A. OVERVIEW OF THE METHODOLOGY AND RATIONALE
This section provides an overview of the action research upon which based this study. Action research was the process that the researcher used to
study students‘ reading ability, teacher works with a group of two struggling
student learners and will apply empirical research by doing action research in conducting this study. In order to reach the goal and the answers of the
research formulation, the research methodology section outlines participants, instrument, and data analysis procedure.
1. Action Research
Action Research is an effective media in improving the quality of English teacher
researchers‘ performance in instruction as well as students‘ achievement in learning English in real field. In Action Research, the
researcher assesses the effectiveness of her own teaching activities and plan the improvement based on the result of the assessment. The results are
innovations in English instructions. Very often, teachers‘ innovations in English instructions are accepted more bottom up than innovations forced
from outsiders Top down. Action Re search starts from researcher‘ serious
concern about her success in her own instructions, her students‘ learning progress, her students‘ behavior, her students‘ learning problems, and the
learning environment, which she assess throughout the whole process of instruction for the purpose of planning, implementing, and evaluating
improvement Borgia, S. 2003.
Action Research for English Instruction is aimed at developing innovative instructional strategy that can help enhance the success in students‘
learning English. English teachers believe that every student can succeed in learning English if appropriate learning strategy is provided. When students
fail in learning English, the blame is on the teachers who do not provide appropriate help to the students. When the students fail in learning English, it
must be because the teachers have failed in helping them. And this is the teachers‘ problem. Identifying student and teacher problems and trying to
solve the problems can be done through the process of Action research. It is the job of professional teacher researchers to identify their field problems and
to try to solve the problems. The researcher completed her study using an action research
approach because it suited the investigation of her own practice as an English teacher. Using local text with scanning to inform the way in which the teacher
supports students as an English teacher is of interest not only to her as an individual, but also to other English teachers. The action research model
required the writer to reflect upon her practice and consider ways to improve, so that she could become a more effective teacher.
Action Research activities involve repeated cycles, each
consisting of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The result of one
cycle is used to determine the need for the following cycle, until the problems get solved by the strategy. To prove the significance of the improvement of
junior learners‘ reading ability, ―Observation Notes‖ are used. A
―Questionnaire‖ is used to determine junior learners‘ enjoyable experience in learning reading using local text with scanning. See the below figure that will
show the action research.
Reconnaissance Assessing classroom problems
Figure 3.1
The Action Research Spiral
Kemmis, S., McTaggert, R. 1988
Action Research is done by teachers in their own field or classroom. As an English teacher, the writer has to solve her classroom problems or
improve the quality of her classroom practices to result in better English achievement of their students. As researcher, she has to produce an innovative
classroom strategy that contributes to the improvement of English teaching- learning practices in schools of the same level.
The research starts with observing and identifying classroom problems. A classroom problem refers to a classroom practice that can still be
improved to result in better learning achievement of the students. A
professional teacher can always see which classroom practice can still be improved. Then the teacher-researcher searches for alternative instructional
strategies from references, by discussing with their colleagues, or by joining seminars or workshops.
The writer likes investigating new ways to improve her teaching; by focusing in on one aspect
—students‘ reading ability —she was able to be reflective of her work and become more aware of her teaching practices. For
example, through this knowledge creation approach the researcher was able to make tacit assumptions explicit and to reflect on their continued relevance
Hannay et al., 2006. Some of these assumptions had developed during the researcher years teaching in a junior classroom and needed a review to see if
they were still relevant to Grade 7 students today. Moreover, the researcher likes to work from first-hand discoveries, as Whitehead 2000 suggests, and
then look for research to provide perspective on her discoveries. By creating a question or identifying a problem to solve, the
researcher created an authentic reason to learn about current reading ability research Hannay, et al., 2006. The researcher knew there were a great many
reading ability resources available to teachers. The action research approach prevented the writer from becoming overwhelmed by the mass of
information; it allowed her, instead, to apply it to the area of investigation and, thus, to connect it to her daily practice.
There is a great deal of interest in, and emerging information about, the effectiveness of action research to improve one‘s practice Sykes, 2002.
Action research can be an effective approach to change, because the investigator focuses on a personal challenge. ―There is a need for educators to
take charge of their own professional learning‖ Hannay et al., 2006, p.16. The researcher sees the benefits of this when she participates in the English
teacher meetings in this school board. We are a well-connected association of English teachers who have created our own professional learning community
thorough the use of English instruction. Our focus for professional growth is based on the needs of the group.
One best alternative strategy is then selected, and translated into an instructional scenario. All necessary instructional media and assessment
instrument are developed to implement the instructional scenario. The teacher-researcher has to learn well how to implement the scenario in the
classroom before the action is started. At this stage, there should no question anymore about how well the teacher researcher can implement the
instructional planning otherwise the action cannot be started. The researcher is recommended to choose a collaborator to help in observing the
implementation of the scenario. Then the action is started with the collaborator observing the process of instruction to record any information
indicating the success or the failure of the strategy in solving the classroom problems. The result of the observation is analyzed to reflect how successfully
the implemented strategy has solved the classroom problems. When the strategy has not completely solved the problems, then the strategy has to be
revised in the best possible way to make sure that when implemented again in the following cycle the problems can completely be solved.
2. Working With A Critical Friend
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