research. They are classroom climate, classroom activities, and classroom tasks. Data gathered from interviewing functioned to confirm or deny data collected from observation (Fraenkel, Wallen & Hyun, 2012: 450). Another purpose of using this technique was to gain data that were not obtained in observation. According to Stake (2010: 95) interviewing could help researcher to acquire unique interpretation, various information and unobservable thing from various persons. Through observations the researcher could only come by data from what he saw, heard and felt from what students demonstrated, but he

did not know what was in students’ minds dealing with the phenomena being

investigated. The participants exhibited their behaviour, attitude and cognitive development, but they did not indicate their perception about what was being studied. Interview could stimulate students to show how they perceived of critical thinking-based reading lesson implemented in their classroom.

This study utilized semi-structured interviews since its function is similar to verbal questionnaire (Fraenkel, Wallen & Hyun, 2012: 451). They argued that using semi-structured interview researchers may benefit from respondents’ specific answers as the responses to specifically designed questions. The key questions of the interviews were prepared beforehand to enable the researcher to get data as he wished. Patton (as cited in Fraenkel et al., 2012: 453) identifies six basic types questions for asking of people in an interview including their background (or demography), knowledge, experience, opinion, feelings and physical senses (of touch, smell , taste, hearing and seeing). As the expected

answers were concerned with students’ perception of the classroom activities they

encountered only the last three types of questions were posed.

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interview, the researcher followed the process proposed by Creswell (2008:228-229). He suggests nine steps of conducting interviews as can be seen below. 1. Identify the interviewees.

2. Determine the type of the interview you will use.

3. During the interview, audiotape the questions and responses. 4. Take brief notes during the interview.

5. Locate a quiet, suitable place for conducting the interview. 6. Obtain consent from the interviewees to participate in the study. 7. Have a plan, but be flexible.

8. Use probes to obtain additional information.

9. Be courteous and professional when the interview is over. 3.3.3 Achievement Tests

In order to find out the data about the students’ initial critical thinking skills,

the researcher administered achievement tests. The achievement tests were used as one of the research instruments because the tests function to collect data about what students have learnt from the learning materials taught in the lessons in numerical scale and establish how successful individual students or groups of students have been achieving objectives.

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Before distributing the test paper, the researcher gave them some crucial information concerning the test. First, they were informed that the questions consisted of 20 items: 10 questions were critical thinking questions and the rest were reading comprehension questions. The answers to critical thinking questions were not explicitly stated in the texts, hence, they had to answer the items based on their understanding and interpretation of the texts. Second, they were asked not to be panic and worried about the results since the tests did not relate to their academic achievement at all. Nevertheless, they were asked to answer the questions seriously and do to the best of their ability. They were not allowed to

work together or cheat other students’ answers for the assurance of their real capability. The researcher allocated 80 minutes for students to finish each test.

The tests were administered three times: pre test, mid test and post test. The pre-test was carried out on the 18 April 2015. The test was carried out at the beginning of the implementation program, before the students were taught critical

thinking through reading. The test was intended to know students’ initial critical

thinking ability.

The mid-test was conducted after the students had five meetings of lessons on May 20, 2015. The purpose of this test was to measure their progress of critical thinking skills after joining part of the program.

The post-test was held after the students accomplished the nine-meeting lessons on June 27, 2015. It was aimed to provide data on the students’ final development of critical thinking skills.

All the data from the tests were analyzed using a simple calculation that

result in simple figures showing the students’ achievement progress. The products

of the calculation of the data are the means scores of the students in the three tests. Progress can be seen from the increase of scores after several meetings. The results of the tests were calculated in percentage and presented in a graph to compare the difference of the three test results.

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ability. To ensure the validity and reliability of the items, the researcher constructed them by using question stems and examples of critical thinking questions for asking critical thinking skills that are made by experts and available in the recent literature. Indicators of student’s learning achievement to be tested include all level of Bloom’s cognitive domain comprising: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation and some other critical thinking skills that can be achieved through exposure to narrative texts. The test items will be administered in pretest, after the fifth meeting and post-test.

3.4 Data Analysis

This study adopted strategy of analyzing strategy Miles dan Huberman’s

(1994: 10) Flow Model of data analysis. Analyzing data in qualitative research is carried out either while or after collecting data in a certain period. Data analysis begins by examining the data since the start of data collection until all the data collection is complete. Conducting both data collection and analysis process at the same time allows for “theory development which is grounded in empirical

evidence” (Hartley, 2004: 329).When interviewing the participants, for example,

the researcher analyzed the participant’s response. If the responses analyzed were

not satisfactory yet already, the researcher continued interviewing until he obtained credible data. Miles and Huberman (1994) put forward that the activities in analyzing qualitative data must be done interactively and continuously until the data saturated.

3.4.1 Data Reduction

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data needed from the unimportant data. The relevant and meaningful data were analyzed in order to fit for the research objectives, whereas the unnecessary, irrelevant and meaningless information were discarded. All the selected data were then directly correlated to the research questions and categorized or classified into themes or focusses to make them less complicated and easy to understand. Reducing data was carried out continuosly during overlall research project.

3.4.2 Data Display

After being reduced the data were displayed. The process is an integral part of analyzing data (Miles & Huberman, 1994:11; Berg, 2001: 35). To display data

the researcher presented the reduced data in “an organized, compressed assembly

of information that permits conclusion drawing and action” (Miles and Huberman, 1994:11). The result of this process was extended text (Miles & Huberman (1994) or extensive narrations (Yin, 2003: 234). The texts or narration in this study was supported by excerpts, tables or matrices, and diagrams (Cohen & Crabtree, 2006) 3.4.3 Conclusion Drawing

The last step of analyzing data using Flow model is drawing conclusion and verification. In this step the researcher attempted to formulate the research findings in a higher conceptual level or broader set of ideas (Yin, 2003:220). The process of conclusion drawing was carried out when the researcher came to a decision about what he/she understandood about the data.

3.5 Establishing Trustworthiness

To establish the trustworthiness of findings of this study, the researcher utilized triangulation, member checking and thick and rich descriptions.

3.5.1 Triangulation

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evidence from different individuals (e.g., a principal and a student), types of data (e.g., observational field notes and interviews), or methods of data collection (e.g., documents and interviews) in descriptions and themes in qualitative research”

(Creswell, 2012: 259). Triangulation contributes to the decrease of researcher’s

bias and concrete description of reality. Patton (2002) identifies four types of triangulations: methods triangulation, triangulation of sources, analyst triangulation, theory/perspective triangulation.

In this study the researcher utilized methods triangulation and triangulation of sources. Observations were conducted in each reading lesson, while interviews with participants were carried out after the participants accomplished the whole program. Using these multiple methods could help the researchers to avoid the weaknesses of using a single method facilitate to gain more evidence to shed light on the phenomenon scrutinized resulting in a deeper understanding (Yin, 2003). 3.5.2 Member Checking

To assure that the data obtained from the participants, especially from observation and interviews was accurate, fair and complete the researcher conducted member checking (Creswell, 2012). The researcher confirmed the transcripts to all members of participants who involved in this study. They were asked to respond to the data, stating whether or not they agreed with the data, adding or removing parts of the data as they expected (Law, 2012).

3.5.3 Thick, Rich Description

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3.6 Conclusion of Chapter Three

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This final chapter presents conclusions of the study. The conclusions are drawn on the basis of the findings and discussion presented in chapter IV. Some recommendations are provided for English teachers to assure them of the urgency of incorporating critical thinking into their future instructional practices. The recommendations are also provided for those who are interested in the same area of research to take into account the strengths and weaknesses of the present study in conducting further studies.

5.1 Conclusions

Based on the discussions presented in chapter IV, it can be concluded that

using guiding questions to promote students’ critical thinking skills through the

teaching of reading has proved to have positive influences on both learning processes and learning outcomes.

Regarding the students’ classroom activities, the implementation of critical

thinking-based reading instruction using Guiding Questions could gradually

increase students’ engagement in the interaction and discussion as well as their comprehension of the texts taught. In terms of the way the students responses to

the teacher’s questions the data obtained from classroom observation and

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has, to some extent, developed students’ active participation in expressing and

sharing their critical thoughts with their peers.

In terms of students’ critical thinking skill development, the use of

Guiding Questions in reading classes has also made changes. It was indicated by the data gained from achievement test results. Exposing students to the critical thinking-based instructional practices could improve their ability to think critically. It was due to the practice of the skills when they were provoked by higher-level thinking questions. The data showed that the students’ achievement of critical thinking skills kept increasing from test to test. The critical thinking test results indicated the increasing mean scores. The average of students’ scores in the pre-test was 3.6. They made a one-point increase in the mid test (4.6) and a 0.4 point (5) in the post test. The data from interview demonstrated that the use of thought higher-level thinking questions could develop students’ critical thinking skills. There were more students who answer questions about identifying the

author’s purpose and evaluating text organization correctly. The students often have such questions in their regular classes. Thus, the tendency of students increasing mean score in the three tests has proved that the use of guiding

questions in the teaching of reading can improve students’ critical thinking ability. With regards to students’ perception towards the implementation of the

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comfortably and actively involved in most of classroom activities overall this study.

Basically, both interview and observation data showed this evidence. Most of the students gave supportive comments on the implementation of the program of this study. Such words as enjoyable, challenging, motivating and interesting emerged in their comments in the interviews. The improvement of students’ active and interactive involvement was shown by the increase of their participation rate according to observation checklists. The number of students who participated actively in teaching and learning process was increasing from lesson to lesson.

Students’ active engagements in classroom activities increased from only 53,33% (8 out of 15 students) in the first three meetings; 80% (12 out of 15 students) in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh meetings; until 86,67% (13 out of 15) students in the eighth and last meeting.

5.2 Recommendation

Regarding the results of the study, the researcher offers the suggestions to both English teachers and other researchers, who are interested in conducting research in the same field.

5.2.1 For English Teachers

Teaching critical thinking through reading instruction is not easy. It needs

teacher’s skills to plan and prepare questions before teaching the students. It also needs teacher’s patience and seriousness to find better outcomes. Therefore, the

researcher suggests that other teachers apply Guiding Questions to promote critical thinking skills in the teaching of reading. The use of Guiding Questions is

worth consideration since it could provoke both students’ lower level of thinking

and higher order of thinking. It could also improve classroom interaction and discussion.

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The study was conducted in a very limited time. It was not sufficient to

promote students’ critical thinking skills significantly. Therefore, the researcher

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