Concept and Model of Communicative Written English Competence.

49 knowledge consisting of functional and socio-cultural knowledge, while strategic knowledge deals with goal setting, assessment and planning.

c. Concept and Model of Communicative Written English Competence.

The familiar framework of language learning covers the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The focus of the discussion is the written skills of the English learning which covers reading and writing skills. To formulate communicative written English test for Indonesian young learners, the discussion focuses on two skills: reading and writing. 1 Reading a Concept of Reading ‘Reading involves making meaning from a text’ Mc Kay, 2006: 223. Readers require three main cueing systems when they read. First, they rely on graphophonic cues at the word level such as cues from how a word is written and sounds out. Second, the syntactic cues at the sentence level, such as cues that show information about the role of any one word within a sentence or clause of words. Third, the semantic cues at the whole text level such as cues which deal with the meaning of a word or words in relationship with the whole text, and also with associated pictures or photograph attached to the whole text. Weigle 2000: 3 says that it is commonplace to divide reading into two scopes, the process of reading and the result of the process, the product. The process is related to the meaning of ‘reading’ proper that is the interaction between a reader and the text such as the reader looking at print, deciphering in some sense the marks on the page, deciding what they mean and how they are related to each other and so forth. Evidently, many different things can happen 50 during the reading process. The process is ‘likely to be dynamic, variable and different for the same reader on the same text at a different time or with a different purpose in reading” Weigle, 2000: 3. Product of reading, according to Widdowson and Halliday as it was cited by Weigle is called meaning potential which is realized in the product of understanding only by readers’ reading. Readers’ knowledge and experiences influence the realization of the meaning potential. Therefore, the products of reading will also differ from one reader to another. The nature of readers’ knowledge influences not only what they remember of text but their understanding of the text and the way they process it. If readers do not know the language of the text, they will have great difficulty in processing the text. A reader’s linguistic knowledge develops with age and experience. The vocabulary size and depth, knowledge of conventions associated with particular types of text develop well into adulthood and the ability to process the more complex linguistic structures associated especially with the written language, must automatically develop with increasing literacy Weigle, 2000: 6. Weigle distinguishes level of understanding of a text between a literal understanding, an understanding of meanings which implicitly stated in the text or an understanding of the main implications of the text. Meanwhile, Grays, as cited by Weigle, distinguishes it between ‘reading ‘the lines’ literal meanings, reading between the lines inferred meanings and reading beyond the lines readers’ critical evaluations of the text. Inferred meaning is considered ‘deeper’ than literal meaning, and a critical understanding is more highly valued by society than a ’mere’ literal understanding Weigle, 2000: 7. 51 Assessing reading ability needs to see both the process which can be concluded as the interaction between readers and text and the product which usually is in the form of reading comprehension or an internal construction of meaning, an understanding at least to some degree of what has been read Mc Kay, 2006: 224. b Framework for Reading Competence of Young Language Learners as Theoretical Construct. There are many frameworks teachers or schools can draw to define their constructs for reading assessmenttesting. Here, the researcher chooses the frameworks drawn by Mc Kay which is adapted from the Bachman and Palmer’s communicative competence for reading. As it has been explored in the previous discussion that Bachman and Palmer’s concept and model of communicative English competence include two aspects of competence that are language competence and strategic competence. Yet, Mc Kay draws the framework of communicative English competence for young language learners limited only to language competence excluding the strategic competence. The reason likely is because strategic competence is defined as “ a set of meta-cognitive strategies which can be thought of as higher order executive processes that provide a cognitive management function in language use, as well as in other activities” Bachman Palmer, 1990: 70. Along with the framework, she requires teachers or testing developers to establish texts tasks in accordance with the types of texts which the young language learners read, the young language learners’ skill level and the purpose of conducting the testassessment. Giving an example, there are many young 52 language learners who have not have some reading skill in the second or weaker language when they start schooling, but they have already had some developing reading skills and understandings in their first language. And there are also some young learners who have started their schooling and learned to read in their second language. The first type of young language learners can transfer to their reading in the target language with their first language reading skills and understandings. The second type of young language learners can read and understand faster and better the second language texts which they have accustomed with in their schooling time Mc Kay, 2006: 226. Thus, the construct of testingassessment tasks should enable young language learners to be successful at their own level. According to Mc Kay, depending on the curriculum requirements and the situations young language learners encounter, their reading ability needs to develop with the following characteristics: Language Competence of Young language Learners’ Reading Ability 1. Organizational Knowledge Grammatical Knowledge Children need to decode letters and words, andor recognize wordscharacters by signs. Their vocabulary knowledge needs to broaden and deepen. Their syntax needs to increase in accuracy. They need to be able to understand a range of structures. Textual knowledge Children need to be able to read a range of texts, for the range of purpose for which they need to write in the target language. They need to employ textual knowledge to understand the meaning of the text. For example: can they understand the meanings of conjunctions that join sentences and paragraphs together but, then, and, though? Are they aware of different Table 2.14. Mc Kay’s Framework of Young language Learners’ reading ability Mc Kay, 2006: 227 53 text structures or genres, and if so, do they use this knowledge to predict the purpose and meaning of the text? 2. Pragmatic Knowledge Functional Knowledge Children need to understand the purposes behind the language they read, even when to see purpose are not directly stated. Sociolinguistic Knowledge Children need sufficient knowledge and experience of the target language culture to understand the cultural references in the texts. Are their schemata expanding through experience in the new culture towards understanding the cultural references in their reading Do they understand when language is appropriate or inappropriate to the context perhaps leading to humor or embarrassment for the story character? Do they understand the humor in the text? Do they understand the attitudes, beliefs, customs, ideals and values inherent in the texts? Children need to begin to analyze the texts, that is, to look for assumptions and biases in the texts. In addition to the concept and the model of reading ability, Mc Kay 2006: 228 also says that assessing reading is not straightforward because reading can only be measured through their other skills such as speaking or writing. In assessing or testing reading ability of young language learners, careful notice should be taken that the tasks are not contaminated by high levels of writings or speaking requirements. Other aspects should be considered are: “the interest level of the text will have considerable influence on the motivation of the child, and therefore possibly on the quality of the child’s performance” Mc Kay, 2006: 228. Therefore texts should be selected by considering the characteristic of the test takers young language learners which includes their interests, age, cognitive maturity, language proficiency and reading ability level. She suggests that authentic materials from the child’s environment will give valuable texts with 54 some considerations as follows: first, the texts are better accompanied by colorful and motivating illustrations. If the texts are not interesting for them, they can easily move on to another more interesting subject. Second, the difficulty of reading text related to many features of the text, such as: familiarity of the vocabulary, the length and complexity of the sentences in the text, the presence or absence of illustrations, the spaces between the lines, the size of the letters and so on. Third, “Children’s performance is likely to be negatively influenced if they are not able to bring their own background and cultural knowledge or schemata into play as they read” Mc Kay, 2006: 229. Texts should be chosen with a consideration that children can draw on their background knowledge or, at least, not excluded by specifically cultural content which they unlikely know. 2 Writing a Concept of Writing Writing, like reading, is about a process and a product. As a process, writing requires the involvement of the pre-writing, writing, revising and editing. The products of writing are numerous and in many forms determined by different purposes and audiences and contexts for writing such as illustrated sentences, letters, narratives and books Mc Kay, 2002: 245. Grabowski, as cited in Weigle 2002: 4, notes that writing is more standardized than speaking. In the first-language education, learning to write involves learning specialized version of a language which differs in important ways from spoken language. Writing and critical thinking are considered as closely related. An expertise in writing is considered as an indicator that students have mastered the cognitive skills that they need to succeed. Writing instruction in 55 first language education emphasizes on the originality of thought, the development of ideas and the soundness of the writer’s logic. Yet, for second- language writing, due to the wide variety of situations in which people learn and use second languages, the requirements are not the same with those of first- language learning. They can be distinguished by age, level of education, first language literacy and by the real world need for writing outside the classroom. One cannot write in a second language without knowing at least something about the grammar and vocabulary of the language. Learning writing in second language which is closely related to the native language in terms of grammar, vocabulary and writing system is much easier than writing in a language which is very different. To clarify the explanation, Weigle distinguishes it between at least five main groups of second-language writers as follows: Learners Needs Purpose Children Minority group members; eg. in bilingual programs Academic ‘school’ writing skills For survival Majority group members; eg. in immersion programs For enhancement Adults Minority group members, immigrant status Immediate functional literacy skills For survival in the workplace Quasi temporary academic status For advanced subject matter degrees Majority language group members; eg: traditional foreign[language Academic ‘educated’ language skills For educational andor job enhancement andor interest Table 2.2 Weigle’s groups of second language writers adapted from Bernhardt 1991 Weigle, 2002: 6 56 learners. From the above table, it is informed that the groups of second language writers are divided into two, children and adults. The group of children consists of two groups. The first group is children from a minority language getting their education in majority language. The children of this group need to learn to read and write in a language which is not spoken at home in order to be successful in school and workplace later on. The second group is children of majority language speakers in immersion programs or learning a second language in school. For those children, mastery of the second language enhances their education but not critical for their future. For the adult second language learners, there are three different groups. The first group is immigrants to a new country who frequently from a lower-educated group of society. For them, writing at a basic functional level is essential for survival in the workplace. The second group is those who have left their home country to seek an advanced university degree. The last group is majority language speakers who generally well educated people. They learn second language for personal interest or career or educational enhancement. As he defines writing as “anything from forming letters to writing extended discourse”, he states that ‘one important implication of the variety of background, experience, and needs of second-language writers is that the types of writing they produce.” Weigle, 2002: 7. Weigle 2002: 12 states that children groups being schooled in their second language will need any or all of writing types depending on the level of schooling and specific demands of the curriculum. For example, students who intend to go 57 on to higher education in a second language environment, they need to write to inform and to persuade. On the other hand, for case of foreign language learners, the students have a greater and immediate need for basic writing, therefore the instructions should be tended to include more writing earlier on the ‘survival’ type such as writing one’s name and address and filling out basic forms. Looking beyond the language classroom to the real-world writing needs of the children, for those who live in a second language environment, they may use the skill for informational writing such as filling in forms, writing a narrative report of a workplace accident, or writing instructions. For second or foreign language learners, the necessity for real world writing depending on their personal and professional goals and on the usefulness of the second language as an international means of communication. b Framework for Writing Competence of Young Language Learners as Theoretical Construct. As young English learners’ ability to write in the target language develops, they are expected to write longer and more independently produce texts which are appropriate to their purpose, and which have greater accuracy and a wider range of vocabulary. Therefore, the writing instruction should consider three key factors that are: first language literacy, cultural and background knowledge and the need for an oral language foundation in the target language Mc Kay, 2006: 245. The produced texts often presented as written genres to be mastered such as: Narrative : Write a story, fable, myth, fairytale, poem or play Recount : Write a newspaper account, a letter or a journal. Write about how I solved a problem. Write a record of exercise and food for the day. Write how chickens hatched. Procedure : Write instructions on how to build a model. Write how to read a map. Write a recipe. Write an experiment. Report : Write report on elephant, write report on life in a desert, after reading a story about camel. 58 Explanation : Explain how you come to school. Explain how a caterpillar grows. Exposition : Write about an issue: Does language learning help me to understand other people better? Should we wear school uniform? Figure 2. 15. Examples of genres cited from Education department of Western Australia 1997. Mc Kay, 2006: 246 In order young English learners can be successful in writing genres, they need to develop some characteristics of writing ability adapted by Mc Kay from Bachman and Palmer’s concept and model of language knowledge as follows: Language Competence of Young language Learners’ writing ability 1. Organizational Knowledge Grammatical Knowledge Children need to form letters or characters. Their spelling needs to become increasingly correct. Their vocabulary knowledge needs to broaden and deepen. Their syntax needs to increase in accuracy. their knowledge of grammar needs to increase. Are they able to produce more complex texts, building cohesion across sentences and parts of sentences with appropriate connections to make complex verbal meanings relationships of time, expressing tentativeness and subtle intention with might and could and using subordination after the rain came, the river broke its bank? Textual knowledge Children need to write across the range of texts that they need in the target language. They need to write using appropriate text structures for different audiences and purposes. Do they know the Table 2.3. Mc Kay’s Framework of Young language Learners’ writing ability Mc Kay, 2006: 248 59 different genres that are required? Do they have explicit knowledge of these different genres? Are they able to use connectives appropriately to denote relationships between sentences and paragraphs cause and effect, consequence, etc? 2. Pragmatic Knowledge Functional Knowledge Children need to be able to write to achieve the purposes they wish to achieve. Do they know how to achieve their purposes by changing their writing style, formality, text structure, etc to suit their purpose and audience? Sociolinguist ic Knowledge Children need the required knowledge and experience of the target language culture to be able to convey their meaning to their audience. They need knowledge of vocabulary to help them to convey this meaning. They need confidence in their own background and experiences to convey information and ideas from their own cultural background in their writing. They need to understand when language is appropriate or inappropriate to the context perhaps leading to humour or embarrassment for the story character. They need to understand the humour in the texts. They need to understand the attitudes, beliefs customs, ideals, and values inherent in the texts. Assessment or testing, as well as teaching, English writing to young learners needs to select tasks which avoid them from anxiety. As Weigle 2002, 12 says 60 that particularly, for second language learner moreover foreign language writers, writing can cause anxiety, unless for those who have more advanced proficiency, it is very important to always prioritize “motivation in successful writing”. The writers’ goals, willingness, beliefs and attitudes about writing is really influencing in the way they do the writing tasks. Older learners generally decide that writing is worth invested. You g learners need to find motivation in the task for its own sake. The testers, assessors and teachers cannot rely on their extrinsic motivation to complete the tasks Mc Kay, 2006: 250. From the above explanation about reading and writing for young learners, in this case elementary school English learners, tester or assessors or teachers need to be careful in designing and composing tasks due to the characteristics of young learners who are unique and much different from the older learners. Otherwise the goal of conducting test assessment or teaching will not be effectively productive.

4. English Education in Elementary Schools of Indonesia