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a. Authenticity Definition
In defining authenticity, Bachman 1990: 301-302 used two approaches. The first approach is called ‘real-life’ RL approach. The primary concerns of the
first approach are 1 the appearance or the perception of the test and how this may affect test performance and test use validity, and 2 the accuracy with
which test performance predicts future non-test performance predictive utility. The second approach called ‘interactionalability’ or IA approach. It measures
language as a mental ability and the current view of communicative language use.
b. Authenticity as ‘real-life’ language use
Based on RL approach, there are three interrelated principles. They are 1 a view of language ability, or proficiency, as pragmatic ascription, 2 the
reference to ‘real-life performance’ as a criterion, and 3 the belief that ‘face validity’, content relevance, and predictive utility are sufficient bases to justify
test use.
B. Theoretical Framework
In this study, the researcher is going to design a combination of Reading and Writing test for RSBI seventh grade students of SMP Pangudi Luhur I
Yogyakarta. A good test should fulfill several principles. Brown 2004: 19 mentions five principles of language testing namely practicality, reliability,
validity, authenticity, and washback. If a test does not apply all of those criteria, the test will not be said as a good test. Therefore, here, the researcher attempts to
include all those criteria in the test she is going to design.
31 In selecting reading passages and designing writing tasks, the researcher is
going to use theories promoted by Harris 1969. Harris 1969: 58 states that readings are generally built around the grammatical structures and lexical items
which the student will need to communicate orally, and the content of the material is regarded as relatively unimportant. On the other hand, Harris 1969: 68 states
five general components of writing. They are 1 content: the substance of the writing; the idea expressed, 2 form: the organization of the content, 3
grammar: the employment of grammatical forms and syntactic patterns, 4 style: the choice of structures and lexical items to give a particular tone or flavor to the
writing, and 5 mechanic: the use of the graphic conventions of the language. Therefore, the Writing test should content those five main components.
As RSBI seventh grade students of SMP Pangudi Luhur I Yogyakarta are students with high level of English that can be categorized as intermediate English
learners, the test for them should be designed more challenging. In the effort to make a more challenging test, the researcher uses authentic materials. According
to Wallace 1992, as cited by Berardo 2006: 61, authentic materials are real-life texts, not written for pedagogic purposes. In authentic materials, too many
structures are mixed so lower levels have a hard time decoding the texts Martinez, 2002: 1. Therefore, the researcher believes that the use of authentic
materials in the test will be able to create a sense of challenge in the test. In addition, as the curriculum states that the learning-teaching process is based on
Contextual Language Teaching, several texts were edited and adapted in order to make them more contextual and relevant for the students.
32 In this study, the researcher designs a combination of Reading and Writing
test as the final even semester examination of academic year 2009-2010. The test only consists of two skills, which are Reading and Writing skills because
Listening and Speaking skills have been measured by an achievement test conducted weekly by the English teacher.
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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
The researcher used certain methodology to conduct this study. This chapter aims at discussing the methodology systematically. The discussion covers
research method, research participants, research instruments, data gathering technique, data analysis technique, and research procedure.
A. Research Method
In this study, the researcher designed a test. Specifically, she designed a combination of Reading and Writing test for RSBI seventh grade students of SMP
Pangudi Luhur I Yogyakarta. In designing the test, the researcher used authentic materials. According to Widdowson 1990 as cited by Martinez 2002: 1,
authentic materials are materials designed for native speakers of English used in the classroom in a way similar to the one it was designed for
To conduct the study, the researcher employed a method called Educational Research and Development. According to Borg Gall 1983: 772,
Educational Research and Development R D is a process used to develop and validate educational products. Borg Gall 1983: 774-775 stated ten major steps
in the R D cycle. The steps were 1 research and information collecting, 2 planning, 3 preliminary form of product development, 4 preliminary field-
testing, 5 main product revision, 6 main field-testing, 7 operational product revision, 8 operational field-testing, 9 final product revision, and 10
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