46
skimming strategy since Brown 2004, p. 206 tones that skimming strategy is necessary in reading comprehension. The test takers might move their eyes
rapidly through the passage to get the general overview of the content Campbell, 2005. As a result, the main topic of the passage was spending holiday in three
places. It was because the passage generally told about the author’s holiday experiences in Huatulco, Iceland and New York.
Second, question number 12 asked the detailed information stated in the passage. It asked where
the author’s friend spent hisher holiday. To find the answer, the test takers might use scanning strategy as it is suggested by Brown
2004, p. 206. The test takers might move their eyes rapidly to find the keywords spent and holiday. The test takers could find the keywords in the first and the
second paragraph. Furthermore, the answer was in the second sentence of the first paragraph. The word spent
in the first paragraph was directed to the author’s friend. As a result,
the author’s friend spent herhis holiday in Spain. Last, question number 13 asked about the detailed information about why
the writer had holiday in three different places. The test takers might implement the scanning strategy to find the answer. Brown 2004, p. 206 notes that scanning
strategy is needed in reading comprehension. As the same while answering question number 12, the test takers might move their eyes rapidly to find the
keyword three places Campbell, 2005. Moreover, the test takers could find the keyword in the last sentence of the second paragraph. In that paragraph, there was
a sentence We went to Huatulco, Iceland and New York which was followed by the reason why the author went to these places. As a result, the answer was the
47
The following text is for questions 2 and 3.
Dear Susi, Congratul
ations on your success in “The National English Storytelling Competition for Junior High School Students 2013.”
You have beaten other finalists from all over Indonesia. You are best of the best. I knew you would win. You are so talented. Your English is excellent. You can act,
sing and dance, too. I’m so proud of you.
I’m sure you’ll be more successful in the future. Hug kisses
Ria 2. What is the purpose of the text?
A. To inform other finalists of the competition result. B. To show that Ria is very proud of herself.
C. To praise Susi on her success in winning the storytelling competition. D. To encourage Susi to join the National English Storytelling Competition.
3. Which sentence in the text express a compliment?
A. You are so talented. B. I know you would win.
C. You have beaten other finalists. D. You will be more successful in the future.
author went to these places because the climate and the tourist spots were different from others. From the test items discussed so far, three-year English UN for
Junior High School focused on assessing both the form of English language and reading comprehension.
Figure 4.4 A Greeting Card Taken from English UN 2014
Figure 4.4 was another example of reading comprehension tasks. Figure 4.4 had two comprehension questions which asked about the inference and the
48
English expression. Brown 2004, p. 206 states that inferences and expressions are two features which cover reading comprehension. Question number two asked
about the purpose of the passage. It led the test takers to infer information in the passage. As Brown 2004, p. 206 notes, inferencing strategy is necessary in
reading comprehension. Therefore, the test takers had to see the context of the passage and summarize the purpose of the passage that it was to praise Susi on her
success in winning the storytelling competition. Next, question number three asked about an English expression which was
written in the passage. The expression which was tested was a compliment. Considering question number three had four choices which consisted of various
expressions, the one which constituted a compliment was the choice A, You are so talented. As a result, the choice A constituted a compliment because it expressed
appreciation and admiration at someone’s appearance, belongings or works
Bagus, 2012. Another question which tested reading comprehension was about English
grammar. Brown 2004, p. 206 argues that asking about grammar related on the passages is one of questions delivered in reading comprehension. Here is the
question which asked about grammar through the letter passage taken from English UN 2014.
49
Figure 4.5 A Question Taken from the Letter in English UN 2014
The question in Figure 4.5 asked about what the pronoun it referred to. Therefore, it led the test takers to find a noun in the second paragraph which referred to the
pronoun it. Azar 1999, p. 132 states a pronoun is used in place of a noun. In addition, the test takers had to use their scanning skill to find information about
the pronoun it referred to. Brown 2004, p. 206 says that scanning is one of reading skills which is needed in reading comprehension. The test takers might
move their eyes rapidly to find a noun which referred to the pronoun it. In a nutshell, the noun that referred the pronoun it in the second paragraph was Mount
Bromo. The discussions above were reporting how three consecutive years English
UN looked like. They answered the first research question. Moreover, the researcher was going to discuss another topic related to the levels of thinking
skills in order to answer the second research question. Here is the discussion.
7. “It was so beautiful” paragraph 2. What does it refer to?
A. The peak.
B. The dessert.
C. The sunrise.
D. Mount Bromo.
50
B. The Levels of Thinking Skill Employed in the Three Consecutive Years
of Junior High School English UN
Answering the second research question, the researcher analyzed 173 questions in order to obtain information about the levels of thinking skills which
were employed in the three consecutive years of Junior High School English UN. The researcher used Bloom’s taxonomy to investigate the levels of thinking skills
which were employed in the three consecutive years of Junior High School English UN test items. To be more precise, here is the data presentation.
Table 4.4 The Classification of the Levels of Thinking Skills in Reading Test Items Based on
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Six Levels of Thinking Skills
The Behaviors 2012
2013 2014
Frequency Percentage
Low H
igh Creating
Generating -
- -
- -
Evaluating Checking
- -
- -
- Analyzing
Organizing -
- -
- -
Applying Executing
24 48
27 99
54 Understanding
Summarizing 8
8 14
30 16.4
Remembering Recalling
4 -
2 6
3.3 Recognizing
6 16
26 48
26.3
Based on the analysis, these questions employed the lowest level of thinking skills as Anderson 1990, p.425 categorized. They employed three levels
of thinking such as remembering, understanding and applying Anderson, 1990, p.425. It was supported by Forehand 2010 that remembering, understanding
and applying were considered as the lowest levels of thinking skills. Moreover, the questions which had been analyzed employed four
behaviors which covered three levels of thinking as stated before. These behaviors were recognizing, recalling, summarizing and executing Anderson Krathwohl,
51
2001. To illustrate the data, there are three points which discuss the three levels of thinking and the behaviors employed.
1. Employing Remembering Level of Thinking Skills
Based on the data, there were two behaviors of remembering level which were employed in the three consecutive years of Junior High School English UN.
They are recognizing and recalling. Anderson Krathwohl 2001, p. 66 notes that recognizing and recalling were considered as behaviors employed in
remembering level. Moreover, these behaviors were represented by the questions which asked about English expressions, grammatical features, detailed
information stated in the texts and vocabulary items in contexts. Therefore, the questions led the test takers to work on their memorization skill in order to
remember their prior knowledge about these four materials. It was supported by Anderson and Krathwohl 2001, p.63 and Churches 2008 that remembering
level led students to work on their long-term memory. Besides, these behaviors and their following questions would be explained deeply in the following points.
a. Recognizing
Based on the analysis, 26.2 of the questions employed recognizing behavior. These questions mostly asked about the grammatical features and the
detail information stated in the texts. Here are the examples of the questions which represented recognizing behavior.
52
Figure 4.6 A Letter Taken from English UN 2014
Question number 7 in Figure 4.6 asked about the grammatical feature in the passage. It asked about what the adverb there referred to. Regarding the
adverb there referred to places; the correct answer must be a place. There is an adverb which indicates places “There”. Therefore, this question led the test
The following text is for questions 4 to 7.
Dear Noami, Hi, how are you? How was your holiday? I am really curious. 1
Let me tell you about my trip to Ranau Lake in Lampung. It is licated between two provinces, Lampung and South Sumatera. Would you like to know more? 3
Instead of going by ferry, I took a plane from Jakarta to Bandar Lampung. My uncle met me at the airport. There, I continued my trip by his car. I was so happy to visit
Ranau Lake because I really enjoy mountainous areas. I love nature so much. 6 I spent two nights at the cottage near the lake. The cottage was built only a few
metters from the lake. In only several steps I could dip my feet in the fresh water. All kinds of meals tested very delicious there. I thought it was because of the cool
weather. 9 Visiting Ranau Lake was a fantastic experience. It was my first time to see such a
beautiful view. Well, I think you should go there someday, so that you can experience it yourself. See you 12
Love, Widia
4. What is the text about?
A. Widia’s trip to Ranau Lake. B. Widia suggestion for Naomi.
C. A letter from Widia in Ranau Lake. D. Visiting two provinces during holiday.
… 7.
“… you should go there someday.” What does the underlined word refer to?
A. Bandar Lampung
B. South Sumatra
C. Ranau Lake
53
The following text is for questions 2 and 3.
CONGRATULATIONS 1 Congratulations on your success in winning the speech contest this year. It was a very
tough competition. We are so proud of you. We knew you would make it. We wish you the bet always 4
Students of VIII D 2. What is the purpose of the text above?
A. To congratulate someone on his birthday. B. To congratulate someone on his success.
C. To inform someone that he was the winner. D. To describe someone’s success in the contest.
3. What do the students of VIII D say to compliment their friend? A. It was a very tough competition.
B. Winning the speech contest this year. C. We are so proud of you.
D. We wish you the best always.
takers to match the adverb there in the 11
th
line for the place stated in that paragraph there = Ranau Lake. As Anderson Krathwohl 2001, p.69 notes
that recognizing level led students to retrieve relevant information by matching the presented information. It meant that this question employed recognizing
behavior in order to integrate remembering level of thinking. Furthermore, Here is another example of the questions which represented recognizing behavior.
Figure 4.7 A Greeting Card Taken from English UN 2014
Question number 3 in figure 4.7 asked about the detailed information stated in the text which directed the test takers to think in the level of recognizing.
It asked about compliment expressions which the students of VIII D said to their friend. Therefore, the test takers had to remember the material about compliments.
54
Brown 2004, p. 69 states that recognizing leads students to retrieve their prior knowledge from their long-term memory. Then, the test takers could match the
four choices for the text whether A was stated on the text or not, and so forth. Because the four choices could be found in the passage 2
nd
and 3
rd
lines, the test takers, next, supposed to compare the four choices and define which represented
the compliment. Compliments express appreciation and admiration at someone’s
appearance, belongings or works Bagus, 2012. As a result, the one which was a compliment was the choice A, You are so talented. Finally, this question
employed recognizing behavior because it led the test takers to retrieve relevant information by comparing the represented information. It was supported by
Anderson Krathwohl 2001, p. 69 that comparing and matching were necessary in recognizing behavior of remembering level.
b. Recalling
There were six questions which represented recalling behavior. The questions mostly asked about English vocabulary items in context and English
expressions. Here are the examples of the questions.
