The Readability Level of the Reading Texts on Advanced Learning English 2

Eleventh Grade of SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan)

By:

WIWIN SUTIANAH 1110014000016

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION FACULTY OF TARBIYA AND TEACHERS’ TRAINING SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

JAKARTA 2014

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Descriptive Study at the Eleventh Grade of SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan), Skripsi, English Education Department, Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers’ Training Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University.

Advisors : 1. Zaharil Anasy, M.Hum 2. Ertin, MA TESOL

Key Words : Readability, Texts, Textbook, Flesch Reading Ease Formula

The objective of this study is to find out the readability level of the reading texts on English textbook for the eleventh grade students entitled Advanced Learning English 2 at SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan. The writer uses descriptive method in which the writer describes the readability level of reading texts in the textbook using Flesch Reading Ease Formula. Units of analysis of this study are 17 texts. They are the whole reading texts on the textbook Advanced Learning English 2 especially in the Reading section. The book consists of 3 descriptive texts, 8 narrative texts, 2 analytical exposition texts, 1 hortatory exposition text and 3 spoof texts. Based on the analysis by using Flesch Reading Ease Formula, from 17 texts, 1 text is in the Very Easy Level, 4 texts are in the Easy Level, 4 texts are in the Fairly Easy Level, 4 texts are in the Standard Level, 3 texts are in the Fairly Difficult Level, and 1 text is in the Difficult Level. In average, the texts are in Fairly Easy Level ( 70.82 ). It is found that according to the theory of Flesch Reading Ease the texts are in the appropriate level for eleventh grade students.

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Descriptive Study at the Eleventh Grade of SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan), Skripsi, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Ilmu Tarbiyah dan Keguruan, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta.

Pembimbing : 1. Zaharil Anasy, M.Hum 2. Ertin, MA TESOL

Kata Kunci : Keterbacaan, Teks, Buku Teks, Rumus Flesch Reading Ease

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menemukan tingkat keterbacaan teks-teks reading pada buku paket kelas sebelas yang berjudul Advanced Learning English 2 di SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan. Penulis menggunakan metode deskriptif yang mana penulis menjelaskan tingkat keterbacaan teks-teks reading

pada buku paket dengan menggunakan rumus Flesch Reading Ease. Analisa unit dari penelitian ini adalah 17 teks. Ketujuh belas teks ini adalah keseluruhan teks

reading pada buku paket Advanced Learning English 2 khususnya pada bagian

Reading. Teks-teks tersebut terdiri dari 3 teks deskriptif, 8 teks naratif, 2 teks eksposisi analitis, 1 teks eksposisi hortatori dan 3 teks lelucon. Berdasarkan analisa dengan menggunakan rumus Flesch Reading Ease, dari 17 teks, 1 teks berada pada tingkat Sangat Mudah, 4 teks berada pada tingkat Mudah, 4 teks berada pada tingkat Cukup Mudah, 4 teks berada pada tingkat Standar, 3 teks berada pada tingkat Cukup Sulit, dan 1 teks berada pada tingkat Sulit. Secara rata-rata, teks-teks tersebut berada pada tingkat Cukup Mudah (70.82). dapat diketahui bahwa berdasarkan teori Flesch Reading Ease teks-teks yang ada dalam buku paket tersebut memiliki tingkat keterbacaan yang sesuai dengan siswa kelas sebelas.

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Owner of everything in this universe. He is the one who always gives the writer strength so she can accomplish this research. Shalawat and salam be upon the prophet Muhammad Shalallahu ‘alaihi wa salam, his family, his relatives and his faithful followers.

The writer would say her deepest gratitudeto her dear parents,father H. Hasanuddin and mother Hj.Asmanah, who always give motivation, pray, love, material and moral support to the writer. Moreover, the writer does not forget to thank her teachers in pesantren Daar El-Hikam Abi Bahruddin S. Ag. and Umi

Tutik Rosmaya who have educated and advised her patiently.

The writer also would like to give great honor to her advisors, Mr. Zaharil Anasy, M.Hum. and Mrs. Ertin, MA TESOL. who have spared their busy time to guide the writer patiently during developing this research.

Furthermore, the writer would like to give special gratitude to :

1. All lecturers in Department of English Education for teaching precious knowledge and educating the writer during her study from the first semester .

2. Mr. Drs. Syauki, M.Pd., the Head of Department of English Education. 3. Mr. Zaharil Anasy, M.Hum., the secretary of Department of English

Education.

4. Mr. Didin N. Hidayat, MA TESOL. The academic advisor of class A, English Education Department, academic year 2010/2011.

5. Mrs. Dra. Nurlena Rifa’i, MA.,Ph.D., the Dean of faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers’ Training, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Jakarta. 6. Her beloved brother Muhamad Komarudin who always helps her in any

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of English Education Department, academic year 2010/2011 esspecially class A who can not be mentioned one by one.

8. Her lovely friends in Pesantren Daar El-Hikam, Sya, Teti, Nida, Fikri, Aqila, Eem and Ratu who always be the greatest mates and give thousands spirits to the writer.

Finally, the writer really hopes that her writing will be useful for the writer herself and for the readers. Amin

Tangerang Selatan, August2014

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ABSTRACT ... i

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ... iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... v

LIST OF TABLES ... vii

LIST OF FIGURES ... viii

LIST OF APPENDICES ... ix

CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION ... 1

A. Background of the Study ... 1

B. Identification of the Problems ... 4

C. Limitation of the Problem ... 4

D. Formulation of the Problem ... 4

E. Objectives of the Study ... 5

F. Significance of the Study ... 5

CHAPTER II : THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 6

A. Text ... 6

1. Definition of Text ... 6

2. Kinds of Text ... 7

3. Factors in Text Selection ... 8

B. Textbook ... 10

1. Definition of Textbook ... 10

2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Textbook ... 12

3. Selection of Textbook ... 15

vi

D. The Relevant Previous Study ... 25

CHAPTER III : RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 30

A. Time and Place of the Research ... 30

B. Method of the Research ... 30

C. Unit of Analysis ... 30

D. Instrument of the Research... 32

E. Technique of Data Collecting ... 32

F. Technique of Data Analysis ... 32

CHAPTER IV : FINDING AND INTERPRETATION ... 34

A. Finding ... 34

1. Textbook Description ... 34

2. Data Description... 34

3. Data Analysis ... 36

B. Interpretation ... 45

CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ... 47

A. Conclusion ... 47

B. Suggestion ... 47

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 49

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Table 2.2 SMOG Conversion Table... 22 Table 3.1 The Detail Information about the Texts in The Textbook

Advanced Learning English 2 ... 31 Table 3.2 Reading Ease Scale of the Flesch Formula ... 33 Table 4.1 The Description of Sentence, Word, and Syllable Calculations of Reading Texts ... 35 Table 4.2 The Result of ASL and ASW Calculation ... 40 Table 4.4 The Readability Score of the three reading Text based on

the reading Ease Scale of the Flesch Formula... 44 Table 4.5 Data in Percent (%) ... 46

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APPENDIX 2 The Texts in Reading Section on the Textbook ... 54 APPENDIX 3 Surat Bimbingan Skripsi ... 69

1 A. Background of the Study

The role of teaching English in Indonesia is stated in the School Based Curriculum or KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan). In the curriculum, it is stated that developing the ability to communicate is one of the objectives in teaching English; either in spoken or written form.1 Therefore, teachers and students require some media of instruction in order to smoothen the process of teaching and learning.

There are many kinds of media of instruction in teaching and learning process , such as textbook, power point presentation, video, etc. Textbook is one of the media of instruction which is used in almost every grade levels of students in the school.2 Textbook is a crucial teaching and learning material composed of text and/or images that is used in many schools for facilitating sequences of learning activities.3 Moreover, the role of textbook is dominant in the teaching and learning process because it is developed based on the curriculum so it can be useful as a guideline either for the teachers or students.

Since the dependence of textbook is influenced by the development and the changes of the curriculum in Indonesia, many writers and publishers offer various English textbooks for different levels of students. In spite of this, based on some previous studies and the interview with an English teacher, there are some texts in textbook which are difficult to be understood by the

1

Panduan Penyusunan Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan Jenjang Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah, (Jakarta: Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan, 2006), p.31.

2

Andi Prastowo, Panduan Kreatif Membuat Bahan Ajar Inovatif, (Yogyakarta: DIVA Press, 2011), p. 169.

3

Panduan Pengembangan Bahan Ajar, (Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, 2008), p. 12.

students. It means that some textbooks which are used in the schools have not maximally helped the students in improving their reading skill. It is proved by the low score of students in reading comprehension. They commonly get difficulty in answering the questions based on the text correctly such as the question about main idea, details, moral value of the text, etc. The questions are difficult to be answered correctly by the students because they think that the text is too hard to be comprehended by them esspecially in grasping the main idea of the paragraphs and unfamiliar vocabularies.

In order to help students in understanding the texts in the textbook, the English teachers have to look for appropriate textbooks that can facilitate the students to practice reading. However, the process of selecting good textbook is not an easy matter. Penny Ur stated on her book that we should be aware of textbook’s quality. Therefore we have to assess the textbook based on some criteria such as the topics, tasks, instructions, vocabulary, grammar, periodic review, coverage, reading texts etc.4 When the teacher has assessed the textbook, they will know generally how the quality of textbook is.

One of the criteria in assessing textbook is by analyzing the reading text. The reading texts (provided) in the textbook should be suitable with students’ level. However, it is not an easy job for publishers to put some reading texts in certain level of textbook. Selecting appropriate texts becomes very essential for them whereas the information about students’ ability is limited.

Therefore, the reading texts in the textbook are less appropriate for students in certain level

With the aim of selecting suitable textbook for their students, the teachers have to know about the information of it because selecting textbook that will be used is the responsibility of the teachers.5 According to Nuttall on his book, there are three main criteria that influence the selection of texts:

4

Penny Ur, A Course in language Teaching, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), pp. 185 – 186.

5

Marianne Celce-Murcia, Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 2nd ed, (Boston: Heinle&Heinle Publishers, 1991), p. 432.

Suitability of the content, exploitability and readability.6 The teachers can analyze the readability level of the texts because it is the most common way in evaluating a textbook. Edgard Dale and Jeanne Chall as cited by William H. Dubay said that readability is the sum total of all elements within a text that affect the success a group of readers have with it.7 The success is the extent to which the readers understand the text, read it at an optimal speed, and find it interesting.

By analyzing the readability level of the text, teacher can predict whether the text is difficult, plain or easy for his students. Actually, there are some ways in measuring the readability level of the text. The most common ways used are by using the instructor’s judgment, comprehension testing by cloze procedure and the last by using statistical readability formulas based on some type of tally of linguistic elements.8 However, the focus of this study is only using one of statistical readability formula that is Flesch Reading Ease.

Based on the background above, the writer aims to analyze the readability level of the reading texts of an English textbook for senior high school entitled Advanced Learning English 2. The writer chooses this textbook because it is used in the eleventh grade of SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan where the writer did a teaching practice called PPKT (Praktek Profesi Keguruan Terpadu) at the school. Moreover, the writer also has assessed it by using Penny’s criteria (See appendix 1). Based on the criteria, the writer indicated that it has high rating. It means that the textbook is included into good textbook criteria. Therefore, this textbook is chosen for facilitating the writer in conducting the research.

Additionally, knowing the readability level can help her in finding out whether the reading texts on the textbook are appropriate or not for the eleventh grade students of SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan. Hence, the

6

Christine Nuttall, Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language, (Oxford: Heinemann, 1996), p.170.

7

William H. DuBay, The Principles of Readability, (California: Costa Mesa, 2004), p. 3. 8_Ibid

writer will do her research entitled The Readability Level of the Reading Texts on Advanced Learning English 2 (An English Textbook for Senior High School; A Descriptive Study at the Eleventh Grade of SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan).

B. Identification of the Problems

From the background of the study above, the problems that can be identified are:

1. The role of textbook has not been maximally helped the students in improving their reading skill.

2. Students get difficulty in understanding the text.

3. Teacher gets difficulty on selecting the appropriate English textbook. 4. The author who compilled the English textbook and publisher rarely

concern on the aspects of the readability of the textbook.

5. The vocabulary in English textbook is not really appropriate for students.

C. Limitation of the Problem

The writer focuses her study in the subject matter in analyzing the readability level of the selected reading texts on an English textbook entitled

Advanced Learning English 2 which is used at the eleventh grade students of

SMA Negeri 4 Tangerangg Selatan, by using the Flesch Reading Ease Formula. The texts that will be analyzed are all texts in the Reading section. The total texts in the reading part are 17 texts. (See appendix 1).

D. Formulation of the Problem

After conducting the limitation of the problems, the research problem is formulated into: Does Advanced Learning English 2 published by Grafindo Media Pratama have appropriate readability level for the eleventh grade students?”

E. Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study is to find out the readability level of the reading texts on English textbook for the eleventh grade students entitled

Advanced Learningg English 2 at SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan. F. Significance of the Study

The significance of the research is addressed to all people who read this research. However, this study esspecially addressed to:

1. the English teachers at SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan because this study will be useful for them in choosing the appropriate English textbook that will be used for their students.

2. the institution of SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan because it will used as beneficial contributions in improving the teaching and learning activities.

3. the next authors because this study is expected to give more information about aspects of readability of the texts in textbook. 4. the publishers because this study is hoped to present the information

in selecting proper book that will be published.

6 A. Text

1. Definition of Text

Based on the explanation from Sanggam Siahaan and Kisno Shinoda, a text is linguistic unit that is put in a context and has meaning.1 The meaning of context here refers to either linguistic context (the linguistic unit before and after a text) or non linguistic context (outside a text). A text is both a spoken text and a written text.

A spoken text is any meaning spoken text. It can be a word, phrase, sentence or discourse. A spoken discourse can be monolog, dialog or conversation. It can be a song, poetry, drama, lecture, etc. Moreover, a written text is any meaningful written text. It can be a notice, direction, advertisement, paragraph, essay, article, book, etc. A text refers to any meaningful short or long spoken or written text.2

According to Mark and Kathy Anderson, a text is defined as the result of some words which are put together to communicate a meaning. Unconsciously, when someone speaks or writes to communicate a message, he is constructing a text. When someone reads or listens to a piece of text, he is interpreting its meaning. Creating a text requires us to make choices about the words we use and how we put them together. Our choice of words will depend on our purpose and our surroundings (context).3

1

Sanggam Siahaan and Kisno Shinoda, Generic Text Structure, (Yogyakarta:Graha Ilmu, 2008), p. 1.

2

Ibid. 3

Mark Anderson and Kathy Anderson, Text Types in English, (London: Macmillan, 2003), p. 1.

In addition, Alan Davies stated on his book, Dictionary of Language Testing, a text is any piece of written or spoken language of variable length. It may be as short as a single word (eg. Help!), but is more considered to consist of two or more utterances or sentences joined together according to rules of cohesion and rhetorical organization, and may include an extended piece of spoken discourse or any number of pages of writing.4

It can be concluded that text is meaningful spoken or written words to communicate the meaning, and the term of text in this study is belong to reading text (written words); the printed material on the textbook which is used in the process of teaching and learning reading.

2. Kinds of Text

There are various kinds of text. It is very important for either the teachers or students to know about these kinds of text because it can help them to understand about the purpose of texts.

Mark and Kathy Anderson divided text into two types, literary and factual. Literary texts include aboriginal dreaming stories, movie script, limericks, fairy tales, novels, song lyrics, mimes and soap operas. Literary text can make us laugh or cry, think about our own life or consider our beliefs. There are three main text types in this category narrative, poetic and dramatic. Media texts such as film, videos, television shows and CDs can also include in this category.5

Factual texts include advertisement, announcements, internet web sites, current affairs shows, debates, recipes, reports and instructions. They present information or ideas and aim to show, tell or persuade the audience. The main

4

Alan Davies, Dictionary of Language Testing, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 210.

5

Mark Anderson and Kathy Anderson, Text Types in English, (London: Macmillan, 2003), p. 1.

text types in this category are recount, response, explanation, discussion, information report, exposition and procedure. 6

Furthermore, Rahmad Wahidi also states that there are 15 text types. They are, analytical exposition text, anecdote text, recount text, report text, spoof text, narrative text, hortatory exposition text, discussion text, explanation text, procedure text, news item text, review text, description text, argument text and exposition text7. He also gave the example of every text on his writing. Therefore, the writer can understand the differences among them.

From all explanation above, the text types on this study include descriptive texts, narrative texts, analytical exposition texts, hortatory exposition text and spoof texts. Those are the text types that have to be learnt by the students of eleventh grade base on standard competencies and basic competencies in

KTSP. Those types of text are also written in the textbook Advanced Learning English 2.

3. Factors in Text Selection

Selecting text is a very important thing that has to be done by the teacher because the text that will be learned by the student must be appropriate based on students‟ level.

According to Richard R. Day, there are seven factors influence the text selection. They are:

a. Interest

Interest is an important factor in selecting reading texts. It is important because it really influences the motivation of students to read. Nuttal states on Day‟s book that teachers should find the reading text that contains of the proper information. Since, students will get difficulty when the reading texts contain of too much new information. Furthermore, the reading text

6_Ibid, pp. 1-2. 7

should not contain too little new information because it can make them bore.

b. Exploitability

Exploitability is the facilitation of learning. Teachers give the students exercises after they read the reading text. It is one of the ways to determine the exploitability of the reading texts.

c. Readability

This term is used to refer to the following phenomena: syntactic appropriateness, logical/rhetorical ordering of ideas, textual phenomena at the discourse level, lexical appropriateness, and background knowledge of the reader.

d. Topic

The topic of the reading texts also becomes an important factor to consider because a wide variety of topics would be helpful to maintain students‟ interest and motivation. It means that a topic and students‟ interest has close relationship. Therefore, the teachers are recommended to explore three or four topics during the reading course as an aid in facilitating reading comprehension.

e. Political Appropriateness

The teachers have to consider the political appropriateness because for some countries, the political content of reading texts is a critical issue. Teachers should not cut the reading texts that do not agree with their political beliefs.

f. Cultural Suitability

Of course it is very important factor in selecting text because every country has different culture. It can be very contrast when Indonesian

teachers use the western textbook in teaching and learning English. There will be many texts tell about the western culture which is not appropriate to be read by Indonesian students.

g. Appearance.

Appearance is also the essential factor because it includes three points. The first is layout, size, and font.8 The texts that are provided by the picture can be more interesting and help students in understanding the text. Moreover, the size of font also must be considered because too small fonts lead to make students confuse and less motivated in reading the text.

In addition, Christine Nuttal mentioned on Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language that there are three factors that influence selecting a text. The first is readability; the texts should be at the appropriate level of difficulty for students. The second is suitability of the content; the texts should interest the students. The last is exploitability; it is concern how a text is exploited.9

From the explanation above, we can get the point that readability is one of some factors which influences the text selection. Teachers can use it to measure the appropriateness of reading text for certain level of students. The readability also becomes the factor that is chosen by the writer in her study because it is easy to select the textbook by estimating the readability level of reading texts in the textbook compare with other factors.

B. Textbook

1. Definition of Textbook

Based on the explanation of Theo van Esl, the term of textbook refers to “a coherent body of language teaching materials which may consist of either

8

Richard R. Day, Selecting Passages for the EFL Reading Class, Journal of English Teaching Forum, Vol. 32, 1994, p.20.

9

Christine Nuttall, Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language, (Oxford: Heinemann, 1996), p.170.

just the course book(s) but also of a learning package consisting of several parts”10

. From the quotation above, it cannot be denied that students are very familiar with the term of textbook because almost all of the students from kindergarten up to university use textbook in teaching and learning process. Textbook is also defined as the crucial teaching and learning aid composed of texts and/or images that are used in many schools for facilitating sequences of learning activities. 11

Jack C. Richards said that textbooks are perhaps the commonest form of teaching materials in language teaching.12 In language program, textbook is used in different ways. For example, a reading textbook may be the basis for a course on reading skills. It provides both asset of reading texts and exercises for skills practice. A writing textbook might provide model composition and a list of topics for students to practice their writing. A grammar textbook might serve as a reference book and provides examples as well as exercises to develop grammatical knowledge. A speaking textbook might provide passages for students to read and discuss; as a result they can practice their speaking. A listening textbook together with audio cassettes or CDs might serve as the primary listening input in a listening course.13

In some schools, textbook become the primary instructional material in the school and usually are taken for granted. It is also wished that textbook can make learning easier and more pleasurable.14 Therefore, the existence of textbook is very important in teaching and learning process. Textbook can help teachers to decide the material that will be taught to the students based

10

Theo van Esl, et al, Applied Linguistics and the Learning and Teaching of Foreign Languages, (London: Edward Arnold, 1984), p. 298.

11

Panduan Pengembangan Bahan Ajar, (Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, 2008), p. 12.

12

Jack C. Richards, Curriculum Development in Language Teaching, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001), p.254.

13_Ibid. 14

Alan Cunningsworth, Choosing Your Coursebook, (London: McMilan Publisher Limited, 1995), p. 1.

on curriculum. Students also can reread the textbook in order to remind the materials that had been learnt or will be learnt.

Based on definitions above, it can be summarized that textbook is one of the most important instructional medium which provides source of teaching and facilitates the teacher and students to attain the objective of teaching and learning process. In Indonesia, the role of textbook is very significant. It can be seen in the Peraturan Mentri Pendidikan Nasional, Nomor 11 Tahun 2005 tentang Buku Teks Pelajaran. In the first article, it is stated as follow:

“ Buku teks pelajaran adalah buku acuan wajib untuk digunakan di sekolah yang memuat materi pembelajaran dalam rangka peningkatan keimanan dan ketakwaan, budi pekerti dan kepribadian, kemampuan penguasaan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi, kepekaan dan kemampuan estetis, potensi fisik dan kesehatan yang disusun berdasarkan standar nasional pendidikan”15

From the quotation above, we know that in Indonesia, textbook becomes the main instructional medium that must be used in the school in order to facilitate either teacher or students in the teaching and learning process in the class.

2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Textbook

There are some advantages and disadvantages of textbook. Penny Ur states on her book about this matter clearly. Firstly, the advantages of textbook are:

a. Framework

A textbook provides the clear explanation about material that will be learnt. Therefore, teachers and students can understand the material generally.

15

Peraturan Mentri Pendidikan Nasional, Nomor 11 Tahun 2005 tentang Buku Teks Pelajaran, p. 2.

b. Syllabus

Sometimes, textbook serves a syllabus that should be followed by the teacher in the teaching process. If the teacher has followed the syllabus in the textbook regularly, whole materials will be covered well.

c. Ready-made Text and Tasks

Almost in every textbook in the school provide the texts and tasks which are likely to be of an appropriate level for most of the classes. Therefore, it can facilitate teachers in making the test.

d. Economy; the price of the book is also the cheapest from other learning materials for each learner.

e. Convenience; It is light and small enough to carry around easily. f. Guidance; It can help teacher who are inexperiences in teaching. g. Autonomy

The students can learn the material in the textbook on their own. They also can use it for review the material that has been learnt.16

Secondly, the disadvantages of the textbook are: a. Inadequacy

There will not be a textbook that can cover every student‟s needs because every student has different needs. Therefore, choosing the appropriate textbook is not an easy mater.

b. Irrelevance; The topics in the textbook may not be relevant or interesting for the students.

c. Limitation; Sometime, textbook leads to boredom and lack of motivation.

16

Penny Ur, A Course in language Teaching, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), pp. 184.

d. Homogeneity; Textbooks have their own rationale and chosen teaching and learning approach.

e. Over-easiness; Teachers find it too easy to follow the textbook uncritically instead of using their initiative.17

Moreover, Jack C. Richard also mentioned some advantages and disadvantages of textbook. The advantages are mentioned as follow:

a. Textbook provides structure and a syllabus for a program b. Textbook helps standardize instruction

c. Textbook maintains quality

d. Textbook provides a variety of learning resource e. Textbook is efficient

f. Textbook can provide effective language models and input g. Textbook can train teacher

h. Textbook is visually appealing18

After mentioning the positive side of textbook, Jack C. Richard also mentioned the negative effects or the disadvantages of textbook. They are:

a. Textbook may contain inauthentic language b. Textbook may distort contain

c. Textbook may not reflect students‟ needs d. Textbook can deskill teachers

e. Textbook is expensive19

In order to reduce the disadvantages of the textbook, the teachers have to be creative and understand about the text that is appropriate for students‟ level. Actually, the main role in the teaching and learning process in the class is not only a textbook but also the teacher. Teacher has the crucial role in the success of teaching and learning process. Therefore, teachers have to be innovative

17

Ibid, p. 185. 18

Jack C. Richards, Curriculum Development in Language Teaching, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp. 254 – 255.

19_Ibid,

when they find that the textbook is not appropriate for their students especially in the appropriateness of reading texts.

3. Selection of Textbook

It seems useful to distinguish between the following two stages in the selection of a textbook:

a. Global Selection

This is a first selection of textbooks where the information needed to make such a choice can be obtained from textbook reviews, users‟ judgment, information from authors, publishers and teacher‟s own global analysis.20

b. Analysis of the Textbook

The information bellow will be very useful in analyzing the textbook. 1) Checklist

2) Comparative textbook description 3) Detailed comments from users

4) Reports on empirical research into the effects of the textbooks in question21

There are four criteria for selecting textbooks based on Jack C. Richard. The explanations are mentioned as follow:22

a. They should correspond to learners‟ needs. They should match the objectives of the language learning program.

b. They should help to equip students in using language effectively for their own purposes.

20

Roger Browers and CJ. Brumfit, Apply Linguistics and English Language Teaching,

(London: McMilan Publisher Limited, 1991), p. 34. 21_Ibid.

22

Jack C. Richards, Curriculum Development in Language Teaching, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp.258 – 259.

c. They should take account of students‟ needs as learners and should facilitate their learning processes, without dogmatically imposing a rigid “method.”

d. They should have a clear role as a support for learning. Like teachers, they mediate between the target language and the learners. In addition, he also mentions other factors that influence textbook selection. The first is program factors; relating to concerns of the program. The second is teacher factors; relating to teacher concerns. The third is learner factors; relating to learner concerns. The fourth is content factors; relating to the content and organization of the material and reading texts in the book. The last is pedagogical factors; relating to the principles underlying the materials and the pedagogical design of the materials, including choice of activities and exercise types.23

Furthermore, Penny Ur also mentioned some points in selecting English reading texts. They are coverage, text and task. The first is coverage. It means that every single unit of textbook should cover a fair range of language content and skills. The second is text. It should be in appropriate level and interesting. The text also should be readable for the certain students‟ level in order to facilitate their understanding. The last is task. It should provide opportunities for plenty of use of the target language. It also should be interesting, relevant and useful for students.24 Therefore, analyzing the readability level of the reading texts in the textbook is one technique of selecting textbook from the textbook itself.

In selecting textbook that will be used in the school, every school has its own reason. Sitepu said on his journal that schools, esspecially in Indonesia, often choose the textbook that is offered by the publisher.25

23 _Ibid

, pp.254. 24

Penny Ur, A Course in language Teaching, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), pp. 185 – 186.

25

Therefore, it is very important for the school to know about the quality of the textbook especially about readability level of reading text in the textbook because there are so many choises of textbook from different publisher. C. Readability

1. Definition of Redability

Readability is one of the most important aspects that should be considered in selecting a good passage for students.26 Since readability can determine the achievement of the goal in teaching reading, some experts or researchers define the term readability of a text differently. Actually, readability is not only determined by the length of the passages or the length of the words, but it is also determined by how interestingly and attractively the text is written.27 Barbara Woods also defined that the readability of text was investigated to measure the writing complexity and to estimate the reading or education level required for comprehension of the text.28

There are so many textbooks that are published by the publishers. However, it is not an easy matter to decide the appropriateness of the textbook that will be used with the students‟ level. As a result, analyzing the readability level can be used to help the teachers in assessing the textbook.

Based on some definitions above, it can be concluded that readability is the complexity level of the reading text which is influenced by some factors in accordance with the level of a certain readers.

2. Factors that Influence Readability

There are many factors can influence readability of a written text. These factors include vocabulary, use of conversational elements in narrative,

26

Hill Walter, Secondary School Reading: Process Program and Procedures, (Boston: Allyn & Abcon, 1979), p. 190.

27

William H. Dubay, The Principles of Readability, (Costa Mesa: Impact Information, 2004), p. 3.

28

Barbara Woods, Giana Moscardo and Tanya Greenwood, A Critical Review of readability and Comprehensibility tests, The Journal of Tourism Studies, 9, 1998, p. 51.

frequency of affixed morphemes, level of abstraction, amount of detail or amplification of abstract ideas, non-language qualities, including text legibility, and interest29

Richard R. Day also explains about the factors that influence readability. He mentions five factors as follow:

a. Lexical knowledge

Lexical knowledge is an important factor because when the number of unknown lexical items in a reading passage increases, students will get more difficulty in comprehending the text.

b. Background knowledge

Background knowledge is essential in the readability of a text. The more readers know about a particular topic, the more quickly and accurately they can read it.

c. Organization

Organization refers to both the rhetorical organization of the text and the clarity of the organization. A passage that is not well organized might present problems for EFL students, especially at the beginning stages. d. Discourse phenomena

Textual phenomena at the level of discourse include the arrangement of topics and comments in a reading passage, and considerations of cohesiveness and coherence.

29

Thomas Oakland and Holly B. Lane, Language, Reading, and Readability Formulas: Implications for Developing and Adapting Tests, International Journal of Testing, Vol. 4, 2004, p. 9.

e. Length of passage

The final factor of readability concerns the length of the potential reading passage. The most common mistake of inexperienced teachers or teachers who are not able to judge the reading abilities of their students is to select a passage that is too long.30

Therefore, the teachers have to know about these factors because by knowing the factors that influence readability, the teacher can decide the readability level of the texts. When the textbook that will be used has higher readability level for students, it means that a teacher has to choose another reading text from another source. However, when the text that will be used has lower readability level for students, the teacher has to look for or change some sentences in order to make it appropriate for certain students

3. Methods in Readability Assessment

In assessing readability, there are some methods that can be applied. Teachers who want to select appropriate text for the students in the process of teaching and learning reading can use any kind of method depend on their beliefs. The purpose of readability assessment is to help someone in knowing the readability level of text for certain reader. Basically, the readability of the text can be measured in two ways, they are:31

a. Readability formulas

Jeanne S. Chall states on his book that readability formula is a tool for predicting the difficulty of text.32 Principally, readibility formula is an instrument to estimate the difficulty level in understanding reading text.

30

Richard R. Day, Selecting Passages for the EFL Reading Class, Journal of English Teaching Forum, Vol. 32, 1994. P.

31

Tim Peneliti, Laporan Kajian Keterbacaan Buku Teks Sekolah Dasar, (Jakarta: Pusat Perbukuan Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, 2006), p.1.

32

Liselott Langeborg, Readability; An Analysis of English Textbook, Akademin for Utbildning Och Economy,2010, p. 2.

The readability score based on this formula is got by amount of difficult words, amount of words in a sentence and the length of sentences in the reading text.33The parts of readability formulas are mentioned as bellow:

a) Flesch Reading Ease formula

Flesch reading Ease formula is created by Rudolf Flesch. It is a statistical readability formula that analizes the readability level through the numbers of syllables, words and sentences. Chall states on Dubay‟s book that It is the most popular formula and the most tested and reliable.34 Furthermore, Flesch formed the formula as follow:

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 x ASL) – (84.6 x ASW)35 Where:

Score : Position on a scale of 0 – 100.

ASL : Average Sentence Length (the number of words divided by the numbers of sentences)

ASW : Average Number of Syllables per word (the number of syllables divided by the number of words)

It calculates reading ease on a scale from 1 to 100, with the range of 0 – 30 being “very difficult”, 30 – 50 being “difficult”, 50 – 60 being “fairly difficult”, 60 –70 being “standard”, 70 –80 being “fairly easy”, 80 – 90 being “easy” and 90 – 100 being “very easy”. The description can be easier to be understood in the table 2.1:

33_Ibid

34

William H. Dubay, The Principles of Readability, (Costa Mesa: Impact Information, 2004), p. 22.

35

Bidyarani Asem, Readability Asssessment of Printed Materials: Going Beyond Readability Formulas. International Journal of Environment, Vol. 2, 2012, p. 49.

Table 2.1

Reading Ease Scale of the Flesch Formula36 Score Difficult Level Reading Grade 0 to 30 Very Difficult College graduate 30 to 50 Difficult 13th to 16th grade

(college) 50 to 60 Fairly Difficult 10th to 12th grade 60 to 70 Standard 8th and 9th grade

70 to 80 Fairly Easy 7th grade

80 to 90 Easy 6th grade

90 to 100 Very Easy 5th grade

b) SMOG Formula

G. Harry McLaughlin developed the SMOG (Simple Measure of Gobbledygook) Readability Formula in 1969 through an article, SMOG Grading – A New Readability Formula in the Journal of Reading. It is a tool designed to estimate the readability level of the texts by taking the sample of word and sentence length. The SMOG examines 10 consecutive sentences from the beginning, middle and end of the text. 37 Here are the steps in analyzing readability using SMOG formula:

36

Dubay, op. cit., p. 22.

37 _{Naudia Falcouner, et al. An Analysis of the Readability of Educational Materials on the} Consumer Webpage of a Health Professional Organization: Consideration for Practice, The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, Vol. 9, 2011, p. 3.

1. _{Count 10 sentences in a row near the beginning, 10 in the middle,} and 10 in the end for a total of 30 sentences.

2. _{In the 30 selected sentences, count every word of three or more} syllables in each group of sentences, even if the same word appears more than once.

3. _{Calculate the square root of the number arrived at in Step 3 and} round it off to nearest 10.

4. _{Estimate the square root of the number of polysyllabicnwords} counted. This is done by taking the square root of the nearest perfect square. For example, if the count is 95, the nearest perfect square is 100, which yields a square root of 10. If the count lies roughly between two perfect squares, choose the lower number. For instance, if the count is 110, take the square root of 100 rather than 121.

5. _{Add 3 to the approximate square root. This gives the SMOG} grade.38 The conversion table of SMOG formula is stated in table 2.2 :

Table 2.2

SMOG Conversion Table Word Count Grade Level

0-2 4

3-6 5

7-12 6

13-20 7

21-30 8

31-42 9

38

Hill Walter, Secondary School Reading: Process Program and Procedures, (Boston: Allyn & Abcon, 1979), p. 194.

43-56 10

57-72 11

73-90 12

91-110 13

111-132 14

133-156 15

157-182 16

183-210 17

211-240 18

c) Fry Readability Graph

Fry readability graph is developed by Burns, Roe and Ross in 2006. He claimed did not require the use of long vocabulary and mathematical computations. He explained that Fry‟s Graph has its own advantage. By using a chart, the teacher can write down his own criteria. The procedure involves counting the number of sentences and syllables in each hundred word samples and plotting on the graph the average number of syllables per hundred words. This method was popular because it was purposely designed to save time. The attempt to save time and effort make Fry‟s Graph achieve wide usage because of its convenience and ease of application.

The following are the directions for computing Fry‟s Formula:

1. _{Select three 100-word passages from near the beginning, middle} and end of the book

2. _{Count the total number of sentences in each 100-word passage,} estimating to the nearest tenth of a sentence. Average these three numbers.

3. _{Count the total number of syllables in each 100-word sample and} average them for the three samples

4. _{Plot on graph the average number of sentences per 100 words.} Burns, Roe and Ross further assert that the teacher‟s first step in helping children to read content material is to be aware of the difficulty of the textbook assignments they make.39 The example of fry graph is shown in table 2.2 :

Figure 2.2 Picture of Fry Graph

However, the most common used formula is Flesch Reading Ease because the formula is easy and simple to be analyzed.40

39

Bertola Perekeme, Readability of Language Textbooks Prescribed for Junior Secondary

Schools and Students‟ Performance in Reading Comprehension in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, British

Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, 2012, p. 92. 40

William H. Dubay, The Principles of Readability, (Costa Mesa: Impact Information, 2004), p. 22..

b. Cloze procedure test

The readability level also can be estimated by cloze procedure test. Cloze procedure text is a readability test which uses the students‟ ability in comprehending the text. In addition, it is a test constructed by deleting words from a selection and requiring students to fill in the blanks. The deleted words can be at random or mechanical procedure (every nth word) where n is usually a number 5 or above.41

As a final point, the writer concerned to the readability assessment using

Flesch Reading Ease Formula to identify the sentence length and the number of syllables in a reading passages. This method will be used because the writer believes that shorter sentences usually are more readable than longer ones, especially those which contain numerous prepositional phrases and have complex, compound or complex compound constructions.42

D. The Relevant Previous Study

a. The Readability Level of the Reading Texts on Link to the world: An English Textbook For Senior High School.( A Case Study at the Tenth Grade of MA Pembangunan UIN, Jakarta)

This study had been done by Yuli Darmayanti, a student in English Education Departement, Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. This study was conducted to analyze the reading text on the English textbook entitled “Link to the World”. The problem of this research is that the students often encounter difficulties in understanding the texts in the textbook. This textbook was used by the tenth grade students of MA Pembangunan UIN Syarif Hidayatullah. On this research, the writer used descriptive analysis

41

Bertola Perekeme, Readability of Language Textbooks Prescribed for Junior Secondary Schools and Students‟ Performance in Reading Comprehension in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, British Journalnof Arts and Social Sciences, 2012, p. 92.

42

Hill Walter, Secondary School Reading: Process Program and Procedures, (Boston: Allyn & Abcon, 1979), p. 191.

method. To find out the readability level of the reading text, she conducted the study by analyzing the reading text using the Flesch Reading Ease Formula and the Cloze Test. From the 12 reading text, she chose 6 texts as the sample. As the result, among the 6 reading texts analyzed, by using the

Flesch reading Ease Formula, there are 5 texts which is readable for the tenth grade students and one text is appropriate for university students‟ level. While by using Cloze Test, there are 4 texts categorized as independent level and two texts are categorized as instructional level.43 b. The Readability of Reading Passages in English Textbook of

“Contextual Learning” Published by Grafindo Media Pratama. (A Case Study at the Eleventh Grade of SMA Negeri 9 Tangerang Selatan) In 2012, Ade Afrizal conducted the research about readability of Reading Passages in English Textbook of “Contextual Learning” Published by Grafindo Media Pratama as this textbook is used at the Eleventh Grade of SMA Negeri 9 Tangerang Selatan. The research problem is that students feel bored with reading, not only with reading materials but also many unfamiliar words which are not suitable with the basic ability of students. This research used Descriptive Annalysis method. The objective of the research is to see the readability reading passages in English textbook untittled “Contextual Learning” Published by Grafindo Media Pratama. The result shows that according to the analysis through the Flesch Reading Ease Formula, from 5 texts, 2 texts are catagorized in the Very Easy Level. 2 text are in the Easy Level, 1 text is in the fairly Easy Level and 4 texts are in the Plain English Level. While, from the

43

Yuli Darmayanti, “The Readability Level of the Reading Texts on Link to the world:

An English Textbook For Senior High School”, Skripsi of Undergraduate of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, Jakarta, 2010, unpublished.

analysis through Cloze Test, the result is that 1 text is in the Independent Level, and 4 texts are in the Instructional Level.44

c. An Analysis of the Readability of Educational Materials on the Costumer Webpage of a Health Professional Organization: Consideration for Practice.

Nadia Valconer conducted this study in 2011. The problem of this research is that the reading texts for many patient education materials were too high for patients to comprehend. The purpose of this study was to determine the readability level of educational brochures found on the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) consumer website. Fourteen educational brochures on the APTA website in March 2008 were analyzed using the following assessments: Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Flesch Reading Ease, Fry Readability Formula, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), Checklist for Patients Education Materials, and

Customer Health Website Evaluation Checklist. According to Flesch-Kinchaid and Flesch Reading Ease, over 90% of the brochures were written at greater than a sixth grade level. The mean reading level was grade 10.2 with a Flesch Reading Ease score was between 31.5 to 79.9. Using the SMOG formula showed that the brochures had a mean reading level of grade 11.5. The Fry Readability showed that 85% of the brochures were written higher than sixth grade level, with a mean reading level of grade 9.5. Findings suggest that most of the customer education information available on the website of this health professional

44_{Ade Afrizal, “The readability of Reading Passages in English Textbook of “Contextual}

Learning” Published by Grafindo Media Pratama”, Skripsi of Undergraduate of Syarif

organization had readability scores that were too high for average consumers to read.45

The difference of these studies is the writer used only one method in finding the readability level of the reading texts; that is Flesch Reading Ease Formula, whereas, the previous studies used more than one method. Yuli Darmayanti and Ade Afrizal used Flesch Reading Ease Formula and Cloze Procedural Test on their study. Moreover, Naudia Falcouner‟s research also

about readability level of reading text. She used some readability formulas on her study such as Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Flesch Reading Ease, Fry Readability Formula, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), Checklist for Patients Education Materials, and Customer Health Website Evaluation Checklist.

The similarity of these studies is about the object of study. Yuli Darmayanti and Ade Afrizal‟s object of study was reading texts in the textbook that were used in the teaching and learning process at the school. However, NaudiaFalcouner‟s object of study is reading text on the customer website. The purpose of those studies is also same. It is to find out the readability level of reading texts for certain students or customer.

The writer just used one method in deciding the readability level of the reading text because it has no bias. The writer saw the readability level based on the textbook itself; not based on students‟ perception. Therefore, the result of this study was clear and there was not bias. Moreover, the writer decided to use Flesch Reading Ease formula because it is the easy method in finding the readability level of reading text. Furthermore, the writer also agreed upon the statements of Hill Walter that shorter sentences usually are more readable than longer ones, especially those which contain numerous prepositional phrases

45

Naudia Falcouner, et al. An Analysis of the Readability of Educational Materials on the Costemer Webpage of a Health Professional Organization: Consideration for Practice. The

and have complex, compound or complex compound constructions. 46 Students will get difficulty in comprehending the main idea of long sentences. On the other hand it will be easier for students to grasping the main idea of short sentences.

46

Hill Walter, Secondary School Reading: Process Program and Procedures, (Boston: Allyn & Abcon, 1979), p. 191.

30 A. Time and Place of the Research

The writer does the research in SMA Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan. The research starts on 1st March 2014 and finishes on 30th July 2014.

B. Method of the Research

In this research, the writer uses descriptive method. The objective of descriptive method is to describe sistematically the facts about the object that is analyzed.1 Therefore the writer tries to describe the readability level of an english textbook entittle Advanced Learning English 2. This research also supportes by library research method to find out the theory which related to the topic of this research such as the theory of textbook, readability, Flesch Reading Ease, etc. Furthermore, the writer also finds out the theories from other sources such as web-sites, articles and journal.

C. Unit of Analysis

The writer does not use the term of population and sample because the main object in this research is textbook, not the students. Therefore the term that used is unit of analysis. The text book consists of six chapters and each chapter consists of four sections; they are Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. The writer focused on Reading section. The Total of the reading texts on the textbook Advanced Learning English 2 especially in the Reading section is 17 texts, which consist of 3 descriptive texts, 8 narrative texts, 2 analytical exposition texts, 1 hortatory exposition text and 3 spoof texts. The writer took the whole texts in the Reading section as the unit of analysis (See appendix 2). The detail information about texts is explained in the table 3.1:

1

Table 3.1

The Detail Information about the Texts in The Textbook Advanced Learning English 2

Text Type of Text Number of Sentence

Number of Words

Number of Syllables

1 Descriptive 22 283 433

2 Descriptive 20 277 441

3 Descriptive 20 215 348

4 Narrative 29 264 355

5 Narrative 30 271 352

6 Narrative 33 310 418

7 Analytical Exposition

14 217 349

8 Analytical Exposition

13 194 311

9 Spoof 11 140 178

10 Spoof 9 140 220

11 Spoof 8 120 167

12 Narrative 24 362 571

13 Narrative 23 310 408

14 Narrative 27 376 529

15 Narrative 12 171 239

16 Narrative 16 193 283

17 Hortatory Expotition

D. Instrument of the Research

The instrument of the research that is used by the writer is Flesch Reading Ease formula. It is one of statistical analysis formulas. Moreover, the writer also does the interview to some English teachers and students of eleventh grade in order to add the information about textbook they used.

E. Technique of Data Collecting

To collect the data in this research, the writer counts the number of sentences, words and syllables of each text. The writer then continues to get the average number of syllables per words and words per sentences from each text.2 Afterwards, the writer analyzes the data

F. Technique of Data Annalysis

For the next step of the research, the writer processes and analyzes the data. In order to analyze the data of the reading texts, the writer uses Flesch Reading Ease formula. The procedures are explained bellow:

1. Count the syllables, words, and sentences of a text

2. Find the average sentence length (ASL) and average number of syllable per word (ASW)

3. Find the readability score by using formula: Score = 206.835 – (1.015 x ASL) – (84.6 x ASW)

4. Determine the difficult level and reading grade by reading ease scale of Flesch formula as stated on table 3.2:

2

Rudolf Flesch, The Art of Readable Writing, (New York:Harper and Row, 1949), pp. 213-214.

Table 3.2

Reading Ease Scale of the Flesch Formula3

Score Difficult Level Reading Grade 0 to 30 Very Difficult College graduate 30 to 50 Difficult 13th to 16th grade (college) 50 to 60 Fairly Difficult 10th to 12th grade 60 to 70 Standard 8th and 9th grade

70 to 80 Fairly Easy 7th grade

80 to 90 Easy 6th grade

90 to 100 Very Easy 5th grade

The writer finds difficulty in converting the reading grade of american standard into Indonesian standard because there are not previous studies or reliable references which use conversion of reading grade. Therefore, the writer assumes that the reading grade of Flesch Reading Ease formula is similar to Indonesian school grade. It means that the 5th grade is equal to 5th grade students of Elementary school. 6th grade is equal to 6th grade students of Elementary school. 7th grade is equal to 7th grade of Junior High School. 8th and 9th grade is equal to 8th – 9th grade of Junior High School. 10th to 12th grade is equal to 10th – 12th grade of Senior High School. 13th to 16th grade is equal to university students (from 1st semester until 8th semester). College graduate is equal to graduated university students.

3

William H. Dubay, The Principles of Readability, (Costa Mesa: Impact Information, 2004), p. 22.

34 A. Finding

1. Textbook Description

The writer annalized an English textbook entitled Advanced Learning English 2 that is published by Grafindo Media Pratama in 2012. This textbook is compiled by Herman Benyamin. This textbook is dedicated for the eleventh grade students of Senior High Schools which is developed based on KTSP

(Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan). Moreover, in order to facilitate the process of teaching and learning English, the eleventh grade students of SMA

Negeri 4 Tangerang Selatan are recommended to use this textbook.

The textbook consists of 258 pages and 6 units. Each unit is presented in four-skill sections Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Furthermore, this textbook also takes a concern in grammar and pronunciation. The whole units have a topic based on the genre of the text such as descriptive, narrative, hortatory exposition and spoof. For the reading sections, there are 3 descriptive texts, 8 narrative texts, 2 analytical exposition texts, 1 hortatory exposition text and 3 spoof texts. The writer took all reading texts in reading sections.

2. Data Description

The writer uses Flesch Reading Ease Formula to find out the readability level of the reading texts on the textbook Advanced Learning English 2, The readability score is gotten by counting the syllables, words, and sentences of a text by calculating it in countwordsworth.com.

The calculation result of the sentences, words, and syllables of each text is presented in table 4.1:

Table 4.1

The Description of Sentence, Word, and Syllable Calculations of Reading Texts Text Number of

sentences

Number of Words

Number of Syllables

Text 1 22 283 433

Text 2 20 277 441

Text 3 20 215 348

Text 4 29 264 355

Text 5 30 271 352

Text 6 33 310 418

Text 7 14 217 349

Text 8 13 194 311

Text 9 11 140 178

Text 10 9 140 220

Text 11 8 120 167

Text 12 24 362 571

Text 13 23 310 408

Text 14 27 376 529

Text 15 12 171 239

Text 16 16 193 283

3. Data Analysis

According to Willim H. Dubay, the readability of text by using the Flesch Reading Ease Formula can be analyzed by this formula:

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW)1 For the first, the writer counts the number of ASL (Average Sentence Length) or the number of words per sentence.

1. Text 1

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences =283 : 22 = 12.8

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 433 : 283 = 1.5

2. Text 2

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 277 : 20 = 13.8

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 441: 277 = 1.6

3. Text 3

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 215 : 20 = 10.7

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 348 : 215 = 1.6

1

William H. Dubay, The Principles of Readability, (Costa Mesa: Impact Information, 2004), p. 22.

4. Text 4

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 264 : 29 = 9.1

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 355 : 264 = 1.3

5. Text 5

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 271 : 30 = 9

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 352 : 271 = 1.3

6. Text 6

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 310 : 33 = 9.3

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 418 : 310 = 1.3

7. Text 7

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 217 : 14 = 15.5

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 349 : 217 = 1.6

8. Text 8

= 194 : 13 = 14.9

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 311 : 194 = 1.6

9. Text 9

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 140 : 11 = 12.7

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 178 : 140 = 1.2

10.Text 10

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 140 : 9 =15.5

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 220 : 140 = 1.5

11.Text 11

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 120 : 8 = 15

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 167 : 120 = 1.4

12.Text 12

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 362 : 24 = 15

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 571: 362 = 1.5

13.Text 13

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 310 : 23 = 13.4

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 408 : 310 = 1.3

14.Text 14

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 376 : 27 = 13.9

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 529 : 376 = 1.4

15.Text 15

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 171 : 12 = 14.2

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 239 : 171 = 1.4

16.Text 16

ASL = Number of words : Number of sentences = 193 : 16 = 12

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 283 : 193 = 1.4

17.Text 17

= 280 : 14 = 20

ASW = Number of syllables : Number of words = 479 : 280 = 1.7

To make easier, the result of ASL and ASW calculation of each text can be seen in the table 4.2:

Table 4.2

The Result of ASL and ASW Calculation

Text Average Sentence Length Average Syllable per Word

Text 1 12.8 1.5

Text 2 13.8 1.6

Text 3 10.7 1.6

Text 4 9.1 1.3

Text 5 9 1.3

Text 6 9.3 1.3

Text 7 15.5 1.6

Text 8 14.9 1.6

Text 9 12.7 1.2

Text 10 15.5 1.5

Text 11 15 1.4

Text 12 15 1.5

Text 13 13.4 1.3

Text 14 13.9 1.4

Text 15 14.2 1.4

Text 16 12 1.4

After counting the number of ASL and ASW, the next step is finding the readability score by using Flesch Reading Ease formula:

Text 1

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 12.8 ) – (84.6 X 1.5 ) = 206.835 – (12.992) – (126.9)

= 66.9 = 67

Text 2

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 13.8 ) – (84.6 X 1.6) = 206.835 – (14.007) – (135.36)

= 57.4 = 57 Text 3

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 10.7) – (84.6 X 1.6) = 206.835 – (10.86) – (135.36)

= 60.6 = 61 Text 4

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 9.1) – (84.6 X 1.3) = 206.835 – (9.236) – (109.98)

= 87.6 = 88 Text 5

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 9) – (84.6 X 1.3) = 206.835 – (9.135) – (109.98)

Text 6

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 9.3) – (84.6 X 1.3) = 206.835 – (9.439) – (109.98)

= 87.4 = 87 Text 7

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 15.5) – (84.6 X 1.6 ) = 206.835 – (15.732) – (135.36)

= 55.7 = 56

Text 8

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 14.9) – (84.6 X 1.6 ) = 206.835 – (15.123) – (135.36)

= 56.3 = 56 Text 9

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 12.7) – (84.6 X 1.2 ) = 206.835 – (12.89) – (101.52)

= 92.4 = 92 Text 10

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 15.5) – (84.6 X 1.5 ) = 206.835 – (15.732) – (126.9)

= 64.2 = 64 Text 11

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 15) – (84.6 X 1.4 )

= 206.835 – (15.225) – (118.44) = 73.1 = 73

Text 12

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 15) – (84.6 X 1.5 ) = 206.835 – (15.225) – (126.9)

= 64.7 = 65 Text 13

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 13.4) – (84.6 X 1.3) = 206.835 – (13.601) – (109.98)

= 83.2 = 83

Text 14

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 13.9) – (84.6 X 1.4 ) = 206.835 – (14.108) – (118.44)

= 74.2 = 74 Text 15

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 14.2) – (84.6 X 1.4 ) = 206.835 – (14.413) – (118.44)

= 73.9 = 74 Text 16

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 12) – (84.6 X 1.4) = 206.835 – (12.8) – (118.44)

Text 17

Score = 206.835 – (1.015 X ASL) – (84.6 X ASW) = 206.835 - (1.015 X 20) – (84.6 X 1.7) = 206.835 – (20.3) – (143.82)

= 42.7 = 43

The calculation then be put in the table 4.4: Table 4.4

The Readability Score of the Reading Texts Based on the Reading Ease Scale of the Flesch Formula

Text Readability Score Difficult Level Reading Grade

Text 1 67 Standard 8th to 9th Grade

Text 2 57 Fairly Difficult 10th to 12th Grade

Text 3 61 Standard 8th and 9th Grade

Text 4 88 Easy 6th Grade

Text 5 88 Easy 6th Grade

Text 6 87 Easy 6th Grade

Text 7 56 Fairly Difficult 10th to 12th Grade Text 8 56 Fairly Difficult 10th to 12th Grade

Text 9 92 Very Easy 5th Grade

Text 10 64 Standard 8th and 9th Grade

Text 11 73 Fairly Easy 7th Grade

Text 12 65 Standard 8th and 9th Grade

Text 13 83 Easy 6th Grade

Text 14 74 Fairly Easy 7th Grade

Text 15 74 Fairly Easy 7th Grade

Text 17 43 Difficult 13th to 16th Grade (college) Average

Score

70.82 Fairly Easy 7th Grade

B. Interpretation

After getting the result of the data analysis from the Flesch Reading Ease Formula, 17 reading texts on the textbook Advanced Learning English 2

are classified into six levels:

1. Very Easy, there is 1 reading text in this level. The readability score is between 90 – 100.

2. Easy, there are 4 reading texts in this level. The readability scores are between 80 – 90.

3. Fairly Easy, there are 4 reading texts in this level. The readability scores are between 70 – 80.

4. Standard, there are 4 reading texts in this level. The readability scores are between 60 – 70.

5. Fairly Difficult, there are 3 reading texts in this level. The readability scores are between 50 – 60.

6. Difficult, there is 1 reading text in this level. The readability score is between 30 – 50.

It can be interpreted that if the readability score of a text is higher than other texts, it will be easier to be understood by the students. However, if the readability score of a text is lower than other texts, it will make the text difficult to be understood. Furthermore, the writer continues to percentage the data as in table 4.5:

Table 4.5 Data in Percent (%)

No Level Numbers of Text Percentage

1 Very Easy 1 5.9 %

2 Easy 4 23.5 %

3 Fairly Easy 4 23.5 %

4 Standard 4 23.5 %

5 Fairly Difficult 3 17.6 %

6 Difficult 1 5.9 %

In average, the texts in the textbook Advanced Learning English 2

especially in the Reading section are in Fairly Easy Level ( 70.82 ). It is found that according to the theory of Flesch Reading Ease by Rudolf Flesch, the texts are in the appropriate level for eleventh grade students. Based on the writer‟s belief, the low score of eleventh grade students of SMA N 4 Tangerang Selatan in reading comprehension is affected by other factors, beside the textbook. Furthermore, the result of this study gives an idea about improving other factors such as method in teaching reading, building students‟ vocabulary and reading practice.

47 A. Conclusion

After analyzing the data of reading texts on the textbook Advanced Learning English 2 by using Flesch Reading Ease Formula and finding the result, it can be concluded that from 17 reading texts, they are categorized into six levels; Very Easy for 1 text, Easy for 4 texts, Fairly Easy for 4 texts, Standard for 4 texts, Fairly Difficult for 3 texts, and Difficult for 1 text.

In average, the texts are in Fairly Easy Level. It means that according to the theory of Flesch Reading Ease by Rudolf Flesch, the texts are in the appropriate level for eleventh grade students.

B. Suggestion

Finally, the writer really hope that this study will be useful for the readers. Therefore, the writer would like to give some suggestion that expectantly can improve the teaching and learning process as follow:

1. The English teachers

a. Although the average result of this study shows that the texts on the textbook Advanced Learning English 2 are in the Fairly Easy level, the English teachers still have to facilitate students in comprehending the texts because every student has different reading ability.

b. An English teacher also must know that readability is not the only factor that influence students‟ comprehension in reading the text, but also it is very important to improve other factors such as teaching method, students‟ vocabulary and reading practice.

2. The students

a. The students should be diligent in reading English text in order to practice their reading ability.

b. The students should enrich their vocabulary.

c. The students should pay attention carefully to the teacher when he/she explains about reading material.

3. The principal

The principal should not take for granted every textbook that is offered by the publishers. The principal has to observe about the quality of the textbook before it is used in the teaching and learning process.

4. The author and publisher

It is very important for the author and publisher to consider the suitability of the texts that will be learnt by students in certain level before published.

5. The other researchers

a. The writer hopes to other researchers to examine other factors that influence the text such as interest, exploitability, topic, political appropriateness, cultural suitability and appearance.

b. Other researchers also can find out the readability level of English texts by using other techniques such as Cloze Procedure test, SMOG formula, Raygor formula etc.

Text 13

Momotaro the Peach Boy

Once upon a time there was an old man and his old wife lifing in th e country in Japan. The oldman was a woodcutter. He and his wife were very sad and lonely because they had no children.

One day the oldman went into the mountains to cut firewood and the old woman went to the river to wash some clothes.

No sooner had the old woman begun her washing, she was very surprised to see a big peach come floating down the river. It was the biggest peach she‟d ever seen in all her life. She pulled the peach out of the river and decided to take it home and give it to the old man for his supper that night.

Late in the afternoon the oldman came home, and the old woman said to him: “Look what a wonderful peach I found for your supper.” The old man said it was truly a beautiful peach. He was so hungry that he said:”Let‟s divide it and eat it right away.”

So the old woman brought a big knife from the kitchen and was getting ready to cut the peach in half. But just then there was the sound of a human voice from inside the peach. “Wait! Don‟t cut me!” said the voice. Suddenly the peach split open, and a beautiful baby boy jumped out of the peach.

The old man and woman were astounded. But the baby said: “Don‟t be afraid. The god of Heaven saw how lonely you were without any children, so he sent me to be your son.”

The old man and woman were very happy, and they took the baby to be their son. Since he was born from a peach, they named him Momotaro, which means Peach Boy. They loved Momotaro very much and raised him to be a fine boy.

Text 14

Momotaro the Peach Boy (Section 2)

When Momotaro was about fifteen years old, he went to his father and said: “Father, you have always been very kind to me. Now I am a big boy and I must do something to help my country. In a distant part of the sea there is an island named Ogre Island. Many wicked ogres live there, and they often come to our land and do bad things like carrying people away and stealing their things. So I‟m going to go to Ogre Island and fight them and bring back the treasure which they have there. Please let me do this.”

The old man was surprised to hear this, but he was also very proud of Momtaro for wanting to help other people. So he and the old woman helped Momotaro get ready for his journey to Ogre Island. The old man gave him a sword and armor, and the old woman fixed him a good lunch of millet dumplings. Then Momotaro begun his journey, promising his parents that he would come back soon.

Momotaro went walking toward the sea. It was a long way. As he went along he met a spotted dog. The dog growled at Momotaro and was about to bite him, but then Momotaro gave him one of the dumplings. He told the spotted dog that he was going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island. So the dog said he‟d go along too and help Momotaro.

Momotaro and the spotted dog kept on walking and soon they met a monkey. The spotted dog and the monkey started to have a flight. But Momotaro explained to the monkey that he and the spotted dog were going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island. Then the monkey asked if he could go with them. Momotaro gave the monkey a dumpling and let the monkey come with them.

Momotaro and the spotted dog and the monkey kept on walking. Suddenly they met a pheasant. The spotted dog and the monkey and the pheasant were about to start fighting. But when the pheasant heard that Momotaro was going to fight

the ogres on Ogre Island, he asked if he could go too. So Momotaro gave the pheasant a dumpling and told him to come along.

Text 15

Momotaro the Peach Boy (Section 3)

So, with Momotaro as their general, the spotted dog and the monkey and the pheasant, who usually hated each other, all became good friends and followed Momotaro faithfully. They walked a long, long away, and finally reached the sea. At the edge of the sea Momotaro built a boat. They and all got in the boat and started across the sea toward Ogre Island.

When they came within sight of the island, they could see that the ogres had a very strong fort there. And there were many, many ogres. Some of them were red, some blue, and some black.

First the pheasant flew over the walls of the fort and began to peck at the ogres‟ heads. They all tried to hit the pheasant with their clubs, but he was very quick and dodged all their blows. And while the ogres weren‟t looking, the monkey slipped up and opened the gate of the fort. Then Momotaro and the spotted dog rushed into the fort and started fighting the ogres too.

Text 16

Momotaro the Peach Boy (Section 4)

It was a terrible battle! The pheasant pecked at the heads and eyes of the wicked ogres. And the monkey clawed at them. And the spotted dog bit them. And Momotaro cut them with his sword. At last the ogres were completely defeated. They all bowed down low before Momotaro and promised never to do wicked things again. Then they brought Momotaro all the treasure they had stored in the fort.

It was the most wonderful treasure you can imagine. There was much gold and silver and many precious jewels. There was an invisible coat and hat, arid a

hammer that made a piece of gold every time you hit it on the ground, and many other wonderful things. Momotaro and his three helpers carried all this in their boat back to the land. Then they made a chart and put all the treasure in the cart and pulled it back to Momotaro‟s house.

How happy the old man and woman were when they saw their son return safely from Ogre Island! They were very rich now with all the treasure that Momotaro had brought, and they all lived together very, very, happily.

Text 17

Drinking Coffee has Health Benefits

Drinking coffee may not harm people. Tea, coffee and soda are few beverages which contain drug called caffeine. In its natural state, caffeine, a silky crystalline substance, is a white or yellow powder, which is bitter tasting and odorless. Why should I say that? I propose some arguments as follows:

First, according to an old legend, ever since the third century, monks began using caffeine in order to help them stay awake during evening prayer services. Now, almost seventeen centuries later, we still use caffeine for the same purpose as well as other purposes.

Second, caffeine is absorbed through the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream, it takes anywhere from fifteen to forty-five minutes to reach its peak levels. The blood flow through the kidneys increases, which triggers urination.

Third, some more therapeutic uses for caffeine are: to help analgesics work more efficiently, to relieve depression to drug addicts, to kill skin funguses, to improve the movement of sperm, and to keep people from having seizures during electroconvulsive therapy.

Fourth, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted an extensive study and concluded that there is no evidence that caffeine will decrease the quality of your health in any way.

Finally, caffeine enhances the performance of small tasks and physical work, which requires endurance, like running or swimming. Apparently, the Ethiopians mixed crushed dried coffee beans with fat and rolled them together and ate it during their journeys.

Thus if we want to say that first, we may drink coffee, without feeling scare of bad impact of the caffeine; second, don‟t drink too much; third, drink coffee for therapeutic purposes, at last we needn‟t to addict to coffee.