DESIGNING READING BLOG FOR THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMA BOPKRI 2 YOGYAKARTA
A THESIS
Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By Oliviana
Student Number: 061214152
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
DESIGNING READING BLOG FOR THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMA BOPKRI 2 YOGYAKARTA
A THESIS
Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By Oliviana
Student Number: 061214152
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declared that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.
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ABSTRACT
Oliviana. 2011. Designing Reading Blog for the Tenth Grade Students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
As the technology developed rapidly, the lifestyle people live in is also changing. Internet has become a powerful media for people to fulfil their need of information, socialisation, entertainment, and even education. One medium to teach through internet is by using blog. Seeing this situation, the writer intended to design a reading blog for the tenth grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta. Therefore, this study aimed at answering these questions: 1) How is the reading blog for tenth grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta designed? 2) What does the reading blog for the tenth grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta look like?
To answer the first question, this study employed the R&D cycle proposed by Borg and Gall. The cycle included five steps. The first step is research and information gathering. The result of this step showed that the tenth grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta were lack of interest in English reading activity and using internet as a learning medium was suitable for them. The second step is planning. In this step the writer selected the learning objectives, the contents, and the learning experiences which would be developed in the study. The third step is preliminary form of product development. The reading blog was designed in this step based on the information gathered and the planning from the previous step. The fourth step is preliminary field testing. The result showed that most elements of the materials were well developed except for the layout, teacher’s manual, time allotment, the material’s distinction with classroom materials. The fifth step is main product revision. In this step, the reading blog design was revised based on the result of preliminary field testing.
To answer the second research question, the writer presented the reading blog for tenth grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta. The whole materials consist of eight units for one semester. The writer developed four of them. They are “The Beauty of Indonesia,” “How to Do It?” “My Travelling Experience,” and “Tell Me a Story.” All reading materials were uploaded to the blog in Wordpress.
ABSTRAK
Oliviana. 2011. Designing Reading Blog for the Tenth Grade Students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta.Yogyakarta: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Seiring pesatnya perkembangan teknologi, telah menjadi sebuah media yang berperan penting dalam pemenuhan kebutuhan akan informasi, kegiatan sosialisasi, hiburan, dan bahkan pendidikan. Salah satu media untuk mengajar melalui internet adalah dengan menggunakan blog. Melihat situasi ini, penulis bermaksud merancang sebuah reading blog untuk siswa kelas X (sepuluh) SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta. Dengan demikian, penelitian ini bertujuan menjawab dua pertanyaan: 1) Bagaimana reading blog untuk siswa kelas X SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta dirancang? 2) Bagaimana bentuk reading blog untuk siswa kelas X SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta?
Untuk menjawab pertanyaan pertama, penelitian ini menggunakan siklus R&D oleh Borg dan Gall. Siklus ini terdiri dari lima langkah. Langkah pertama adalah penelitian dan pengumpulan informasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan siswa kelas X SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta kurang tertarik dengan kegiatan membaca dalam Bahasa Inggris dan menggunakan internet sebagai media pembelajaran sesuai bagi mereka. Langkah kedua adalah perencanaan. Dalam langkah ini, penulis menentukan tujuan pembelajaran, konten, dan pengalaman pembelajaran yang akan dikembangkan dalam penelitian ini. Langkah ketiga adalah pengembangan bentuk awal produk. Pengembangan reading blog dilaksanakan berdasarkan perencanaan yang dilakukan pada langkah sebelumnya. Langkah keempat adalah pengujian awal di lapangan. Hasil pengujian awal ini menunjukkan sebagian besar elemen dalam rancangan telah dikembangkan dengan baik kecuali tampilan, manual untuk guru, alokasi waktu, dan perbedaan rancangan materi ini dengan materi yang digunakan dalam kelas. Langkah kelima adalah perbaikan utama produk. Dalam langkah ini, penulis merevisi rancangan reading blog berdasarkan hasil pengujian awal.
Untuk menjawab pertanyaan kedua, penulis mempresentasikan reading blog untuk siswa kelas X SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta. Keseluruhan materi terdiri dari delapan unit untuk satu semester. Penulis mengembangkan empat unit diantaranya. Unit-unit yang dikembangkan meliputi “The Beauty of Indonesia,” “How to Do It?” “My Travelling Experience,” dan “Tell Me a Story.” Seluruh materi ini diunggah ke blog di Wordpress.
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Oliviana
Nomor Mahasiswa : 061214152
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
DESIGNING READING BLOG FOR THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMA BOPKRI 2 YOGYAKARTA
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal 8 Maret 2011
Yang menyatakan
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all I would like to thank Jesus Christ, my savior, for He has given me abundant blessings and guidance that I could finish this thesis. Without His love and protection, I would not be able to go through it all.
My sincere gratitude goes to my sponsor, Christina Kristiyani, S.Pd., M.Pd., for her correction, guidance, and suggestions during my thesis accomplishment. I also would thank L. Suharjanto S.J. and C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd., for being very kind evaluators. I also send my gratitude to all lecturers and secretariat staff of English Education Study Program for encouraging me to finish this thesis.
I would like to thank the English teacher of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta, Samuel Sunu Nugraha, S.Pd., S.H., M.Hum., for his willingness to help me doing the research in SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta. My gratitude also goes to the staff and students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta for helping me doing my research there.
My deepest gratitude goes to my parents, Fransiskus Yap and Mania Wati. I thank them for their care, support, guidance, and for keeping me sane during this painful process. The gratitude also goes to my siblings, Ipang, Icu, Andri, Agnes, my niece and nephews, Jejen, Jojo, Axel, Shavo, Nidji, and Nesta. I sincerely thank them for cheering my days.
Macan. I am truly grateful for the laughs, tears, and affections we shore these years. I also thank the Commediend family, Synergy and SLP group members especially Widuri, Guntur, Zita, Ade, and Ceye for motivating me. For the lovely fighters, Tita, Indy, Kajol, and Yoanna, I thank them all for the patience and determination they have taught me. I also would like to send a warm thank to Nonok for her helping advices and to Zhou Jielun for cheering me up with his brilliant compositions.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has helped me during my study in Sanata Dharma University. May God bless us always.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ……… i
APPROVAL PAGES ………... ii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ………... iv
DEDICATION PAGE ..………..………... v
ABSTRACT …………...……….………..……….... vi
ABSTRAK
………...…….……… vii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK
KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
………... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……… ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………... xi
LIST OF FIGURES ………. xv
LIST OF TABLES ………... xvi
LIST OF APPENDICES ………... xvii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
A.
Research Background ……….……… 1
B.
Problem Formulation ……….……….………. 4
C.
Problem Limitation ……….……… 4
E.
Research Benefits ……….. 5
F.
Definition of Terms ……… 6
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Theoretical Description ………...….………... 8
1. Instructional Design Model ………. 8
a. Kemp’s Instructional Model ……… 8
b. Taba’s Instructional Model ………. 12
2. Theory of Reading ………... 15
a. Purposes of Reading ………... 16
b.
Teaching
Reading ………... 16
1) Basic Principles in Teaching Reading ……….. 17
2) Characteristics of an Effective Reading Program in the Content
Area ………... 17
3) Comprehension Strategies ……… 18
4) Vocabulary in Reading ………. 19
3. School Based Curriculum ………. 19
4. Blogs ………... 21
a. Features of Blogs ……… 22
b. Blog Use in Education ……… 23
5. Materials Adaptation ……… 25
B. Theoretical Framework ………... 26
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
A. Research Method ……….... 30
2. Planning ……….. 32
3.
Develop
Preliminary
Form of Product ………... 32
4. Preliminary Field Testing ………... 32
5. Main Product Revision ………... 33
B. Research Respondents ……… 33
1. Research and Information Collecting ………. 33
2. Preliminary Field Testing ………... 34
C. Research Instruments ……….. 34
1. Research and Information Collecting ………. 35
2. Preliminary Field Testing ………... 36
D. Data Gathering Techniques ……… 36
E. Data Analysis Techniques ………... 37
1. Research and Information Collecting ………. 37
2. Preliminary Field Testing ………... 37
F. Research Procedure ………. 39
1. Research and Information Collecting ………. 39
2. Planning ……….. 39
3.
Develop
Preliminary
Form of Product ………... 40
4. Preliminary Field Testing ………... 40
5. Main Product Revision ………... 40
CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
A. The Reading Blog Development ………... 41
1. Research and Information Collecting ………...… 41
3. Develop Preliminary Form of Product ………. 52
4. Preliminary Field Testing ………..………... 53
5. Main Product Revision ………. 56
B. The Designed Reading Blog .………... 57
1. The Reading Materials ……….. 58
2. The Blog’s Description ………. 59
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions ……….. 61
B. Suggestions ……….. 63
REFERENCES ………. 65
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1 The Basic Features of a Blog ……… 22
LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 Degree of Agreement ……….. 38
Table 3.2 The Percentage of Respondents’ Opinion (Blank) ………….………….. 38
Table 4.1 Topics, Competency Standard, and Basic Competence ………...… 47
Table 4.2 Topics and Time Allocation ……….… 48
Table 4.3 Topics, Theme, and Subject Contents ………..…… 49
Table 4.4 Topics and Indicators ………...…. 50
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendices ………...………. 68
Appendix A ………... 69
Letter of Permission from
Dinas Pendidikan
………... 70
Letter of Official Statement from
SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
………….... 71
Appendix B ………... 72
Questionnaire of Research and Information Collecting ………... 73
Questionnaire of Preliminary Field Testing ………. 79
Appendix C ……….…. 81
The Result of Research and Information Collecting ……… 82
The Result of Preliminary Field Testing ………...…... 89
Appendix D ………... 92
Syllabus ………. 93
Lesson Plans ……….... 114
Appendix E ………... 126
The Printed Reading Blog ………... 127
Appendix F ………. 165
Worksheets ………... 165
Appendix G ……….… 197
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter reveals the reasons why this research was conducted, the problems to answer through the research, the objectives of this research, the problem limitations in this research, the benefits of the research, and the definition of terms which are used in this research.
A. Research Background
Blog is “a web-based space for writing where all the writing and editing of information is managed through a web browser and is immediately and publicly available on the internet” (Godwin, 2003). Even though the use of blogs in education, particularly in language learning, is still novel and there have not been many formal studies done on this topic (Zhang, 2009), the studies showed positive results. A study conducted by Oravec (2003) showed that the production of weblogs motivates students to read, write, and research in class as well as out-of-class. Some other studies also mentioned the effectiveness of using blogs in language teaching contexts, for example in English as Second Language writing, freshman college composition class, and high-intermediate Japanese language class in the United States (Iida, 2009).
According to Teeler and Gray (2000: 81), a web-based material brings many advantages to the learners. It may “not replace the classroom or the teacher – or in fact, any of other classroom tools that are currently in use – but as a source of material, an instrument for real communication, a supply of internationalism and even a tool for edutainment.” The internet also provides the learners up-to-date and authentic English materials. This enables the learners to discover language for themselves in a more immediate way than by reading textbook.
use of photos, illustrations and graphics from the web. Similarly, the teachers can also download materials to use with their classes, download texts from the web to replace in their course book to base their own materials on or for the learners to use for extensive reading, supplement their lessons by referring the students to relevant websites for follow up work, and put supplementary materials on the web for their students to do after their course has finished.
In this study, the writer designed a reading blog for the tenth grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta. SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta is an example of a school which is suitable to use blog for the learning activities. Firstly, the school provides internet connection for free which the teachers and students can use to support learning activities. This way, the students are able to access the blog for free at school. Secondly, the teachers support the use of internet in learning activities because the students are more motivated when they have to use internet. Based on this condition, the writer chose SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta.
the primary means for independent learning, which will be useful when the students are studying in the university.
Therefore, providing a reading blog for the students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta was an effective way to raise the students’ interest in English reading activity. Since the main function of the reading blog was as a learning medium outside the school time, the reading blog was designed as a supplementary material. Thus, the students would have a medium to practice their English reading skill outside the lesson at school.
B. Problem Formulation
In order to address the background above, this study would answer the following questions.
1. How is the reading blog for tenth grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta designed?
2. What does the reading blog for tenth grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta look like?
C. Problem Limitation
(Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan, commonly abbreviated into KTSP) as the basis for the materials development.
D. Research Objectives
The objectives of this research are as follows.
1. To design a reading blog for the tenth grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
2. To present a reading blog for the tenth grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
E. Research Benefits
The result of this research is expected to be beneficial for: 1. The students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
Even though it was targeted to the tenth grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta, the blog is applicable for students in higher grades. For the tenth grade students, the blog is a source of supplementary material to improve their reading skill. Similarly, for the higher grade students, besides providing supplementary materials, the blog functions as a source of materials to review what they have learnt in the previous years. Moreover, the various activities provided in the blog will avoid boredom in learning.
2. The English teachers of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
assignments, and anything the teachers have posted in if the teachers use the blog themselves to teach English.
3. Other researchers
The result of this research might help other researchers who are interested in a similar topic or in the same field of research.
F. Definition of Terms 1. Blog or Weblog
Originally, the word ‘blog’ derived from ‘weblog.’ However, through its development, the name has been abbreviated into ‘blog.’ According to Barger (1999), “a weblog is a webpage where a weblogger (sometimes called a blogger, or a pre-surfer) 'logs' all the other webpages she finds interesting.” Thus, in a blog, people can post anything. While according to Godwin (2003), “A weblog is a web-based space for writing where all the writing and editing of information is managed through a web browser and is immediately and publicly available on the Internet.”
In this study, the word ‘reading blog’ refers to a web log or blog containing reading materials in which the students are to learn about reading in English.
2. Reading
to decode the text; that is to read aloud. The last stage, reading is the ability to understand what is read.
In accordance to Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP) or School Based Curriculum, the meaning of reading ability is to comprehend meanings in short functional essays and simple essays in forms of recount, narrative, and procedure texts in daily life context.
3. Tenth Grade Students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
Tenth grade students are students of high school with age range around 15 years old. They are categorized as adult learners. In his book, Dean (2004) mentioned some criteria to define the word ‘adult.’ To say that someone is an adult, the things should be considered are physical development and maturity, legal-age definition, and the social roles which expected to be played by adults.
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter reveals the literature related to the study, which is divided into two parts. The first part is theoretical description and the second is theoretical framework.
A. Theoretical Description
This part discusses more deeply about the key points used in the study which include the Instructional Design Model, Theory of Reading, School Based Curriculum, Blogs, and Materials Adaptation.
1. Instructional Design Model
In designing the reading blog, the writer adapted two instructional models by Kemp and Taba. The instructional design models are important since they give the systematic steps or framework to design the reading blog.
a. Kemp’s Instructional Design Model
1) Considering goals and listing topics
This stage includes identifying goals, selecting topics, and listing general purposes. Goal has the broadest scope, it is what the learners are expected to achieve at the very end of the learning process. Meanwhile, the scope of topic is in the course program, it is the basis for the instruction. Topics are sequenced according to a logical organization, knowledge and skills learners have acquired previously, and according to subject preferences or teaching experiences of the teachers.
2) Enumerating the important characteristics of the learners for whom the instruction is to be designed
There are some factors needed to take into account: learners’ academic and social factors, learning conditions, and learning styles. Learning conditions are groups of factors that can affect the learners in learning process, including physical, emotional, sociological environments, and the learners’ physiological makeup. Learning styles are how each person learns effectively using their own method.
3) Specifying learning objectives to be achieved in terms of measurable student behavioural outcomes
are closely related in the way that one objective can involve learning in two or more domains, and attitudinal development may precede successful learning the other domains.
4) Listing the subject content that supports each objective
This stage comprises the selection and organizing of the specific knowledge, skills, and attitudinal factors of any topic. Although subject contents can be organized in various ways (from simple to complex, concrete to abstract, specific to general –or vice versa, etc.), it is possible to choose and order them according to the general purpose of the instruction.
5) Developing pre-assessments to determine the student’s background through a prerequisite test and to present level of knowledge about the topic through a pre-test
The results of pre-requisite test can be viewed as an indicator showing the students’ readiness in learning a topic concerning their previous knowledge. Meanwhile, the result of pre-test shows the students’ familiarity to the present topic. The pre-assessments may be necessary to eliminate, modify, or add objectives to the program after the results are analyzed.
6) Selecting teaching-learning activities and instructional resources that will treat the subject content so students will accomplish the objectives
a) Pre-learning preparation: students should have satisfactorily achieved the learning that is prerequisite to the lesson.
b) Motivation: various learning experiences encouraged the students.
c) Individual differences: learning experiences should enable the students to learn at their own paces and on their own levels of ability.
d) Instructional conditions: clearly-stated and carefully-sequenced objectives lead to successful learning.
e) Active participation: students should be directed systematically to participation activities.
f) Successful achievement: learning must be structured in such a way that the student is mentally challenged and frequently successful.
g) Knowledge of result: motivation for learning can be increased when students are informed of how well they are doing during the course of a lesson.
h) Practice: teaching-learning activities should provide opportunities for the students to use their newly acquired knowledge and skills in many situations.
i) Rate of presenting material: the rate and amount of material to be learned at any one time or in any one lesson must be related to the complexity and difficulty of the material in terms of the abilities of the students.
Similar to the selection of teacher and student activities, the selection of supporting materials can also motivate students and effectively explain and illustrate subject content. The media should be presented appropriately and be able to communicate content or provide student experiences, in terms of an objective within a chosen teaching-learning pattern.
7) Coordinating such support services as budget, personnel, facilities, equipment, and schedules to carry out the instructional plan. These factors are important because without their existence, the plan will be limited.
8) Evaluating students’ learning in terms of their accomplishment of objectives with a view to revising and re-evaluating any phases of the plan that need improvement
The evaluation can be conducted through written, performance, or media-based tests. A formative evaluation is conducted to know whether or not the program has successfully obtained the objectives. It takes place during development and tryouts. On the other hand, a summative evaluation is concerned with evaluating the degree of students’ final achievement of the objectives. Feedback from both evaluations should be used for revising and improving any parts of the instructional plan that need it.
b. Taba’s Instructional Design Model
1) Diagnosing needs
The purpose of this stage is to analyze problems, conditions, and difficulties in order to generate new emphasis and ideas about the curriculum. It is done by mixing together the existing and the new information to create a new approach or to fulfil the needs.
2) Formulating specific objectives
In this stage, the general objectives of the school are translated into more specific objectives as what the results of need diagnosis indicated. It is important to recognize that in planning specific objectives not all objectives are equally achievable in every unit.
3) Selection of content
The content selection is conducted in accordance to the need analysis results and the objectives formulated in the previous step. This stage is divided into three parts. The first is selecting topic. The nature of the topics or units within a course determines the scope of the study, how to organize the content, and also the learning experiences. The second part is selecting basic ideas. The basic ideas represent the knowledge that students should master. The last part is selecting specific content. The specific content should be drawn from the general idea and they should be related with the topic.
4) Organizing content
apply the knowledge. The contents are organized to enable the students achieve the objectives, not the content mastery. It is also necessary to organize content based on what content need more attention based on the need diagnosis because it affects the content development and learning experience.
5) Selecting learning experiences
Contents are not enough to achieve the objectives, the students need learning experiences or activities to support the effort. It is important to create effective learning activities which are able to serve multiple objectives. In doing so, it is important to consider whether or not the activities are (1) appropriate for learning the main ideas and for the maturity level, (2) effective and efficient, and (3) promote active learning. The learning experiences should be various and represent the process of thinking and learning.
6) Organizing Learning Experiences
in which students draw conclusions. Finally, learning experience is ended with applying, assessing, and evaluating what have been learned.
7) Evaluating
Evaluation consists of determining the objectives, the diagnosis, or the establishment of baselines for learning and appraising progress and changes. 8) Checking for balance and sequence
After the outline is completed in writing, it necessary to check the over-all consistency among its parts to minimizes flaws in the plan itself. Evaluations in other aspects are also important: an evaluation of time allocation, a check to whether the organization is sufficiently open-ended to provide alternatives both for content detail to be used and for ways of learning to allow for special needs, and practical considerations to make sure the plan can be applied at any school circumstances.
2. Theory of Reading
The theory of reading is divided into two parts. The first part reveals the purposes of reading, which explains why reading is important in academic and daily life. The second part reveals the theories about teaching reading or how reading materials should be created or developed.
Not only reading bases the synthesis and critical thinking, it also promotes independent learning.
a. Purposes for Reading
Wallace explained (1992: 6) three purposes of reading. The first is reading for survival. ‘Survival reading’ is a kind of reading in order to fulfil immediate needs, for example the sign ‘exit’ for a tourist. The second is reading for learning. This kind of reading does not have to be related to school. The main point is that reading extends the reader’s knowledge. The third is reading for pleasure. Different from ‘survival reading’ which helps people to deal with their environment, and ‘reading for learning’ which has clear objectives – to gain knowledge, reading for pleasure is done merely to the readers’ liking.
Grabe and Stoller (2001: 187) stated that people read for various purposes such as to get the main idea and to locate specific information. However, commonly people read to learn information, to get general comprehension, and for pleasure. Grabe and Stoller explained that English for Academic Purposes (EAP) reading curriculum should fulfil the students’ various reading purposes including (1) to search for information, (2) for general comprehension, (3) to learn new information, and (4) to synthesize and evaluate information.
b. Teaching Reading
1) Basic Principles in Teaching Reading
Cushenbery (1985: 3) proposed nine principles of teaching reading. These aspects are important for teachers since the principles affect their perspectives in lesson planning, giving time allotment for teaching reading skills, and in positioning reading in the curriculum. This study adopted four out of nine principles.
a) In developing a meaningful program of content area reading instruction, the teacher needs to keep in mind that students have various learning modalities which are preferred for mastering various reading skills.
b) The reading curriculum should be broadly based and include such important areas as word attack, comprehension, vocabulary, and study skills.
c) There is no one method of teaching reading which is totally sufficient to meet the needs of all students.
d) Finally, one of the most basic principles of the reading curriculum is to be sure that all curricular activities are directed toward the fact that all reading activities should be geared to help insure that reading is a pleasurable and enjoyable activity for the student.
a) Every teacher needs to understand that a program of developmental, corrective, and remedial reading instruction must be a part of the total instructional plans. b) To meet the reading needs of all students in the content area, a large number of
diverse and interesting reading materials must be utilized. 3) Comprehension Strategies
As quoted by Ambruster and Osborn (2002), the National Panel Report defined comprehension strategies as “specific procedures that guide students to become aware of how well they are comprehending as they attempt to read and write” (Ambruster and Osborn, 2002: 69). The strategies are retelling, drawing inferences, getting the main idea, summarizing, and visualizing. These strategies are best used in classroom reading activities. Since the reading materials designed in this study will be used not for classroom activities, the writer used two out of five strategies.
a) Drawing inferences. Drawing inferences can be done in two ways. First, readers deduce relationships among the ideas in a text. Second, they use their prior or background knowledge to deduce what the text does not explicitly state. Teachers can help students draw inferences by asking questions which require inferences with a help of appropriate scaffolding, or they can ask questions whose answers are stated in the text, or from the students’ prior knowledge, or combination of them.
expository texts because the important information is seen through text structures. Text structure is effectively taught using visualizations such as maps. 4) Vocabulary in Reading
Vocabulary mastery or word recognition skill in reading is important. According to Stanovich, “Skill at word recognition is so central to the reading process that it can serve as a proxy diagnostic tool for instructional methods” (Stanovich, 1950: 208). It is possible for learners to have adequate word recognition skill and poor comprehension abilities but not the reverse. It had been proved that inadequate word recognition skill led to learners’ difficulties in developing reading comprehension abilities and the language use (Stanovich, 1950: 208, Nation, 1990: 2).
I.S.P. Nation proposed two approaches to vocabulary learning, direct and indirect vocabulary learning. The direct vocabulary learning forces learners to focus on the words while the indirect vocabulary learning focuses on other features. The vocabulary exercises in the designed materials used direct vocabulary teaching in order to enable learners to learn numbers of new words in a relatively short time. Moreover, the direct vocabulary is best done individually (Nation, 1990: 119). The direct vocabulary learning exercises include guessing words from contexts and matching words and meanings.
3. School Based Curriculum
2007/2008. The implementation of KTSP is based on Undang Undang No 20 Tahun 2003 about National Education System and Peraturan Pemerintah Republik Indonesia No 19 Tahun 2005 about National Education Standard. Peraturan Pemerintah Republik Indonesia No 19 Tahun 2005 mentions some standards which are the minimum criteria of education system in the entire Republic of Indonesia. The national education standards include the content standard, process standard, graduates Competence standard, teachers standard, facilities standard, and management standard.
To form the syllabus, each school in Indonesia has to refer to Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional No 22 Tahun 2006 about Content Standard (Standar Isi), Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional No 23 Tahun 2006 about Competence Standard (Standar Kompetensi), and Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional No 24 Tahun 2006 about the implementation.
According to KTSP, English literacy consists of several levels. They are Performative, Functional, Informational, and Epistemic level. In Performative level, people read, write, listen and speak using symbols. In Functional level, people are able to use the language to fulfil the daily life needs, for example to read newspaper. In Informational level, people are able to access knowledge using the language mastery, while in Epistemic level, people are able to express knowledge to the target language. In KTPS, senior high school students are expected to gain the English competence in Informational level.
Informational literacy, (2) be aware of the nature and the importance of English to level up the nation’s competitive ability in the global world, and (3) to expand students’ understanding about the connection between language and culture.
The Competence Standards of English reading skill for tenth grade senior high school students in semester one are (1) to understand meanings of short functional written text in daily life context and to access knowledge, and (2) to understand meanings of short functional text and simple essays in forms of recount, narrative, and procedure in daily life context and to access knowledge. While the Basic Competences are as follows.
a. to respond meanings of formal and informal short functional texts, for example announcement, advertisement, invitation, etc. accurately, fluently, and acceptably in daily life context and to access knowledge
b. to respond meanings and rhetoric essays accurately, fluently, and acceptably in daily life context and to access knowledge in forms of recount, narrative, and procedure text
4. Blogs
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b. Blog Use in Education
Jones (2007) stated that in teaching practice, blogs play the role as learning journals, learning logs or thinking journals, reflective journals, audio learning logs, reflective writing journals, visual learning logs, group discussion and collaborative writing spaces, knowledge management, dialogue for group work, and electronic portfolios. Stanley (2005) revealed the reasons for using blogs in education, such as to provide real audience for student writing, to provide extra reading practice for students, to increase the sense of community in a class, to encourage students to participate, and to create an online portfolio of student work.
Campbell (2003) proposed three types of blogs for use in ESL classrooms. The first is the tutor blog. It is run by the teacher for the students. The purposes of tutor blog are as follows.
1) To give daily reading practice to the learners. Teacher can post some links to online reading sources which suit the students’ interests. This way, the teacher avoids students’ boredom in reading.
2) To promote exploration of English websites
3) To encourage online verbal exchange by use of comment buttons. Using the comment buttons at the bottom of each entry, teacher can create lively interactions with the students by asking questions, giving riddles, challenge their views to stimulate the students’ responses.
discussion topics. Teacher can also follow up on difficult areas of classroom work that might need review or clarification.
5) To serve as a resource of links for self-study. Teacher can add links to online quizzes, English news cited, audio and video files for the students to practice outside the classroom.
The second type is the learner blog. This type of blog can be for individual or a group of students to work together. The concept of learner blog is that learners will be able to explore new things by establishing a blog since it may encourage the use of search engines and net surfing in English to find the appropriate sites to which links can be made. It also forces the learners to read more.
The third type, class blog, is the result of collaborative effort of an entire class with some possible uses.
1) It could be used as a free-form bulletin board for learners to post messages, images, and links related to classroom discussion topics.
2) It might be useful for facilitating project-based language learning.
3) It could be used as a virtual space for an international classroom language exchange.
5. Materials Adaptation
Materials adaptation is “changing existing materials so that they become more suitable for specific learners, teachers or situations” (Tomlinson & Masuhara, 2004: 11). There are reasons for adapting materials as stated by Tomlinson and Masuhara. The reasons include the teaching environment, the learners, self preferences, the course objectives, and the materials.
The techniques for materials adaptation are divided into three categories. The first category is Plus Category. The modifications in Plus Category include addition (add different text and/or activities) and expansion (increase the length, difficulty, depth, etc.). The second is Minus Category, which includes deletion (delete some text and/or activities altogether), subtraction (decrease the number of sentences in a text or part of an activity), and reduction (decrease the length, difficulty, depth, etc.).
B. Theoretical Framework
This part explains how the theories reviewed in the Theoretical Description are used to conduct this study. To design the reading blog, the writer combined Kemp’s and Taba’s Instructional Design (ID) Model. The details are as follows.
1. Diagnosis of Needs
In this step, two steps of Kemp’s ID model are merged with Taba’s first step. According to Taba, the purpose of this stage is to analyze problems, conditions, and difficulties in order to generate new emphasis and ideas about the curriculum. To do so, it is necessary to have the information about the learners including their characteristics (Kemp’s step 2) and their level of knowledge (Kemp’s step 5).
Thus, to start the research, the writer conducts a survey to gather information about the students’ needs and interests in learning English. However, the writer adapts Kemp’s fifth step. The information about learners’ level of knowledge is not attained by conducting pre-assessment but through a survey. The survey was conducted in SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta by employing the tenth grade students and the English teachers as respondents.
2. Specifying Learning Objectives
relies on School Based Curriculum 2006 and the curriculum of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta. The results of this step are the topics, Competency Standard, Basic Competence, and the time allocation for each unit.
3. Selection of Content
This step is an interpretation of the third and fourth steps of both Kemp’s and Taba’s ID model. The first thing to do in this step is specifying the indicators as stated in Kemp’s third step. The next is selecting and organizing subject contents (Kemp’s step 4 and Taba’s step 3 and 4).
Selection of content is conducted by considering two main resources. The first is the result of Needs Diagnosis. The result is important in the way that it describes the students’ needs and interests. The second is the Competence Standard and Basic Competence. In addition, the writer take into consideration the reading purposes stated in the theoretical description to select the content. The consideration is that the content of the reading materials will be useful not only in academic setting but also in the learners’ daily life. The outputs of this step are the theme, subject content, and indicators of each unit.
4. Selection of Learning Experiences
Referring to Competency Standard, Basic Competence, indicators, topics, theme, subject content, time allocation, and the analysis result of Needs Diagnosis, the writer defines the learning experiences for the students. Students’ learning experience is important since a well-designed learning activity will support the learning materials and guide the students to achieve the learning objectives. In this step, the writer relies on Cushenbery’s principles of teaching reading and the characteristics of an effective reading program to design the learning experiences.
In order to form effective and meaningful learning experiences, the writer refers to reading comprehension strategies stated by Ambruster and Osborn. Therefore, comprehension exercises will be added to the learning experiences. Also, to enrich the learning experiences, the writer adds vocabulary exercises as proposed by I.S.P. Nation. The vocabulary exercises will be in forms of guessing words for contexts and matching words and meanings. The main output of this step is the learning experiences for the reading materials.
5. Designing the Blog
6. Product Evaluation
The product evaluation is adapted from Kemp’s eighth step and Taba’s seventh and eighth steps. While Taba suggested checking the over-all consistency among all parts of the plan so that it is ready to be applied at school, Kemp suggested the instructional plan evaluation by the students. However, in this step the writer decides to do the instructional plan evaluation not by evaluating student’s achievement.
In order to obtain better blog design, the writer distributes questionnaires to three English teachers of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta and two lecturers of English Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University. The main purpose of this step is to gain suggestions and feedbacks from the respondents.
7. Final Product Revision
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the writer provides the detail description of the methodology
used in the research. It includes the research method employed, the research
respondents, the research instruments, the data gathering technique, the data analysis
technique, and the research procedure.
A. Research Method
Aiming at answering the questions of 1) How is the reading blog for tenth
grade students of
SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
designed?, and 2)
What does the
reading blog look like? , the writer employed the Research and Development (R & D)
method. Educational research and development is “a process used to develop and
validate educational products” (Borg and Gall, 1983: 772). To simplify the research
objectives, the writer formulated a universal objective of the research which was to
create an educational product which brings benefits for
SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
.
In this sense, R & D method was suitable for this research since R & D was required
to bring about educational change and increases the potential impact of basic and
applied research findings upon school practice by translating them into usable
educational products (Borg and Gall, 1983: 773). Besides, R & D provided steps
The steps proposed in R & D, commonly referred to as the R & D Cycle,
include research and information collecting, planning, develop preliminary form of
product, preliminary field testing, main product revision, main field testing,
operational product revision, operational field testing, final product revision,
dissemination and implementation (Borg and Gall, 1983: 775). However, this study
was conducted only until the fifth step because the nature of the blog was as a
supplementary material for
SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
, while the focus of
conducting dissemination and implementation was on the conceptualisation and
development of large-scale curriculum products using the R & D cycle of
develop-test-revise (Borg and Gall, 1983: 786). In this study, the R&D cycle was incorporated
with the Instructional Design models proposed by Taba and Kemp as stated in the
Theoretical Description in Chapter 2.
1. Research and Information Collecting
This step included the diagnosis of needs proposed by Taba and Kemp (step 2
and 5). First of all, the writer did review of literature. Secondly, the writer conducted
a survey by distributing questionnaires to collect the information concerning the
students’ background, studies related to educational blog, implementation of using
blog in classrooms, and other information related to education blog. The writer
2. Planning
As stated by Borg and Gall (1983: 779), the most important aspect of planning
a research-based educational product was the statement of the specific objectives to
be achieved by the product. The planning step is a combination of instructional
design model steps by Kemp and Taba which was stated in the theoretical framework.
The steps are specifying learning objectives, selection of content, and selection of
learning experiences. Therefore, in this step the writer defined the learning objectives,
selected the contents, and selected the learning experiences based on the School
Based Curriculum 2006.
3. Develop Preliminary Form of Product
This step included the preparation of instructional materials. By interpreting
the data collected, writer developed a reading blog which answers the students’ needs
and suitable to the curriculum used in
SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
.
4. Preliminary Field Testing
Based on Kemp’s and Taba’s instructional design models, this step is the
product evaluation step. The preliminary field testing was carried out by one English
teacher of
SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
and two lecturers of English Education Study
Program, Sanata Dharma University. The main objective of this step was to gather
opinions, feedbacks, and constructive suggestions for the education blog through
5. Main Product Revision
This step is the realization of Kemp’s final product revision step. Using the
input gathered from the Preliminary Field Testing, the writer revised the blog.
B. Research Respondents
To gain data from different perspectives, the writer used two groups of
respondents. The first group consisted of 100 tenth grade students of
SMA BOPKRI 2
Yogyakarta
, representing the target users of the blog. The students were in their first
semester. The respondents in this group were randomly chosen among the tenth grade
students in eight classes to keep the objectivity.
The second group consisted of one English teacher of
SMA BOPKRI 2
Yogyakarta
and two lecturers of English Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma
University. The English teacher of
SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
was chosen because
the respondent was in charge of English lesson for the tenth grade students in the
school. Therefore, it was expected that he could give opinions, feedbacks, or
suggestions related to the implementation of the materials. The lecturers of English
Education Study Program Sanata Dharma University were chosen to give opinions,
feedbacks, and suggestions related to the material design since they had the
competency in related study.
1. Research and Information Collecting
To gain information about the background setting and expectations of the
second group, the lecturers of English Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma
University were not involved since they did not have background information needed
related to
SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta.
2. Preliminary Field Testing
In this step, input and feedbacks were obtained only from the second group.
The objective of doing so was to gain feedback from “the teachers” point of view.
Moreover, it was less time consuming.
C. Research Instruments
This research occupied questionnaire as the main instrument. “Questionnaires
are printed forms for data collection which include questions or statements to which
the subject is expected to respond, often anonymously” (Selinger and Shohamy, 1989:
172). Selinger and Shohamy mentioned a number of advantages in using
questionnaires as research instruments: a) They are self-administered and can be
given to large groups of subjects at the same time, which means they are less
expensive to administer than other procedures such as interviews. b) The assured
anonymity helps the research subjects to share information of a sensitive nature more
easily. c) The data are more uniform and standard. d) Since they are usually given to
all research subjects at exactly the same time, the data are more accurate.
According to Selinger and Shohamy, there are two types of questionnaires.
The first is unstructured questionnaires, with low degree of explicitness, containing
manner. The data obtained from unstructured or open questionnaires are descriptive
and open nature, such as essays or narratives. The second is structured questionnaires
which require the subject to mark responses, to check agreement or disagreement or
disagreements, or to select among a number of alternatives. Structured questionnaires
are considered to be more efficient than the open ones. However, it is possible to use
different types of questions, open and closed, in the same questionnaire (Selinger and
Shohamy, 1989: 172).
The questionnaires used in the research were combined questionnaires. Each
set of questionnaire consisted of two types of questions, open-ended and close-ended.
The writer chose questionnaire as one of the research instruments because
questionnaires enabled the writer to gain information in relatively short time from a
large number of respondents. In other words, using questionnaires was effective for
this research.
The instrument was used to gain information and/or feedback in research and
information collecting and preliminary field testing.
1. Research and Information Collecting
In this step, the writer distributed questionnaires to 100 respondents from
group one, and three respondents from group two. The items of questionnaires for
group one were different from the ones for group two since each group had different
perspectives. The items in questionnaire for group one focused on the students’
The questionnaire for group one was divided into two parts. The first part consisted
of multiple choice items and the second part was in a Likert scale form.
On the other hand, the items for group two focused on students’ English
reading skill, English reading teaching-learning activities, and the teachers’ opinion
of using internet in teaching-learning activities. The questionnaire was divided into
two parts, the first part was in a form of multiple choice items and the second part
consisted of open-ended items. The questionnaires for both group one and two were
written in
Bahasa Indonesia
to avoid misunderstandings.
2. Preliminary Field Testing
Aiming at collecting the feedbacks, the writer distributed questionnaires to all
respondents of group two. The items in the questionnaires focused on the respondents’
opinion on the content and layout of the designed materials and the learning activities.
The questionnaire was divided into two parts. The first part was in a Likert scale form,
while the second part contained open-ended questions.
D. Data Gathering Techniques
In order to gather the data in this research, the writer used some techniques. In
research and information collecting step, the writer firstly did a literature review to
gain information related to developing materials in form of blog to teach reading. The
information includes the theory of instructional design methods, the purpose and
use in educational field. In compiling the data, writer referred to printed and online
books, journals, and articles.
Secondly, to collect information about the background setting and expectation
of the students, the writer distributed questionnaires in
SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta.
The questionnaires were distributed to 100 tenth grade students of
SMA BOPKRI 2
Yogyakarta
to gain the information of students’ interests in English Language subject,
reading activity, and their familiarity to blog. The writer also distributed
questionnaires to three English teachers in
SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
. The purpose
was to gain information about the students from the teachers’ perspective and the
teachers’ opinion of using internet as a medium to teach English subject.
E. Data Analysis Technique
Since there were two types of questions in the research instruments
(questionnaires), the data were analyzed into two forms of data, which were
numerical and narrative description data.
1. Research and Information Collecting
The data collected from close-ended questions were presented in a form of
table, showing the percentage of each item in the questionnaires. Meanwhile, the
results of open-ended questions were presented in a form of narrative description.
2. Preliminary Field Testing
The questionnaires for preliminary field testing were in a form of Likert scale
whether they strongly agree, agree, are undecided, disagree, or strongly disagree with
each of a series of statements about the topic” (Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh, 1990: 234).
In order to score the scale, the response categories must be weighted. For
favorable or positively stated items the numerical values 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, respectively, are
assigned to the response categories beginning at the favorable end. For unfavorable or
negatively stated items the weighting is reversed because disagreement with an
unfavorable statement is psychologically equivalent to agreement with a favorable
statement.
Furthermore, to analyze the data gathered, the writer used percentage to
measure the respondents’ opinion on the content and layout of the designed materials
and the learning activities.
Table 3.2 The Percentage of Respondents’ Opinion (Blank)
No Respondents’
Opinion
Number and Percentage
1 2 3 4 5
Note: Formulation to find the percentage
1 %
Statements
Strongly
Agree
Agree Undecided
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Positive
5 4 3 2 1
[image:56.612.68.541.202.648.2]Negative
1 2 3 4 5
Similar to the results of open-ended questions in research and information
collecting, the results of open-ended questions in preliminary field testing were
presented in the form of narrative descriptive.
F. Research Procedure
This part presents the research procedure which was adapted from the
Theoretical Framework in Chapter 2 and R & D method.
1. Research and Information Collecting
In this step, the writer collected the data needed for the research by
conducting a survey in
SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta
to study the needs of the students.
The survey involved all respondents from the first group and three English teachers of
SMA BOPKRI I Yogyakarta.
The survey was carried out to collect information about
the students’ interest in learning English. The data gathered were analyzed and used
as the basis for designing the blog. To enrich the collection of information, the writer
conducted a review of literature by compiling the theories related to the blog design.
The theories were collected from printed and online books, journals, and articles.
2. Planning
Employing the data collected from research and information collecting step,
the writer reviewed the English Syllabus of
SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta.
In this step,
the writer defined the goals, topics, general purposes, and learning objectives. The
3. Develop Preliminary Form of Product
In developing the primary form of the product, the writer used the result of
learner needs analysis conducted in research and information collecting and the
School Based Curriculum as the considerations. The purpose of considering these two
factors was to make sure that the design would suit best to the students’ needs and
interests.
4. Preliminary Field Testing
This step was conducted by distributing questionnaires to all members of the
second group of research respondents. The results were analyzed to find the tendency
of the respondents. The main output of this step was constructing suggestions and
feedbacks from the respondents to improve the design.
5. Main Product Revision
Considering the analysis of data collected in preliminary field testing, the
writer revised the design. The revision was important to produce better product. The
CHAPTER 4
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
The main point of this chapter is answering the research problems which are stated in Chapter 1. Therefore, this chapter is divided into two parts. The first part explains the process of designing the reading blog while the second part presents the designed reading blog.
A. The Reading Blog Development
This part answer the first research problem: How is the reading blog for SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta grade X students designed? As it has been discussed in Chapter 3, this study employed Research and Development (R&D) method proposed by Borg and Gall to develop the reading blog. The details of each step are as follows.
1. Research and Information Collecting
In order to complete the information, the writer distributed questionnaires to the research respondents in group one and two. Group one consisted of one hundred tenth grade students of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta, who were randomly chosen and group two consisted of three English Language teachers of SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta. The questionnaires were distributed in SMA BOPKRI 2 Yogyakarta from August 18, 2010 until August 24, 2010.
a. The Results of Group One’s Questionnaires
The results of group one questionnaire showed the students’ background knowledge of reading in English, their interest and habit in reading English passages and in using internet or blog. From Part I of the questionnaire, it was revealed that more than half of the respondents (66%) were not really interested in English reading and 63% stated that their English reading skills were just adequate. Concerning the English reading lesson at school, 64% stated that it was not really interesting and only 34% in total stated it was interesting. There were some factors which made English reading was difficult for the respondents; the factors included vocabulary (49%), English grammar (25%), and the passage’s length (18%). From these data, it could be seen that most respondents were not interested in English reading. They believed that their English reading skills were not good enough and the English reading lesson at school was not interesting enough for them. Secondly, they had problems which affected the reading comprehension including vocabulary and grammar.
chose “seldom”, and four percent (4%) chose “never.” The respondents read English passages in forms of magazines (30%), internet articles (25%), novels (20%), newspapers (7%), and the others were song lyrics, comics, and various books (4%).
Most respondents chose Music (23.1%) and Entertainment (22.2%) as the most interesting topics for English reading. The other topics were Sport (12.9%), Lifestyle (8.9%), Nature (6.7%), Culture (5.7%), Animals and Plantations (5.3%), Biography (4%), Science and Technology (3.1%), Education (2.7%), Health (1.8%), Politics (1.8%), Humanism (0.9%), and Photography (0.9%).
This first part of the questionnaire also showed how frequent the respondents accessed the internet in a week. Twenty two percents (22%) accessed the internet less than twice a week, 33% accessed twice to five times in a week, 23% accessed five to ten times in a week, and nine percent (9%) accessed more than 15 times in a week. From all respondents, half of them were familiar with blog while the other half were not.
The second part of the questionnaire, which focused on respondents’ reading skills and interest, showed that most respondents had the basic ability in reading such as predicting, skimming, and scanning. More than half of the respondents (57%) stated that they predicted the content of a passage from its title. Sixty two percents (62%) of the respondents agreed that they read a passage thoroughly before they read it in details.
reading activity itself, the second part of this questionnaire showed the contrary. Fifty four percents (54%) agreed that they looked for the Indonesian meanings of difficult words they found in a passage and 64% tried to look for the pronunciations.
To the statements related to the respondents’ familiarity with blog, only 24% chose “Agree” and 7% chose “Strongly agree” that they understand how to use blog properly. However, 50% agreed and 15% strongly agreed that they read blog to find information in the internet.
b. The Result of Group Two’s Questionnaires
The results of group two’s questionnaires revealed the tenth grade students’ ability and interest in reading activities of English lesson from the teachers’ point of view, and also the role of internet in the learning process. In the first part of the questionnaires, it was stated that the students showed interest in English lesson’s reading activities. Even so, two respondents stated that the students’ reading skill was adequate, and one stated it was good. The respondents referred to some sources in English reading lesson including compulsory books, newspaper, magazines, internet, and movies.
their own groups. The students were expected to be more active in the learning activities.
The students were motivated when they were to do various activities, such as searching English text in the internet, or from newspaper and magazines. They were also motivated to participa
