voices. Others may hope a particular thing for us to say but we can strive for our own voices, unaffected by others, though sometimes it is the opposite.
3. Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classroom
Richards 1996:113 says that lessons are events, which take place in particular setting and normally involve two kinds of participants: the teacher and the
students. Normally, lessons consist of recognizable kinds of activities. Therefore, lessons have a recognizable structure. They begin in particular way; they proceed
through a series of teachings and learning activities; and they reach a conclusion. In order to have effective lessons, a teacher should have plans to organize
both the activities and the materials, which would be given to the students. A teacher needs to consider how lessons are organized into sequences and the momentum of the
lesson is achieved. Richards calls it as structuring. There are four dimensions of structuring called opening, sequencing, pacing, and closure. The description of each
would be explained as follows.
a Opening
The opening of a lesson consists of the procedure used by the teacher in order to focus the students’ attention on the purposes of the lesson. Moreover, Kindsvatter,
Wilen, and Ishler, 1988 as cited by Richards 1996:114 says that the opening of a lesson generally occupies an important influence on how much students learn from a
lesson. The strategies on how a lesson opened reflects the teacher decisions on plans of the activities used to begin the class.
Richards explains further that openings are used to set up an appropriate affective framework for learning and, to a lesser extent, to establish an appropriate
cognitive framework. Therefore, openings of lessons can be used by the students, as the boundaries of the materials should be prepared and as the ideas of what to expect
from the lessons.
b Sequencing
The next step after describing the procedures of the lessons to focus the students’ attentions is that the teacher will analyze the overall goals of lesson and the
content to be taught and then plans a sequence of activities to attain those goals Richards, 1996: 118. Teacher need to consider the evolution between an activity
and another within a lesson when dividing a lesson into sub-activities. According to Doyle 1986 as cited by Richards 1996:121, skilled teachers mark the onset of
transition clearly, orchestrate transitions actively, and minimize the loss of momentum during the changes in activities. Thus, effective transitions help maintain
the students’ attention during transitions times and establish a link among activities.
c Pacing
Pacing is the extent to which a lesson maintains its momentum and communicates a sense of development Richards, 1996:122. In this step, the teacher
monitors the students’ engagement in learning tasks and decides when is the right time to explore more materials or to move on to the next activity before the students
loose their attention. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Some strategies a teacher should consider when concerning pacing a lesson, are using a variety of activities rather than spending the whole lesson on one activity,
avoiding long explanation and instruction and letting the students get on with the tasks, setting a goal and time limit for activities, and monitoring the students’
performance to ensure that they have learnt sufficiently and efficiently.
d Closure
Closure is another important part in structuring a lesson in which the teacher closes the lesson effectively. Closure brings to the conclusion parts of the lesson,
which serve to a emphasize what have been learned in a lesson, b integrate and review the content of a lesson, and c prepare the students for further learning.
Richards 1996:124 suggests some strategies, which can be used to end up a lesson. A teacher can summarize what have been covered in the lesson, review the key points
of the lesson, relate the lessons to the lesson goals and also to the students’ real-world needs, and praise students for what they have accomplish during the lesson.
From the explanation above, it is clearly stated that in planning to design the materials, a teacher need to consider the four important points of a lesson. A lesson
will begin with the descriptions of the goals of the lesson so the students can understand what to expect in every lesson and focus their attention to the goals stated.
Next, a teacher will break the lesson into some activities aims to attain the goals stated firstly. While doing the activities to achieve the goals of a lesson with the
students, the teacher will also consider the appropriate time when to explore the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
materials more or go on to the next activities without ignoring to monitor the students’ performance and achievement within the lesson. Then, after completing
those three parts, a teacher will come to the ending part of a lesson, the closure, which provides the teacher chance to review the whole important points of the lesson. From
these activities, the teacher may know better about the students’ achievement of the materials taught.
4. Designing Instructional Materials
