Research and Information Collecting
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shared her thought that the best learner-computer interaction for reading class was one computer for one or two students.
Her statement, said “One computer is for one student. I learn that each student has t
heir own interest”, Appendix 1314 really emphasized on the special needs of the students in using media. Each
student might have different interest in using computer as learning media so it would be better to provide them with greater chance to explore the material
through the help of computer on their own. To provide various reading material, the teacher took some texts and
exercises from the books that were not used by the students. She used to combine the material and transform it in the form of exercises. The texts that were given by
the teacher were descriptive including describing things, place, and people and procedure. In selecting the reading text, she preferred not to select the text with
high level of difficulty. She explained when the text was quite long, she provided the students with list of vocabularies to help them understanding the text. Problem
in understanding the text given would always occur but she shared some tips to overcome the problem. She provided time for the students to ask anything they
didn’t know, encouraged them to find the meaning in the dictionary, and formed group work for the students. She also shared that most of the students were
experiencing difficulty in understanding vocabulary and grammar. Feedbacks give contribution to the improvement of the students. Through
feedback, the students will find out that they are being motivated by their teacher to walk to progress. As stated by Race 2002, feedback is one of the ways to
encourage the students. All feedbacks given by the teacher should give beneficial impacts to students in terms of helping the students reach improvements in the
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learning process. The encouragement in the form of feedback and positive com
ment could improve the students’ performance and learning persistence. For the English teacher of seventh grade of SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta, she
gave her students feedback towards their learning results. She also gave feedback to her students even if they were experiencing stress in doing the task given.
When students were experiencing stress while they are working on the task, it would lead them to the laziness of continuing it. The best way to encounter this
problem was by giving them feedback and extra time to finish it. By giving the students extra time to work on their task or giving homework, it could be one of
the effective ways to improve the students’ autonomous learning. The transcription of the interview was presented in Appendix 13.
2 Learn ers’ Characteristics
Knowing the learners’ characteristics is important for teachers especially when it is about to provide learning material that they need. It is essential to have
general knowledge of Junior High School students’ characteristics so that the designed material would really fit their needs and their condition. The seventh
grade students were in the age of eleven or twelve years old which was considered in puberty phase Hurlock, 1980: 185. In that range of age, students underwent
changes which cover the change over their body, attitude and behavior. According to Hurlock 1980, there are characteristics of students in puberty phase that can
be observed as the effect of changes they experienced in puberty phase. They tended to get easily get bored with anything including the games they used to
love, school exercises, social activity and many more Hurlock, 1980: 192. As a
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result, their academic achievement could gradually fall. Hurlock 1980 also adds they found it hard to build teamwork with friends and argued each other. Thus,
their emotional tense are sometimes high which causes they could easily get mad, worry, and feel anxiety.
Designing learning material for the students means providing them with the material that could cover all their needs which consider their characteristics to
lead them for improvement. It has been explained that boredom is one of the characteristics that could affect their learning achievement. As a result, the
designed material should really provide something fun for the students so they are far from boredom but find enthusiasm in doing the learning material. Hurlock
1980 also adds that they are really sensitive of critics and comments addressed to them so it is the role of teacher to be able to give positive and supportive
feedback and comment that could help them walk back with confidence.
3 Support Services
Support services covered any resources that support the teaching learning progress. Before designing and conducting a teaching learning activity, checking
the support services belong to the school will contribute to the preparation phase. In the study, checking support services meant finding data about school resources
that could be used in supporting the teaching learning process. It provided the writer with the information of what the school had related to the human resource,
supporting services and also the learning environment. The information about support services was gathered through the interview with one of the English
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Teachers of SMP Maria Immaculata Yogyakarta. There was no parallel class in this school so each level was consisted of one class only. There were three English
teachers; all of them were earned Bachelor Degree and graduated from English Education Study Program either from State or Public University. Mostly, they
taught thirty hours per week excluding taught for extra hours in the morning or after school. For supporting the English mastery for the students, the school
provided language laboratory which was usually used for listening class. The school applying what was called with moving class so the students
should move to from one class to another in order to attend the class. This was aimed to make them move so they would be fresh when they came to the next
class to learn. Each class was completed with projector so the teacher could share their computer screen to the whole class. Internet connection was also provided in
the school but it could be accessed from computer laboratory. The computer laboratory had twenty computers with Linux Operating System and twenty
computers with Windows Operating System. However, there were three computers with Linux Operating System experiencing error and only two
computers with Windows Operating System that were compatible to the program used by the writer. All the information gathered were very beneficial for the writer
in implementing the material that would be designed.
4 Questionnaire Results
The questionnaire was distributed to the students to gain information on the condition of the teaching learning process especially for the reading class
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including the use of media in the classroom and also their learning difficulties faced in reading class. Thus, the questionnaire was also aimed to dig out what the
students expected to have in their reading class. The questionnaire was in the form of closed questions questionnaire by taking consideration that it was time saving
in the term of completing the questionnaire, easy to code, and do not discriminate the hesitation of the respondents Wilson and McLean, 1994:21, as cited in
Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2011: 382. Within the limited of time for completing the questionnaire, the closed questions questionnaire was the best type
to accommodate the writer in gaining the data and information needed from the students. The results of the questionnaire for preliminary data gathering then
calculated and elaborated in following paragraphs. The discussion was divided into four parts. Each part provided the detail explanation of the questionnaire
results and closed it with table. The first part discussed was about the current condition of the reading class.
The students were asked some questions to dig out information on the teaching learning done in the current reading class. In learning reading, students were
exposed to use their background knowledge in order to understand the text given. Brown 2007 adds that a text does not bring its own meaning. When students
read, they bring what is called with schemata that could be in the form of information, knowledge, emotion and experience to help them building meaning
of the text. In the questionnaire, the students were asked whether they are exposed to use background knowledge in understanding the text being read or not. Fifteen
students answered that sometimes they were exposed to use background knowledge, ten students answered they were exposed to use background
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knowledge often while one student said they were never exposed to use background knowledge. The mean for this question was 2.35. Moreover, when
they were asked whether the teacher always explained the learning objectives or not, 18 students answered yes, while the rest eight students said sometimes. For
this question, the mean was 2.69. From the teacher’s perspective, we finally know that the problem that the
students most experience was about vocabulary Appendix 1318. There are ways to overcome vocabulary problem and one of those is by giving vocabulary list to
the students. In the questionnaire, the students were asked whether the teacher gave them a kind of list of vocabulary or not. Sixteen students said that the teacher
sometimes gave the list of vocabulary and ten students answered that the teacher always gave list of vocabulary to them. The mean for this question was 2.38.
Vocabulary exercise would be the best exposure that the teacher could give in order to increase the students’ vocabulary mastery. According the questionnaire
results, fifteen students said that the vocabulary exercise was sometimes given by the teacher while eleven students said that the teacher always give the exercises to
the students. About the kinds of exercises that were usually given by the teacher, the answers vary which include short answer, multiple choices, complete sentence
answer, and translating meaning. The details were presented in Table 4.1.
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Table 4.1. Preliminary Questionnaire Results on Current Reading Class Condition
No Statement
NO Mean
1 The teacher relates students’ personal experience
with the text being read in reading class. A.
Always B.
Sometimes C.
Never 10
15 1
2.35
2 The teacher explains the goals of the lesson in
the beginning of the lesson. A.
Always B.
Sometimes C.
Never 18
8 2.69
3 The teacher gives the list of vocabulary of the
reading text. A.
Always B.
Sometimes C.
Never 10
16 2.38
4 The teacher gives vocabulary exercises.
A. Always
B. Sometimes
C. Never
11 15
2.42
5 The teacher gives exercises related to the text
being read. A.
Always B.
Sometimes C.
Never 23
3 2.88
6 Mention the exercises given by the teacher
example: multiple choice, short answer, matching, etc
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The second part was discussing the results of the questionnaire concerning to the use of computer to support the teaching learning activity in the reading
class. It is known that one of the teaching media that will be very helpful for the teaching learning process is computer which is widely known as Computer-
Assisted Language Learning. As stated by Beatty 2003, CALL referred to any teaching learning activity which used computer as the teaching aid and it
contributed to the users’ language improvement. In the questionnaire, the students
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were also asked about the use of computer as a teaching media in reading class. Fifteen students said that their teacher ever used the computer as a teaching media
in the reading class while the rest eleven students said that the teacher sometimes used it in the reading class. In using teaching media, problems are something that
we know might happen but it is controllable. When the students were asked whether any problems occurred during the teaching learning process using
computer as teaching media, four students said yes, five students answered sometimes, while 15 students said there were no problem occurred. They were
also asked whether the teacher ever used MS Word or Power Point in reading class and 18 students said yes, six students answered sometimes, while two
students said the teacher never used it. The mean for this question was 2.62. The use of learning application could really help the students much in
understanding the lesson. In the questionnaire being distributed, the students were also asked whether the teacher used learning application in reading class to help
them understanding English more. Nine students said yes, one student said sometimes, while 16 students answered no. For this question, the mean was 1.73.
Learning using teaching media might bring new atmosphere and enthusiasm for the students. Twenty two students said that it was fun when the class was using
computer as learning media. Two students said they were not bored when they have computer as learning media in the class. Furthermore, two students answered
that having computer as learning media could pump up their enthusiasm in learning English. The mean for this question was 2.77. The details of the result
were presented in Table 4.2.
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Table 4.2. Preliminary Questionnaire Results on the Use of Computer in the Reading Class
No Statement
NO Mean
1 The teacher uses computer as a media to teach in
reading class. A.
Always B.
Sometimes C.
Never 15
11 2.58
2 The problems experienced when using computer
as a media in teaching learning process. A.
Always B.
Sometimes C.
Never 4
5 17
1.50
3 The teacher uses MS Word or Power Point in
reading class. A.
Always B.
Sometimes C.
Never 18
6 2
2.62
4 The teacher uses learning application such as
“Tell Me More in reading class. A.
Always B.
Sometimes C.
Never 9
1 16
1.73
5 What is your opinion about learning in reading
class with the assistance of computer? A.
Fun B.
The class will not be boring C.
Pumping up the enthusiasm 22
2 2
2.77
In the third part, the students’ general comments on the reading class were discussed. One of the topics was about reading comprehension. Reading
comprehension is one of the ways to improve the students’ understanding of the text being read. As stated by Brown 2007, reading comprehension is the
essential thing in developing the correct and efficient comprehension strategies. In the questionnaire, when the students were asked whether the teacher gave them
reading comprehension or not in the reading class, twenty three students said that the teacher always gave reading comprehension and only three students said that
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the teacher sometime gave reading comprehension. As what have been stated before by the teacher about the difficulty level of the text, the students were also
asked whether the language of the text given was understandable or not. Twenty one students answered that the language of the text was understandable while the
rest five students said that the language of the text was sometimes hard to understand. Another question to ask was that were they able to find the main idea
of the text easily. Thirteen students said that it was easy for them to find the main idea while the other thirteen students answered that sometime they found that easy
to find the main idea. When the students were asked about the difficulty level of the overall text, twenty students said that they could understand the overall text
while the rest six students said that sometimes they could understand the overall text. The next question was whether the text used pictures as illustration or not.
Fourteen students said yes, while the rest twelve students answered no. Feedback is one of the important aspects in learning. It functions as the
results of some learning-oriented actions Race, 2002. In order to gain information about the feedback given in the class, some questions about feedback
were included in the questionnaire. The questions covered some feedback qualities and attributes proposed by Race 2002. Those were 1 feedback should
be given as soon as possible, 2 feedback should be given individually, and 3 feedback should empower the students. In the questionnaire, the students were
also asked whether the teacher gave scores or comments toward their assignment in reading class or not. Fourteen students answered yes while the rest twelve
students said no. Twenty three students said that the teacher gave them enough time to ask anything when they find difficulties in reading class, while three
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students said that sometimes the teacher gave them enough time to ask when they have difficulty. Moreover, the mean for this question was 2.88.
Assignment and homework are better used to help the students understanding the material being learnt in the classroom. By working on the
assignment and homework, the students have more chance to internalize the learning material in their own way. In the questionnaire, the students were asked
whether the assignment and homework given by the teacher were considered as easy, medium, or difficult. Thirteen students considered it as easy, while the rest
thirteen students considered it as medium level of difficulty. The mean for this question was 2.50. Moreover, the students were encouraged to be able to learn
without depending on the teacher. Twenty two students answered that they were encouraged to be autonomous learner while four students said that sometimes they
were encouraged to be able to learn autonomously. For this question, the mean was 2.85. The details were presented in Table 4.3.
Table 4.3. Preliminary Questionnaire Results on the General Comments of the Reading Class
No Statement
NO Mean
1 Text is understandable.
A. Always
B. Sometimes
C. Never
21 5
2.81
2 Main idea of the text is easy to find.
A. Always
B. Sometimes
C. Never
13 13
2.50
3 Text in reading class is understandable.
A. Always
B. Sometimes
C. Never
20 6
2.77
4 There is picture as illustration in the text.
2.54
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A. Always
B. Sometimes
C. Never
14 12
5 The teacher gives mark and comment toward the
exercises given in the reading class. A.
Always B.
Sometimes C.
Never 14
12 2.54
6 The teacher gives enough time to ask in the
reading class. A.
Always B.
Sometimes C.
Never 23
3 2.88
7 The tasks given are easy.
A. Yes
B. Sometimes
C. Never
13 13
2.50
8 The students are encouraged to learn
autonomously in the reading class. A.
Yes B.
Sometimes C.
Never 22
4 2.85
In the last part, the students were asked about their opinion on reading class and their expectation on the future reading class.
The students’ overall opinion about reading class that they have now was classified into three parts. Twenty two
students said that it was fun, one student considered it as thrilling, while three students said that it was boring. The mean for this question was 2.73. There were
so many activities that could be done in reading class. The students were then asked what kind of activities that they most like in reading class. Twenty three
students answered that they love group discussion, five students said that they love summarizing and retelling, while the rest two students loved to answer the
questions. They were also asked about what kind of reading text they love most. Twenty three students loved comics; two students loved reading text with
illustration, while one student loved reading text only.
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Students might have their expectation of what will their reading class with the assistance of computer look like. Most come with their excitement since they
hope for having non boredom class as what had been stated by Hurlock 1980 that the students need fun learning environment that could drive them away from
boredom. The next question asked about what kind of reading activity they want to have in their reading class assisted with computer. Eleven students would love
to have comics completed with reading comprehension, nine students would like to have text with illustration while the rest six students would love to have
interactive text and group discussion. For this question, the mean was 2.12. They were also asked about their opinion if they have a reading class assisted with
computer. Sixteen students thought it would be totally fun, eight students thought that it would be interesting, while the rest one student thought it will be just the
same and nothing special. The mean for this question was 2.31. The complete description of the preliminary questionnaire results for the fourth part is presented
in Table 4.4. Moreover, the descriptive statistics of the needs analysis questionnaire results were presented in Appendix 20.
Table 4.4. Preliminary Questionnaire Results on Students’ Expectation of
Their Reading Class No
Statement NO
Mean
1 What do you think about reading class?
A. It is fun and interesting
B. It is thrilling
C. It is boring
22 1
3 2.73
2 Which one do you like in reading class?
A. Answering questions
B. Summarizing and retelling the story
C. Group discussion
5 2
19 1.46
3 What kind of reading text do you like most?
1.15
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A. Text only
B. Text completed with illustration
C. Comic
1 23
3
4 What kind of reading activity do you like in the
reading class assisted with computer? A.
Reading the text completed with illustration B.
Reading comic and answering questions C.
Reading interactive text and group discussion 9
11 6
2.12
5 What do you think if a computer is used as
learning media in reading class? A.
It will be fun B.
It is nothing special C.
It will be interesting 16
2 8
2.31
Note: NO : Number of Occurrence