CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODS
A. Findings
Metacognitive strategy in learning reading a. Planning and preparation
Table
The finding of planning and preparation phase Planning and Preparation
Phase
Alternatives
Always Often Sometimes Seldom Never
Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Setting goals before
reading 12 21% 8 14% 25 44% 7 12% 4 8%
Seeing the title and try to
guess the context 17 30% 26 46% 11 19% 2 9% - - Relating the title to the
background knowledge 11 19% 28 50% 12 21% 3 5% 2 4%
Before reading try to guess
the content 18 32% 28 50% 7 12% 2 4% - - Before reading try to focus
and concentration 7 12% 19 34% 19 34% 10 17% 1 2%
Try to guess the content
from illustration 7 12% 34 60% 9 16% 5 9% 1 2%
Total 72 21% 143 43% 83 25% 29 9% 8 2%
From the table , there are six questions focused on the planning and preparation phase. Planning and preparation is the first step in metacognitive strategy, in this principle there are some sub principles students must do in applying
metacognitive strategy. In this session they were given time to comprehend a text by using some strategies.
Therefore the data gotten through two ways, they are questionnaire and interview. The interview done after they do reading task. So some answers given by interviewer based on what they do in this task.
1) Set goal
This sub principle is important in applying metacognitive strategy, because it is a way for students to monitor their comprehension. From the table the question number 1 is about how students set goal before reading. In this segment, most students sometimes do this strategy. The data gotten based on the questionnaire given to the students. Then from the interview, the researcher got about some reasons why they did this strategy. According to them, they did it because of the lecturer’s explanation; they were motivated to set some goals before they read reading text. One way for them to set goal by making some questions relate to reading text. In their opinion, they set some questions to motivate them to read until they find the answers.
Then, they made questions by reading a title and they wrote some questions related to it. They used their background knowledge to make questions.
From it, they could make three until five questions. Then, they saw sub title in a reading text and make questions too. The way to set goal can be done by making some questions, it is a goal in a short time. It means that, the goals they make can be reached in short time. Some questions made based on their need, why they read it. Sometime through this way, they would know how to accomplish a task. in reading task students were given a reading text, they were asked to comprehend a
text and the lecturer will give them some questions. One sub principle in planning and preparing phase, has been fulfilled. Students did it by creating some questions base on the title and sub title.
2) Think about title
Before students read the text, they think about a topic or title first. In table the question relate to it is question number 2 and 3. In question number 2, most students often did it and most students often did the strategy from the question number 3. Meanwhile data gotten from interview was they did it because it gave them picture about the text. They did it by reading several times and tried to guess the story about. In planning and preparing phase, it was done to help them to activate their background knowledge. In set goal, they had thought about title and make questions, but in this sub principle they did it to connect their previous knowledge with the new one.
In this part the researcher asked them about how they did this strategy and how to did it. The scripts of the interview as written as follow:
Interviewer : have you ever look the title before you begin to read Respondent : yes I have
Interviewer : why did you do this way?
Respondent : because I got the picture about the whole material Interviewer : how did you do it?
Respondent : I read the title several times until I get the idea about the text Interviewer : do you get benefit of it?
Respondent : yes I do
Interviewer : can you tell me about you guessing about the material base on the title
Respondent : ( She smile) off course, like what I did just now. The lecturer give us reading material that has title is ” Designing Lessons for EFL Listening comprehension Classes”. So from the title I got some ideas they are:
1. It is about how to set some tasks relate to listening comprehension
2. It is about affective way in teaching listening so learners can comprehend the listening task very well
3. It is about an approach of teacher to teach listening
From this interview, the researcher knew that the students did this strategy to help them to read the material easily because they got the picture about it. The idea was gotten through their experience while they were taught.
3) Learn about illustration
From the table, question number 4 express about this strategy. This step had been fulfilled by students, most students often did this strategy. From the theory there are so many illustrations included in a text, such as picture, graphic, bold and italic word and so on. Unfortunately, in a text given, there was no pictures or graphic, so they only noticed for the italic and bold word. There are some bold sentences in it. They wrote it one by one. They explored their idea from it by connected it to the sub title.
The reason why they did this strategy and how they did it was taken from the interview. Like the scripts below:
Interviewer : do you learn about the illustration?
Respondent : yes I do
Interviewer : what kinds of illustration are you taken from the text?
Respondent : like italic and bold sentence
Interviewer : do you write down the italic and bold sentence are met?
Respondent : sometimes Interviewer : why?
Respondent : because the italic and bold sentence that I found are familiar for me, so I don’t have to write down it
Interviewer : does it help
Respondent : yes. Sometime I spend much time to do it. I try to analyze the content from it
From the interview, the researcher knew that this strategy was useful for them. This activity could motivate them to read and they could guess about the text through it.
4) Using background knowledge
It is the last step students done before they begin to read. In this step, they tried to remember everything they have known about it. First, they began to use their background knowledge to set goals. In setting goal, the question made base on what they have known before. Second, in step thinking about topic, they would organize their thinking based on the title. And the last one, in learning about illustration, it was using background knowledge to predict about the illustration included. Consequently, in planning and preparing phase, most students used their
background knowledge to help them comprehend a text. From interview, it was known that they had background knowledge about the text because most the text given was very contextual so it was quite easy for them to guess about the content of text.
b. Monitoring
The finding of monitoring phase
Monitoring Phase Alternatives Strategies during
reading Very often Often Sometimes Seldom Never Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Asking question about
own understanding 9 16% 30 54% 11 20% 6 11% - - Relate ideas to own
experience 6 11% 21 38% 23 41% 5 9% 1 2%
Try to be consistent
and be motivated 11 20% 33 62% 8 14% 4 7% - -
Write the difficult
words 11 20% 15 27% 22 39% 7 13% 1 2%
Write the important
information 4 7% 16 29% 25 45% 6 11% 5 9%
Write the main ideas
and supporting details 3 5% 14 25% 29 52% 10 18% - -
Compare the information found to
experience 6 11% 19 34% 21 38% 8 14% 1 2%
Giving attention to grammar of the
sentences 9 17% 18 32% 24 43% 4 7% - ‐
Discussing about difficult words with
friends 2 4% 24 43% 24 43% 4 7% 2 4%
Compare the meaning of difficult words with friends
-
- 24 43% 21 38% 10 18% 1 1%
Asking friends’
understanding about
text and compare it 3 5% 16 29% 24 43% 10 18% 3 5%
Total 64 10% 229 37% 232 38% 74 13% 14 2%
The table shows about some questions relate to monitoring phase. In this phase, students do reading then they monitor their comprehension through some ways below.
1) Ask if it make a sense
It is a first step of monitoring phase. In this step students monitored their comprehension by asking question “ Do I understand this?” . it is a way to control their learning. So that when they did not understand, the can reread it.
The data gotten from the questionnaire, most students did this strategy. In reading task, they almost did it. They tried to control their understanding by thinking what was it about. Sometime they explained it with their own sentence.
They began to read paragraph to paragraph, when the first paragraph end, they tried to memorize what was it about and to paraphrase it. To make sure whether they did the right one, they tried to read it again. According to them, there were so many advantages to do that, such as they could memorize some unfamiliar words.
The data gotten from interview shows how and why they did this strategy like script below:
Interviewer : have you ever ask yourself whether you understand about the text or not
Respondent : yes I have
Interviewer : can you give example how do you control your understanding?
Respondent : (she smile), excuse me what do you mean?
Interviewer : ya.. what do you do to check about your understanding?
Respondent : o… I see. I often try to paraphrase it. and sometime I also check my friend’s understanding and compare it
From the interview the researcher knows that the students did the first step in monitoring phase. They did it to monitor their reading process whether it made sense or not.
2) Personalize/contextualized
The next step in this phase is how they connected the new idea with their background knowledge. From the questionnaire, almost all students often did this strategy. The reason of why and how they did this strategy was gotten from interview.
The way to personalize the text was how they felt about the text, whether they had experience about it or not. So they could understand easier about the content by remembering their own experience.
3) Take notes
Taking note is another step students could do in monitoring phase, it is about how they took note about important information included in a text. there are so many information exist in it. One of them is difficult words. Most students sometimes did this strategy. Not many students wrote the difficult word as their personal writing. Next, the following question was whether they wrote the main idea of each paragraph. Then most the students also sometimes did strategy.
The data gotten from the interview showed about their reason why they did it and how they did it. Like the script below:
Interviewer : have you ever take note while you are reading Respondent : yes I have
Interviewer : what do you write?
Respondent : she laugh… many
Interviewer : can you give the example?
Respondent : I often write difficult words and the important information Interviewer : what information?
Respondent : if I find information and I think it is new and important so I like to write it
Interviewer : what for?
Respondent : I think it will be useful next time Interviewer : how about the main ideas?
Respondent : sometime Interviewer : Why?
Respondent : because I always remember about the main idea so I don’t have to write it
Interviewer : o… I see
From the interview, the researcher knew that this strategy was useful for them. it helped them to control the reading process. Because sometime they needed to review what they had read, so they did not have to read it totally. Therefore, sometime it helped them for the future. The important ideas could give them additional information for the future. Therefore, it was a best way for them to keep information.
4) Talk yourself through it
This is an important step in monitoring phase, students would ask themselves whether they understood or not and then found the way to solve it by using some reading strategies. Most students often did this strategy
Most students liked to motivate themselves to finish the task very well.
They tried to accomplish it. They did it by ensuring themselves that they could do it. In reading process, there are so many problems they faced but they tried to say the positive statement. Their desire to know about the content of the text made them want to finish it. Beside that the goal they had made, made them wanted to find out whether their guessing about the text right or wrong. Moreover, they often push themselves to continue the task and not gave up.
5) Cooperate
Cooperating in doing task is the last step the students did in monitoring phase. Most students often did this strategy, in cooperation, there many things they could do together. From the questionnaire, that was question number 15, most students often discussed about the difficult words with their friends. From the interview, they did it because they had to know other opinion about it.
Next, the following question is whether they compare their guessing about familiar words with other or not. It was found that most students often did this strategy. The benefit of why they did it because they would know whether it was right or not. From the other opinion sometimes, they got new idea. Some students sometime become more motivated when their guessing was rather same with their friend. From this situation the researcher knew that those strategies above are related each other.
Moreover, from the question number 17, it found that most students sometime did it. The students not only cooperated in unfamiliar words but also their understanding about the text. Students tried to compare about their friends understanding and compare it. Sometimes if it was not same, they like to reread it.
From the data above it seem that most students did some strategies in monitoring phase.
c. Problem solving
Problem Solving Phase Alternatives Very often Often Sometimes Seldom Never
Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Guessing meaning
from context 9 16% 23 41% 22 39% 2 4% - - translating 9 16% 25 45% 17 30% 5 9% - - Re read the difficult
words many times 11 20% 32 57% 9 16% 3 5% 1 2%
Using connection such as: however,
consequently etc 5 9% 28 50% 13 23% 9 16% 1 2%
Looking comma,
quoted, parentheses etc 14 25% 28 50% 9 16% 4 7% - - Using resources such
as dictionary 8 14% 12 21% 27 48% 5 9% 3 5%
skimming 6 11% 13 23% 26 46% 9 16% 2 4%
Never give up and
change the strategies 5 9% 26 46% 17 30% 7 13% 1 2%
Total
67 15% 187 42% 140 31% 44 10% 8 2%
The next phase in metacognitive strategy is problem solving. It was done to help students to solve the problem faced while learning process. Based on interview, the researcher knew that most of them had problem in finding the meaning of difficult word. Therefore, the strategies below help them to solve their problem
1) Using context clues
To know what they did to help them in reading, the researcher asked some question relate to it. like the script below:
Interviewer : do you like reading?
Respondent : she laughs, yes off course
Interviewer : while you are reading, what problems are you faced?
Respondent : the main problem is difficult word
Interviewer : ok, can you tell me, what do you do to solve it?
Respondent : I try to guess it by seeing the previous and next sentences Interviewer : did it help?
Respondent : sometimes.
Interviewer : do you know what is the name of that strategy?
Respondent : if I’m not mistaken it is guessing meaning from context.
Interviewer : yes, or you can say using context clues. Beside seeing the previous and next sentence have you ever seen the grammar of the sentence
Respondent : do you mean the tenses?
Interviewer : yes, the sentences’ rules
Respondent : yes, I always do it, because it help me to understand the idea of the sentences
Interviewer : how about the conjunction such as however, consequently and soon
Respondent : yes, I often see it because it give me clues.
Interviewer : o..I see. How do you know about that one
Respondent : I have learned about that and from my experience.
Interviewer : do you know the function of those words?
Respondent : if I’m not mistaken it shows about the antonym of the sentence before
Interviewer : Yes, you all right. Have you ever found comma, dashes and perhaps parenthesis in paragraph
Respondent : yes I have
Interviewer : what do you do when you find it
Respondent : I always see it because I think it give me the clue also
Form the interview the researcher knew the reason of using context clues strategy. According to them, the main problem they found was difficult word. To solve this problem they used using context clue strategy. From the interview, the researcher knew that student knew about it from their experience and this strategy sometime helped them to solve their problem
Meanwhile, from the questionnaire, most students often found the meaning of difficult word by seeing the previous and the next sentences.
Meanwhile the other strategy related to using context clue was the grammar of the sentences, most students sometime did this strategy. Next, the strategy use by
students saw the conjunction which was shown the antonym of the sentence before. Almost half of students often did this strategy. The next strategy was seeing the synonym by seeing comma, dashes and parentheses. More than half students often did this strategy.
Therefore, from questionnaire and interview were known that most student use some strategies relate to using context clues. They found the meaning of difficult words by seeing the previous and next sentences, then guessing the idea of the sentences by noticing the grammar rule’s of the sentence. Finally, the strategies used were seeing the synonyms and antonyms of the words or sentences by giving attention to the conjunction.
2) Inference
The other strategy to help students in reading is inferring. It is about guessing the meaning of the sentences by using the previous knowledge and the fact and the evident given in a text. From the questionnaire, most students used this strategy. It is a way they did to help them finding the meaning of the difficult word. Inference is quite same with guessing meaning from the context. Most students knew about strategy guessing meaning from the context, they did not familiar with inference. But actually the way they did to guess the meaning of words are like inference, because some way, they not only saw sentences around that sentence but also analyzed some facts given in text.
3) Scanning/skimming
Skimming/scanning is how they read the reading material very fast. It was used to find the main idea of each paragraph. From the questionnaire the data
gotten that most students sometime did it. The researcher wanted to know why most of them sometime do this strategy like the script below:
Interviewer : do you know skimming and scanning?
Respondent : yes I do
Interviewer : how do you know that?
Respondent : from my lecturer explanation Interviewer : did you like to do that Respondent : sometime
Interviewer :why?
Respondent : it take much time to find the main idea of the sentence first then we will read it totally
Interviewer : but I think it is good strategy
Respondent : yes it is good but the limitation of the time make me seldom do it but if I read at home I like to find the main idea first then I read the text totally
From the interview, the researcher knew why they seldom use this strategy.
According to them, they have to finish their work as soon as possible so they have to read rapidly even though it was not good for them.
4) Translation
The next strategy use in problem solving is translation. It is how they translated the text in their own language. From the questionnaire it was known, most students often did this strategy. According to them, this strategy is helpful because they can get the idea easier.