Self-Questioning Theoretical Description 1. Reading

2 detail question, type of question which asks for small pieces of information conveyed by the text or the material 3 vocabulary question, type of question which asks for the meaning of words used in the material or the text 4 sequence question, type of question which requires knowledge of even in the order of sequence 5 inference question, type of question which asks for detailed information that is implied but not directly stated in the text 6 evaluation question, type of question that requires students to make judgments about the material that they have read 7 creative response question, type of question which asks the student to create new ideas on the ideas that they have made. Meanwhile, according to Muljani 2005, there are two types of effective self- questions. They are cognitive and metacognitive types. The cognitive questions may help a reader comprehend the text Helfedt and Henk, 1990, in Muljani, 2005, and the metacognitive type may help a reader monitor a reader’s thinking to read effectively and efficiently Muljani, 2005. Nuttal 1982 divided the cognitive questions into several types, which are: 1 literal questions, type of questions which concerns on the information explicitly stated the a text, 2 inferential questions, type of questions which concern on the information implicitly stated in a text, 3 evaluative question, type of questions which can be answered by providing judgment, evaluation, solution, based on what the text writer says and what the reader thinks, 4 reorganization questions, type of questions which can be answered by reorganizing information from different part of a text, 5 personal questions, type of questions which cannot be put into any categories. The answers to these questions depend mostly on the reader instead of the writer. Dealing with direct instruction to teach students self-questioning strategy, Pearson and Gallagher 1983 in Armbruster and Osborn 2002 : 77 state that there are many instructional studies designed to teach students to generate questions which have resulted in improving comprehension. The direct instruction that most of these studies used are teaching the students the key question-starting words who, what, where, why, when, how, teaching generic questions or questions stems, teaching students to compose questions based on the main ideas, and teaching students to use story grammar categories to generate questions. Meanwhile, an article entitled Teaching During Reading Self-Questioning Strategy 2005 cited in http:www.specialconnections.ku.educgi-bincgiwrapspecconnindex.php , mentions 7 steps in applying self-questioning strategy. Step 1: Tell yourself, I need to question the author and predict where the author is going. Step 2: Read the passage and identify clues that make you question the author. To identify question clues, look for words, phrases, sentences, or pictures that make you curious. Step 3: Ask yourself good questions. Ask yourself, I wonder......questions. The I wonder questions use wh and h words. These words are include: who, what, when, where, why, which, how, how many, and how much. When you ask yourself a question, think of a way to remember the question, so you dont forget it as you read. For example, in the margin in light pencil or a separate piece of paper, draw a picture of a face to help you remember a who question. Step 4: Create predictions. For each question you ask, create a prediction based on what you are thinking and what you know. Step 5: Keep questions and predictions in mind as you read. As you read, keep checking to see if your questions are answered and your predictions are confirmed. Step 6: Evaluate the answers. If your questions are answered, remember the answer. If not, keep them in mind as you continue to read. If your prediction is correct, remember the answer. If your prediction is not correct, restate what the correct answer is and adjust your thinking. Step 7: Review what you know and read on. Restate what you know from your questions. Focus on what you learned from the information that the author actually gave you. Summarize the main ideas and details that are critical to understanding the authors message. In applying self-questioning, teachers need to guide students especially in giving instruction and providing practice that help students learn to continuously question, predict, confirm, correct, and reconcile information when they read. Meanwhile, if teachers only ask students to self question and read without describing and routinely modeling how to use an appropriate self-questioning strategy, the students’ ability of self-question will not improve.

4. Instructional Material Design

There were many instructional material designs proposed by some experts. However, in this study, the researcher used instructional material design model proposed by Kemp 1977 to develop reading material based on self-questioning strategy as the material used in the treatment. The designed reading material applied Kemp’s model because of its flexibility and simplicity. There are eight steps in Kemp’s instructional material design 1977. The steps are described as follows: Step 1: Considering the goal and then list the topics, stating the general purposes in teaching each topic. It is done to know or to figure out what the students are expected to learn. Step 2: Stating the learners’ characteristic. By knowing the students’ characteristic, it will be easier to conduct the teaching learning process, especially in managing the class and in choosing the material for the students. Step 3: Specifying the learning objectives. It deals with what isare hoped from the students to be able to do after the teaching learning process. Step 4: Listing the subject content, which has the close relationship with the objectives and the students’ need. Step 5: Developing pre-assessment to determine the students’ background and present level of knowledge about the topic. Step 6: Selecting teaching learning activities and instructional resources that will treat the subject content so that the students will be able to accomplish the objectives. Step 7: Coordinating support services, such as budget, personnel, facilities, equipment, and schedule to carry out instructional plan. Step 8: Evaluating students’ learning in terms of their accomplishment of objectives, with a view of revising and re-evaluating any phase of the plan that need improvement. The eight steps proposed by Kemp are figured as follows: Figure 2.5 Kemp’s Instructional Design Model Kemp, 1997: 9 Evaluation Revision Support services Teaching resources, activities Pre- assessment Subject Content Learning objectives Learners’ characteristic Goals,topics, general purposes

B. Theoretical Framework

As stated in Chapter 1, there were two objectives to be achieved in this study. The first objective was to discover how the implementation of self-questioning strategy in the classroom and the second objective was to investigate whether the implementation of self-questioning strategy can improve the seventh grade learners’ reading comprehension of English texts or not. In order to address the research problems, this study implemented three major theories, namely self-questioning strategy, the steps of teaching reading, and reading comprehension theory Firstly, the researcher implemented self-questioning theory and the steps of teaching reading in order to address the first research problem. Ambruster and Osborn 2002 state that there are three steps of teaching reading, namely pre-reading activities, while reading activities, and post-reading activities. In this study, the researcher applied these steps by using self-questioning strategy. Muljani 2005 states that self-questioning refers to a reader’s activities in generating questions directed to oneself before, during and after the process of reading. The act of generating questions itself was done in the steps of teaching reading, especially in pre-reading and while reading activities. For example, as the introduction of the reading activity, the students generated the question by looking at the title of the reading text in order to evoke the students’ thought and to activate the students’ appropriate prior knowledge Secondly, the researcher implemented reading comprehension theory proposed by Rouch and Birr 1984 and Nuttal 1982 in order to address the second