Selecting subject content Designing the supplementary reading materials

45 a. Feedback In this part, the respondents were requested to give comments on the designed materials. They gave comments about topic, page layout, and kinds of activity. Generally, both respondents stated that the materials were well-elaborated, interesting and appropriate for the ninth grade students. Specifically, they agreed that the page layout is interesting and colorful. The illustrations were also suitable and appropriate to the text. It is because reading materials for junior high school students should be attractive to attrack their attention. The theme of the texts were well-selected and interesting. The content and the length of the texts are appropriate to the level of the students. The vocabulary was also easy to understand. The texts were also appropriate to the topics. The topics of the designed materials fulfilled the stud ents‟ needs in learning procedure, report, and narrative. However, some texts needed revision because some grammatical mistakes and incorrect format. Both respondents also focused on the kinds of activity. The activities of the designed materials were monotonous. It should be various to gain students‟ reading skill. Then, the writer should give one example in every excercise. For the excercise about matching word with its meaning, the meaning should not be in Indonesian, but in English. However, the instructions in every activity were clear enough. 46 b. Respondents‟ opinions and suggestions Respondents‟ opinion and suggestion are needed to improve the designed materials. After giving feedback on the designed materials, the respondents also gave general opinions and suggestions about the designed materials on the questionnaire. The respondents‟ opinions and suggestions are desribed as follow. 1 The strenghts of the designed materials Both respondents gave opinion that the designed materials have good layout eye-catching. The color is enough. It is not too much or less. The length of texts are appropriate to the stud ents‟ proficiency level. Since the texts are too long, the students may get some dificulty or be bored. If the texts are too short, the students‟ reading skill may not be improved because the texts are not challenging. The materials of the designed materials also have interesting topics which are familiar to the st udents. The interesting topics can help teacher to grab students‟ attention. There are also many tasks that may stimulate the students to learn autonomously as an independent learner to accomplish the tasks. 2 The weaknesses of the designed materials The reading comprehension activities are a bit monotonous. Variation of the reading comprehension activities is needed. The questions of the reading comprehension mostly focus on explicitly stated informations. Students will easily find the answer. Then, almost all the tasks are testing students. There are also some grammatical mistakes so that revision is needed. Besides, there are some problems concerning spelling, punctuation, and diction.