should be considered in teaching English using CALL. According to Egbert et.al., eight conditions should be considered for optimal language learning environments.
First, learners have opportunities to interact and negotiate meaning. Second, learners interact in the target language with an authentic audience. Third, learners are involved
in authentic tasks. Fourth, learners are exposed to and encouraged to produce varied and creative language. Fifth, learners have enough time and feedback. Sixth, learners
are guided to attend mindfully to the learning process. Seventh, learners work in an atmosphere with an ideal stress or anxiety level. Eighth, learner autonomy is
supported. Egbert and Hanson-Smith 1999 state that Internet communication can help
teachers and learners create many of the conditions for an optimal learning environment. According to them, it increases self-esteem by empowering both the
teacher and student regardless of certain physical challenges or social and cultural differences. They add that it encourages and motivates students to become involved
in authentic projects Those benefits will be used in applying CALL in mechanical engineering class
to make students develop their reading competence. Since CALL have many benefits, those will help students in learning English as foreign language. They will find that
learning English is fun with CALL.
2. Reading Competence
Competence includes skill and knowledge. In can be seen from Chomsky in Brumfit and Johnson 1998: 13 is “the speaker-hearer’s knowledge and ability thus
includes concepts of appropriateness and acceptability”. The specific learning
outcomes under language competence deal with knowledge of the language and the ability to use that knowledge to interpret and produce meaningful texts appropriate to
the situation in which they are used. Language competence in this study deals with reading competence of
mechanical engineering students. The ability to interpret and comprehend text suitable in content can be seen from reading. Language competence is best developed
in the context of activities or tasks where the language is used for real purposes, in other words, in practical application. Competence is needed by mechanical
engineering students because as mechanical engineering students, they should recognize the knowledge and they also have to use it in real situation.
Reading is regarded as one of English skills that need reader’s interpretation from text. Nuttal viewed that reading essentially focuses on meaning, especially,
delivering meaning from writer to reader 2005:3. It means that the reading activity builds thinking collaboratively among the reader, the writer and the text.
In line with Nuttal, reading involves the recognition of the elements of meaning in their essential relations including accuracy and thoroughness in comprehension.
Knowing nature of reading is one of requirements to facilitate the readers in comprehending the text well. In reading, we have ability to go back and find the
meaning of difficult words. According to Nunan 2003:68, reading is a fluent process of readers combining information from text and their own background of
knowledge to build the meaning. There was a shift in emphasis reading from passive skill reading along with
listening to an active one focus on reader. Thus, the readers were typically
described as extracting meaning from a text. Reading is considered as interactive either than active. Readers are seen as negotiating meaning; meaning is partial within
the text and writers’ intentions may not be privileged over reader’s interpretations Carter Nunan, 2001.
a. The Process of Reading
Reading is regarded as one of English skills that need reader’s interpretation from text. In this sense, according to Nuttal 2005 views that reading focuses on
meaning, especially delivers meaning from reader. It means that, the reading activity builds thinking collaboratively among the reader, the writer and the text. Reading is a
process where readers combine information from a text and their own background knowledge to build meaning Nunan, 2003: 68. Reading is also an interactive
process in at least two ways. First, the various processes involved in reading are carried out virtually simultaneously. While we are recognising words very rapidly
and keeping them active in our working memories, we are also analysing the structure of sentences to assemble the most logical clause-level meanings, building a main-idea
model of text comprehension in our heads, monitoring comprehension and so on. Combining these skills in an efficient manner makes general comprehension a time-
consuming ability to master. Reading is interactive in the sense that linguistic information from the text
interacts with information activated by the readers’ background knowledge. These two knowledge sources linguistic and background are essential for building the
reader’s interpretation of the text Grabe Stroller, 2002. The goal of reading is
comprehension Nunan, 2003, 68. It is to grasp of main ideas and supporting ideas and related to those main ideas to background knowledge as appropriate.
The process of decoding word and comprehending meaning will be used in this study to develop students’ reading competence. The students actively work with their
reading using their interpretation and also their background knowledge. There are five aspects to the process of reading: phonics, phonemic awareness,
vocabulary, reading comprehension and fluency. These five aspects work together to create the reading experience Wallace, 2003. Phonics is the connection between
sounds and letter symbols. It is also the combination of these sound-symbol connections to create words. Phonemic awareness is closely related to phonics
because both involve the connection between sounds and words. Fluency is a reader’s ability to read with speed, accuracy and expression. Thus, it requires him to combine
and use multiple reading skills at the same time. Vocabulary is needed in order to read the written text. Fluency is intimately tied
to comprehension. A reader must be able to move quickly enough through a text to develop meaning. Comprehension is what most people think reading is. This is
because comprehension is the main reason why we read. It is the aspect of reading that all of the others serve to create. Reading comprehension is an understanding what
a text is all about. It is more than just understanding words in isolation. It is putting them together and using prior knowledge to develop meaning. Reading
comprehension is the most complex aspect of reading. It not only involves all of the other four aspects of reading, it also requires the reader to draw upon general thinking
skills.
Reading skills involve some skills that should be taught to make students comprehend reading text. The table below listed several skills which included in
reading:
Table 2.1. Skills which included in Reading
No
Skills 1
Automatic decoding. Being able to recognize a word at a glance.
2
Previewing and predicting. Giving the text a quick once-over to be able to guess what is to come.
3
Specifying purpose. Knowing why a text is being read.
4
Identifying genre. Knowing the nature of the text in order to predict the form and content.
5
Questioning. Asking questions in an inner dialog with the author.
6
Scanning. Looking through a text very rapidly for specific information.
7
Recognizing topics. Finding out what the text is about.
8
Classification of ideas into main topics and details. Categorizing words and ideas on the basis of their relationships; distinguishing general and specific.
9
Locating topic sentences. Identifying the general statement in a paragraph
10
Stating the main idea or thesis of a sentence, paragraph or passage. Knowing what the author’s point is about the topic.
11
Recognizing patterns of relationships. Identifying the relationships between ideas; the overall structure of the text.
12
Identifying and using words that signal the patterns of relationships between ideas. Being able to see connections between ideas by the use of words such
as first, then, later
13
Inferring the main idea, using patterns and other clues.
14
Recognizing and using pronouns, referents, and other lexical equivalents as clues to cohesion.
15
Guessing the meaning of unknown words from the context. Using such clues as knowledge of word parts, syntax, and relationship patterns.
16
Skimming. Quickly getting the gist or overview of a passage or book.
17
Paraphrasing. Re-stating texts in the reader’s own words in order to monitor one’s own comprehension.
No
Skills
18
Summarizing. Shortening material by retaining and re-stating main ideas and leaving out details.
19
Drawing conclusions. Putting together information from parts of the text and inducing new or additional ideas.
20
Drawing inferences and using evidence. Using evidence in the text to know things that are unstated.
21
Visualizing. Picturing, or actually drawing a picture or diagram, of what is described in the text.
22
Reading critically. Judging the accuracy of a passage with respect to what the reader already knows; distinguishing fact from opinion.
23
Reading faster. Reading fast enough to allow the brain to process the input as ideas rather than single words.
24
Adjusting reading rate according to materials and purpose. Being able to choose the speed and strategies needed for the level of comprehension
desired by the reader.
Adapted from Mikulecky, 1990 This study will focus on some skills on reading. I will select some of them to be
applied in developing reading competence from mechanical engineering students. In selecting skills, the needs of the students will be considered. It will be seen from the
study program profile and the graduate competence. Furthermore, Mickulecky 1990 views the importance of building skills on reading besides background knowledge
and conceptual framework activation. Learning not to read every word, improving bottom up processing, word knowledge, finding topic and main ideas, recognizing
patterns of textual organization, as well as learning how skim and summarising are seen as prominent skills to maintain.
As the result of reading process, there are also some factors that influence the students in their reading. Some experts have identified a number of factors affecting
comprehension skill. One of them is Dawson and Bamman 1967: 220- 223. According to them, there are five factors which affect the comprehension skill. They
Table 2.1. Skills which included in Reading continued.
are first, intelligence. Students have different intelligence, so it will be possible for them to produce different comprehension. The number of ideas that they understand
and depth of their understanding will be largely dependent upon his general capacity to learn. The second is experience. Students with limited experience may have
difficulty in comprehending many of the ideas and activities with which other students are familiar before they come to school.
The third is mechanics of reading. Comprehension will be easier for the students if they have all mastered the skills of word attack and word meaning, and if they have
learned to handle material books properly. Obviously, there must be a fine balance somewhat in each student between careful attention to word attack skills and to
comprehension skills. The fourth is interest and interest span. It is truism that we all respond quickly to what we read if we are interested in the topic or at least familiar
with it. The interest span is related to personality factors; a disturbed student who has encountered many unfortunate experiences at home or in the school may be unable to
preserve when required for comprehending reading passages.
b. Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension is discussed because this research is going to solve the problem in vocabulary and comprehension in reading skills. They are related each
other. Reading comprehension depends on vocabulary knowledge and vice versa. The more students read, the better their vocabulary becomes. The more vocabulary they
know, the better they can read. The question for teachers and second-language students, however, was always, “Which words should the students learn?”
Mikulecky, 2008
.
It is well established that good readers read with ease, accuracy
and understanding. Good readers also read more, and by reading more, they increase their vocabulary and knowledge.
According to Nation 2001, direct teaching of vocabulary should constitute about 25 percent of a vocabulary program. Instruction
should be planned so that the students encounter a new word at least seven or more times in meaningful contexts. To motivate students, it is important to explain the
usefulness of mastering the high-frequency words and how that will improve reading comprehension.
Reading comprehension is about understanding written text and it is a complex activity that involves both perception and thought. It consists of two processes: word
recognition and comprehension. Word recognition refers to the process of perceiving hoe written symbols correspond to one’s spoken language, comprehension is the
process of making sense of words, sentences and connected text. Traders typically make use of background knowledge, vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, experience
with text and other strategies to help them understand written text. Skilled readers generally are able to construct meaning through the integration of existing and new
knowledge and use certain strategies to assist, monitor, regulate and maintain comprehension Grow, 1996. Grabe and Stroller 2002: 4 states that reading a way
to draw information from a text to form an interpretation of that information. Comprehension is the process of deriving meaning from connected text. It
involves word knowledge vocabulary as well as thinking and reasoning. Therefore, comprehension is not a passive process, but an active one. The reader actively
engages with the text to construct meaning. This active engagement includes making
use of prior knowledge. It involves drawing inferences from the words and expressions that a writer uses to communicate information, ideas and viewpoints.
Reading comprehension takes the greater attention in Mechanical Engineering Study Program. The students need to comprehend the text and instructional books
which written in English because most of books used are in English. The students also need vocabulary development to help them comprehend reading texts. As we
know that reading comprehension deals with language messages in written form and it also is seen as a way to draw information to interpret the meaning Grabe
Stroller, 2002. Knowing strategic of reading is beneficial for college students to understand text which is given. Since the college students almost deal with lots of
reading text. They need to understand how to read text effectively. In sum up, reading comprehension is the process to grasp meaning of the text
from writer that involves experience and prior knowledge that the reader has. This process can be harmonious with the purpose of reading. According to Grabe and
Stroller 2002, the purpose of reading has been classified into four purposes. First, reading to search for simple information and reading to skim. It is common reading
ability, here, the reader scan the text to find out a specific piece of information or specific word. Meanwhile, reading to skim is the strategy to form the general idea
using basic reading comprehension and guesses the important point. Second, reading to learn from text. It happens in academic and professional context. It also requires
remembering the main idea and the supporting idea, making a relation with the reader’s knowledge. This activity could bring stronger inference because it is to help
remember information. Third, reading to integrate information, write and critique
text. This skill needs critical evaluation where the readers integrate and decide the information that she or he wants. Then, it involves abilities such as composing,
selecting, and making critique from material. Fourth, reading for general comprehension. It can be done by fluent readers very fast and automatically in the
processing word, and effective coordination in many process of the text.
c. Teaching Reading
In teaching reading to second language students, reading should be taught in context so that they could recognize what reading. Reading in English or in any other
language is a necessary life skill, yet one of the greatest challenges of teaching reading comprehension is motivating students to read. As considered by Harmer
2001, “reading is not a passive skill” p. 70. However, when it comes to giving reading activities to students in the class, many times it is possible to see that students
get bored or tired of reading because the material is not interesting for them, consists of long passages, or takes such a long time to be read that students start feeling
frustrated or drowsy. Indeed, there are many other reasons why students do not have a successful reading process. Nuttall 2005, p. 35 listed some reasons of failure on
reading process, namely, negative expectations, unsuitable tasks, the wrong
procedures, expecting them to run before they can walk, the wrong texts. Nonetheless, even when the reading material is interesting for the students and
the teacher plans different activities to study this material, students eventually get tired of working with the traditional paper-based approach, a situation which
constitutes a great challenge for language teachers. Even so, this does not mean that language teachers are expected to devise teaching strategies from feel discouraged
about their current teaching techniques. Indeed, using traditional approaches to teach- ing reading comprehension aided by technology can be help students developing
reading competence. When we teach reading to students, there are principles to do. Nunan 2003:74-
77 suggested that there are several principles for teaching reading. They are exploiting the reader’s background knowledge, building a strong vocabulary case,
teach for comprehension, working on increasing reading rates, teaching reading strategies, encourageing readers to transform strategies into skills, building
assessment and evaluation into your teaching and strive for continuous improvement as a reading teacher. Teacher should be able to make students reduce their
dependence to dictionary. Teacher should find the way to make balance on assisting students to improve students reading rate and students reading comprehension skills.
As teachers, we should show student how they can adjust their reading behaviour to deal with a variety of situations, types of input, and reading purposes.
They help students develop a set of reading strategies and match appropriate strategies to each reading situation. Strategies that can help students read more
quickly and effectively include, first Previewing, in the strategy the students review titles, section headings, and photo captions to get a sense of the structure and content
of a reading selection. Second is predicting which using knowledge of the subject matter to make predictions about content and vocabulary and check comprehension;
using knowledge of the text type and purpose to make predictions about discourse structure; using knowledge about the author to make predictions about writing style,
vocabulary, and content. Third is skimming and scanning which using a quick survey
of the text to get the main idea, identify text structure, confirm or question predictions. Fourth is guessing from context. The strategy is used prior knowledge of
the subject and the ideas in the text as clues to the meanings of unknown words, instead of stopping to look them up. The last is paraphrasing which stopping at the
end of a section to check comprehension by restating the information and ideas in the text Grellet, 1981.
In the real teaching learning process in Mechanical Engineering, the passing standard for reading competence is to understand the meaning of interpersonal and
transactional written text formal or informal in form of recount, narrative, procedure, descriptive and report in daily life in specific purposes context. Mechanical
Engineering students should be familiar with texts in specific texts. The ability of reading especially for second language learners will help them to face the competition
in the globalization era. So, teaching reading should be considering those aspects.
d. Teaching Reading using Hot Potatoes in CALL
Technology in the classroom support students’ learning process and increases collaborative work since students and teachers have to interact in the classroom to
carry out activities that involve the use of technology. According to Brown 1994, collaborative work in the acquisition of a foreign language can be affected by using
the new didactic applications of computer equipment and programs. The use of freeware such as Hot Potatoes in term of teaching and learning has
strong relationship with the use of CALL. A lot of researchers have tried to connect the relationship between CALL, teaching and learning. Beatty 2003:1 “CALL is a
subject tied tightly to other areas of the study with applied linguistic such as computer
science”. This study uses computer as a tool for teaching and learning. CALL is employed in many different ways.
Teaching and learning English using CALL can provide students with exciting new ways. CALL tools can promote teaching and learning English. Samuel and
Bakar 2006: 4 agree that ICT are helpful for students to learn English. The utilization and integration of ICT tools can indeed assist students in acquiring English
language competence as well as enhance their learning experience. Hot Potatoes is used to deliver exercises in CALL. It is made up of six different
exercise creating tools which can be used to develop interactive activities Half- Baked Software Inc., 2009. Each program has different kinds of activities. In
teaching reading for mechanical engineering, I will use 3 kinds of activities. JQuiz creates multiple choices and short answer quizzes. It can also create multi-select
items, which combine the multiple choice and short answer capabilities. JCloze is suitable for creating cloze and fill-in-the-blank exercises. It will help students to
enlarge their vocabulary. JCross creates crossword puzzles that can be generated by typing words and creating a crossword grid manually or automatically at the user’s
convenience. JMatch creates matching exercises. It has three formats, standard,
dragdrop, and flashcard. The first two formats are convenient for individual work, and the last one for teacher-led activities.
The use of Hot Potatoes in CALL opens new doors to teachers as they empower themselves to create and design materials suited to their students’ needs especially for
mechanical engineering students. In reading, students can practice reading exercises in different ways. It will promote new atmosphere how to understand and
comprehend different texts. Exercise in Hot Potatoes employs some activities which help students to understand text. The exercises in reading skill can be pre-reading,
while-reading and post-reading activities. By providing the exercise in Hot potatoes, students can practice inside and outside of classroom.
e. Learning Reading
The definition of learning has been stated by many researchers, Newby, Shepich,
Lehwan and Russell 2000: 21 define learning by stating that “we defined learning
as a change in or potential to change one’s level of skill or knowledge and it is of central concern for both students and teachers”. Another definition of learning is
stated by Brown 2000:7 1Learning is acquisition or “getting”. 2 Learning is retention of
information or skill. 3 Retention implies storage systems, memory, and cognitive organization. 4 Learning involves active, conscious focus on and
acting upon events outside or inside the organism. 5 Learning is relatively permanent but subject to forgetting. 6 Learning involves some form of
practice, perhaps reinforced practice. 7 Learning is a change in behavior.
Learning needs practice. According to Nation 2011, the practice must meet the conditions for fluency development or the four strands. First, the students’ focus
is on receiving or conveying meaning. Second, all material should be largely familiar to them. That is no unfamiliar language, and there are largely familiar content and
discourse features. In other words, it must be easy for them to do. Third, there is some pressure or encouragement to perform at a faster than usual speed. Fourth, there is a
large amount of input or output. This is a matter of quality of practice. Learning reading in mechanical engineering students should involved four fluency
development. They should learn from the materials which provided four
requirements. In this research, the materials provide that fluency development practice.
f. Learning Reading using Hot Potatoes in CALL
Technology is one of many ways in learning words, as Hierbert and Kamil 2005:10 mention that the way of learning words also include technology and
multimedia where students can interact with language orally, pictorially and in writing. Nowadays, the use of ICT in language teaching and learning has been the
focus of a number of recent research review studies. Hot Potatoes offer us to learn English.
The use of ICT has proposed the new ways of teaching and learning reading in English. Samuel and Bakar 2006:4 agree that computer applications are helpful for
students to learn english as their statement “The utilization and integration of ICT tools can indeed assist students in acquiring english language competency as well as
enhance their quality of their learning experience.” Learning reading using Hot Potatoes in CALL provides the students some
exciting new ways i.e. with several different types of feature that Hot Potatoes can offer. CALL tools can promote teaching and learning English. Learning reading
using Hot Potatoes in this research can be done be through four types of module, they include JQuiz, JMatch and JCross. Jcloze.
Figure 2.1. The Example Multiple-Choice in JQuiz
In this research, the researcher uses multiple-choice, true-false and short-answer for JQuiz. At the multiple-choice type of exercise, the students are supposed to
answer the correct answer directly by choosing four available answers. As we can see from figure, the students have to answer the correct answer after they read the
passage. At this exercises, the score is done one by one. If the answer is wrong, the warning will show up indicating that the answer is wrong. If the answer is correct.
The warning will show up with 100 score that indicating your answer is correct. At this stage, the students may continue to the next questions. The questions was
designed 10 numbers each exercise and they have to answer all questions
The role in the multiple-choice in the JQuiz will be similar to the true-false and short-answer in JQuiz. The different is in the available answer. In true-false, the
students are asked to choose two choices; true or false. In short answer, the students are asked to answer shortly and correctly. At this exercises, the scoring roles will be
calculated same like the multiple-choice.
Figure 2.2. The Example of Short-Answer in JQuiz
The second type of exercises that is used is JMatch. Healey 2009:1 mentions that A very easy hot Potatoes Potatoes to use is JMatch, which lets you create a
matching exercise. The students just match the correct word from right column to the left one. The left is the vocabulary which related to the reading text; while the
right column is the synonym of the vocabularies. If the matching is correct. The score
will increase. On the contrary, if the matching is wrong, the score will reduce. There were 10 vocabulary exercises which related to the reading text.
Figure 2.3. The Example of Maching in JMatch
The scoring system of matching exercises is the left and right can be mixed then the score will be shown after the check button has been pushed. The score shown
depend on how many words are correct. The score will automatically do the calculation to show the final score. The students have to mach all the number of
question to get the maximum score. However, the students may repeat the matching exercises as they wish until they achieve the maximum result.
Figure 2.4. The Example of Scoring System in JMatch
The third exercise is JCross. Healey 2009:4 mentions that JCross creates crossword puzzles. The researcher just simply adds the words and the clues and then
the software will automatically create the puzzle for them. Winke and MacGregor 2001:30 explain that JCross can be used to design crossword puzzles with
customized puzzle layout and optimal clues for each word. at this type of exercise, the students are able to fill the answer in which they wish to complete first. They can
do the exercises randomly. If all the answer is correct, the score will automatically show up after the students push the check button.
Figure 2.5. The Example of JCross
If all the students are correct, the score will automatically show up after the students push the check button. Thus, the score shows 100. The computation of the
score is automatically done by the software, thus the students should not worry about how many scores they can achieve through the crossword exercises. The students
may repeat the exercises as they wish to get the maximum result.
Figure 2.6. The Example of Scoring System in JCross 3. English for Mechanical Engineering
The proficiency in different language skills is very important to university students, who have to cover the enormous amount of reading materials like in
Mechanical Engineering which need to read English references more. In the course of English for Specific Purposes ESP, students face demanding tasks of learning
subject-matter through English. The cornerstone of ESP is unfamiliar vocabulary and subject-matter concepts. In order to succeed, students need to develop proficiency in
reading.
Twenty to around thirty students from various cultural and educational backgrounds have to take English subject as their obligatory course for five
semesters. As there is no placement test prior to their first semester English course, there
are also various English proficiency levels in one class.
Mechanical Engineering students are expected to actively use English in their academic setting that is to understand English texts which are useful for their study,
to prepare themselves in international academic forums; in professional setting that is in job market competitions; and even in international communication setting. In other
words, students is prepared to be able to use english in their daily life as mechanical engineering students and it will be employed in their future life as engineers.
English for specific purpose is defined to meet specific needs of the learners and it should make use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it
serves. English for Specific Purposes should also be concentrated on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar, lexis, register, study skills and
discourse. Meanwhile, English for Academic purpose will be paying more attention to reading textbooks, listening to lectures and proficiency in language use. It can be
said that English for specific academic purpose is the language needed for particular academic studies, for example, mechanical engineering and its disciplinary culture,
which can contain the language structure, vocabulary and the appropriate academic conventions among other things Jordan, 1997.
Therefore, English for mechanical engineering is included in English for specific academic purpose which aims on practical outcomes. It is more effective for them
because ESAP is designed to meet the specific purposes of the learners, make use of
underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves, and is centred on the language grammar, lexis, register skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these
activities.
4. Action Research
The aim of Action research is to solve the specific problem. Action Research is the answer of research problem. They are to improve English proficiency and
learning process. The aim of action research is to solve problems engages people in the program to study the problems in order to solve the problem. Action research
aims at solving problems with a program, organization or community. Action research explicitly and purposefully becomes part of the change process by engaging
the people in the program or organization in studying their own problems in order to solve those problems Whyte, 1989 in Patton 2002: 22.
Action research is used to investigate teacher-initiated classroom to increase the teacher’s understanding of classroom and learning, and to bring about change in
classroom practices Gregory, 1988; Kemmis and Mc Taggart, 1988 Action research involves small scale investigate project in the teacher’s own classroom and
consist of a number of phases: plan, action, observation, and reflection Richards, 2005
Action research consists of investigations initiated by teachers who want to improve their teaching practice by understanding it more fully. An action researcher
may undertake a solo project in his or her classroom, or involve colleagues in
investigating a question of shared interest. While Burn 2003 states action research
can be used to identify and investigate problems within a specific situation. It can be
used to evaluate and reflect to bring about change and improvement in practice. “Change in practice is based on the collection of information or data which provides
the impetus for change Burn, 2003:30”. Action research is used to solve a real problem or to describe how participant see the problem, select them, and solve it
together. Based on the definition above dealing with action research, the researcher
investigated the actual problem in reading competence. The students of second semester of Mechanical Engineering had the actual problem in reading competence.
They needed some exercises to solve the reading problem. The researchers and also as the teacher with 28 students collaborated and tried to solve the problem together.
According to Kemmis and McTaggart 1988, who are major authors in this field, Action research involves four broad phases in a cycle of research. The first
cycle may become a continuing or spiral of cycles which recur until the action researcher has achieved a satisfactory outcome and feel it is time to stop. Action
research involves a spiral cycles, namely: planning, action, observation, reflection. The first cycle is planning. In this phase the researchers identify a problem or
issue and develop a plan of action. The goal is to bring about improvements in a speci
fi c area of the research context. This is a forward-looking phase where they
consider: i what kind of investigation is possible within the realities and constraints of the teaching situation; and ii what potential improvements the researchers think
are possible. The second is action. The plan is a carefully considered one which involves
some deliberate interventions into the teaching situation that the researchers put into
action over an agreed period of time. The interventions are ‘critically informed’ as the researchers question the assumptions about the current situation and plan new and
alternative ways of doing things. The researcher implements the plans or changes as practice and collects data. Data may be collected from various sources.
The third is observation. This phase involves the researchers in observing systematically the effects of the action and documenting the context, actions and
opinions of those involved. It is a data collection phase where the researchers use ‘open-eyed’ and ‘open-minded’ tools to collect information about what is happening.
The fourth is reflection. At this point, the researchers reflect on, evaluate and describe the effects of the action in order to make sense of what has happened and to
understand the issue which have explored more clearly. They may decide to do further cycles of AR to improve the situation even more, or to share the ‘story’ of
their research with others as part of the ongoing professional development. According to Kember and Kelly in Richards 2005 reflection refers to at the end of an action
cycle. The researcher and the collaborator should reflect critically on what has happened. They evaluate the effective of the changes, what they have learned, and
what the barriers.
B. Review to Related Studies
In conducting the study, I also read and relate my research to some other researches. There are some studies about the use of Hot Potatoes in developing
language competence. The study which was conducted by Rodriquez identifies the use of Hot Potatoes to improve effective paragraph writing. The study discussed the
improvement of four grade students writing by identifying and learning the rhetorical structure of a paragraph in English and how it will help them to write paragraphs in
an effectively. The aim is to know if the use of this technological tool helps learners to be aware of the rhetorical structure of a paragraph and if this knowledge improves
their paragraph writing. The result of the study shows students improve their writing by using Hot potatoes.
Other study discussed by Cahyadi entitled improving vocabulary mastery using Hot Potatoes in non formal education. This study investigated the use of ICT in
improvement on acquisition on students’ vocabulary in non formal education. The study was conducted using quasi experimental design and the result showed that there
was a significant difference in students’ vocabulary which uses Hot Potatoes in Non formal education. Therefore, Hot Potatoes program was effective to improve
students’ vocabulary in no formal education. Research which was conducted by Sri Rejeki Murtiningsih found that Hot
Potatoes could improve student engagement on writing classes. She tries to demonstrate the use of Hot potatoes as alternative activities for English teacher in
teaching writing. This study will also use Hot Potatoes to help students in learning English, Hot
Potatoes will provide the exercises which will be used by students in developing reading competence. Focus of this study that Hot potatoes will be used to build
exercises in English for specific purposes. The students are mechanical engineering students so it will concern with their specific study.
The reviews from those researches provide useful information about previous studies concerning the use of Hot potatoes to develop language competence.
Reviewing these researches is beneficial for giving me consideration to my study.
C. Theoretical Framework
In order to contextualizing the theoretical review on research questions of the study, theoretical framework is provided to help answering the research questions.
From many theories explained previously. To begin with, it is important to get a broad view of what reading competence is.
Reading about understands written texts. It is a complex activity that involves both perception and thought. Reading is the
process of making sense of words, sentences and connected text. Students typically make use of background knowledge, vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, experience
with text and other strategies to help them understand written text. Therefore,
mechanical engineering students are hoped to be able to understand text well using their background knowledge.
Mechanical engineering students should learn reading competence because they need to read a lot. A student reads a text to understand its meaning, as well as to put
that understanding to use. He or she reads a text to learn, to find out information. By mastering that competence, it will make them easier to read and comprehend written
article in English which they will find in their study and also in their working place. However, they lack exercises to help them in understanding the text. They need an
exercise which can be done inside and outside classroom. In university life, the students cannot expected teachers to watch over them with everything they need to do
and think. So learners have to extend their initiative to get whatever they need to be successful learners.
CALL provides interactive exercises which will motivate them to do the exercises so that they can learn how to extent their reading skills. CALL serves as an
alternative exercise for reading skills which can be used as a technique to assist students in comprehending written text and manual books. It can promote attractive
reading exercises because the exercises which are usually written in handout can be displayed in CALL. It will make students curious to practice the exercise since they
have never used it before and it make lesson more interesting. Hot Potatoes in CALL will be used various activities which based on the materials for mechanical
engineering students. The purpose of this study is to improve the learning process and the reading
competence in understanding the text which is related to mechanical engineering terms. The photocopied exercises were almost done in every reading text. Those
make the students easily to get bored. The students needed another technique which gives a new learning atmosphere for the students. Hot Potatoes exercises in CALL
enable better interaction between the teacher, the students and the media. Using CALL exercises would improve the learning process and the achievement of reading
competence. The aim of action research is to solve problems engages people in the program to
study the problems in order to solve the problem. Action research aims at solving problems with a program, organization or community. Action research explicitly and
purposefully becomes part of the change process by engaging the people in the
program or organization in studying their own problems in order to solve those problems Patton: 2002. Since there are some problems in improving reading
competence, Action research will be conducted to overcome those problems. Action research indentifies and investigates the problems in certain context and area. In this
study, the problems which are going to solve is the problem in reading. Action research is aimed to assist students’ progress in their learning. The way to investigate
in this research was from of the students work starting from the pre-test, first, second and third cycles, and the data were collected through the need analysis questionnaire,
reflection interview, observation and test. This study will focus on the use of Hot Potatoes as software in which the
researcher offers from students to provide more exercises for reading. Hot Potatoes software provides exercises to assist students in comprehending reading.
Without Hot potatoes exercises in CALL, The mechanical engineering students had problems in improving their competence in reading. Hot Potatoes exercises help
the students in understanding the reading text. CALL could give a new learning atmosphere to the students. Using CALL would improve the students’ reading
competence in comprehending the text. Without CALL the students will have the problem in learning process. CALL
will provide kinds of exercises which displayed in attractive features to improve reading competence. There will be various activities in Hot potatoes, namely, JQuiz,
JCoze, Jmix. CALL can be implemented in the classroom to assist students’ problem in learning English. It can improve the leaning process in reading.
