AN ANALYSIS OF DIFFICULTY LEVEL ON ENGLISH STUDENT WORKSHEET USED BY FIFTH GRADE STUDENTS AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL OF PAKUKERTO II PASURUAN

AN ANALYSIS OF DIFFICULTY LEVEL ON ENGLISH

STUDENT WORKSHEET USED BY FIFTH GRADE

STUDENTS AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

OF PAKUKERTO II PASURUAN

THESIS

By:

NURUL HIDAYATI

08360061

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG

2013

AN ANALYSIS OF DIFFICULTY LEVEL ON ENGLISH

STUDENT WORKSHEET USED BY FIFTH GRADE

STUDENTS AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

OF PAKUKERTO II PASURUAN

THESIS

This thesis is submitted to meet one of the requirements to achieve

Sarjana Degree in English Language Education

By:

NURUL HIDAYATI

08360061

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG

2013

MOTTO AND DEDICATION

MOTTO

“Tidak ada kata tidak mungkin bagi Allah, maka percayalah setiap

kesulitan pasti ada jalan. Selalu berfikir positif pada Allah dan

mintalah sesuatu yang terbaik agar mendapat yang terbaik”

Allah menguji bagi mereka yang benar-benar bersabar dengan

cara yang baik, dan kesabaran itu tiada batasnya

DEDICATION

This thesis dedicated to:

 My beloved mother “Sipah” and father for their love, praying, kindness, and patience.

 My beloved husband “M. Fadloli” for his patience, love, loyal and care.  My beloved daughter Lailatuz Zahra “Rara Unyu-unyu”

 My all big family for their support in Sukorejo.

 My best friends Jubek ”Pikotul”, Cung-cung ”Anita”, Murni “Choyy”, Mita, Rika, Snophie, Nurul Q, and Septi.

 All my beloved friends in B class and Boarding house thanks for your attention and love.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Alhamdulillah belongs to Allah SWT, all thanks for His blessing and guidance to finish my thesis. Also, sholawat and salam for my beloved prophet Muhammad SAW who brought us to the lightness with his miracle, Islam and Al-qur’an.

In this section, all thanks and deepest gratitude due to my first advisor Mrs. Dra. Thathit Manon Andini, M.Hum and Mr. Bayu Hendro Wicaksono, Ph.D as my second advisor who give their times, advices, and suggestions for completing my thesis.

The writer would like to express her sincere gratitude and appreciation are also extended to the teachers of SDN Pakukerto II Pasuruan who had help the writer in giving the data for completing this thesis.

My deepest gratitude is addressed to my mother Sipah, Nawasi, H. Syamsuddin Nur and my husband “AnEh” who always support me in spiritual and material. For my friends who give me motivation and advice, especially Kotul, Nita, Murni, Mita, Septi and Nurul Q., all thanks due to you and all friends in English Department that cannot be mentioned one by one. It’s a beautiful and unforgetable moment.

Malang, October 30, 2013

AN ANALYSIS OF LEVEL DIFFICULTY ON ENGLISH STUDENT WORKSHEET USED BY FIFTH GRADE STUDENTS AT ELEMENTARY

SCHOOL

OF PAKUKERTO II PASURUAN

ABSTRACT

In educational area, media has important role in achieving students’ understanding of the material in teaching and learning process. Besides, media is also used to measure students’ ability; one of them is a student worksheet.

Nowadays, there are so many English student worksheets published by different publishers which are distributed to every level of education, for instance Elementary School, Junior High School, Senior High School, etc. It causes English teachers have more choices in selecting what student woksheets they are going to use.

Every student worksheet has different level of difficulty and it can differenciate students who have high and less ability. This can be considered as difficult, easy, and also moderate level. Therefore, the teacher should be able to select a good student worksheet which is suitable for students. Teachers should have their own consideration based on the students’ ability. They have to know the requirements or criteria of a good student worksheet before choosing which student worksheet they are going to use.

In this thesis, the researcher tried to investigate the difficulty level of students’ result on student worksheet entitle Proaktif published by Media Pustaka that was used by fifth grade students at elementary school of Pakukerto II Pasuruan. This study used descriptive quantitative as the method. Furthermore, observation was employed in analyzing the level difficulty of students’ result on Proaktif worksheet which was published by Media Pustaka. The findings showed that the students’ result on Proaktif worksheet that was used by fifth grade students of elementary school had sufficient distribution of difficulty level, since the average difficulty level of the students’ result is in the range of 0.30-0.70.

Keywords: students’ result, worksheet, difficulty level

Advisor I, Researcher,

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL ... i

LEGALIZATION ... ii

MOTTO AND DEDICATION ... iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ... iv

ABSTRACT ... v

TABLE OF CONTENT ... vi

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of the Study ... 1

1.2. Statement of the Problem ... 5

1.3. Purpose of the Study ... 5

1.4. Significance of the Study ... 5

1.5. Scope and Limitation ... 6

1.6. Definition of the Key Terms ... 6

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1. Worksheet ... 7

2.1.1 The Role of Worksheet ... 8

2.1.2 Guidelines for Teacher-Made Worksheet ... 9

2.2. The Kinds of Test Item Analysis ... 10

2.2.1 Difficulty Level ... 10

2.2.2 Item Discrimination (ID or D) ... 12

2.2.3 Distracter Analysis ... 13

2.3. Teaching English to Young Learners ... 13

2.4. Students of Fifth Grade at Elementary School ... 14

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Design ... 16

3.3 Research Instrument ... 17

3.4 Data Collection ... 18

3.5 Data Analysis ... 19

CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Research Findings ... 21

4.1.1 Difficulty Level of Students’ Result on Proaktif Worksheet ... 21

4.1.1.1. Chapter I Daily Activities ... 22

4.1.1.2. Chapter II Transportation ... 22

4.1.1.3. Chapter III Occupation ... 23

4.1.1.4. Chapter IV Recreation Places ... 23

4.2 Discussion ... 24

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Conclusion ... 26

5.2 Suggestions ... 27

REFERENCES APPENDICES

References

Arifin, Nur. 2008. An Analysis of The Quality of English Student Worksheet Used By Second Grade of Junior High School Arranged By MGMP Team in Trenggalek. Unpublished Thesis University of Muhammadiyah Malang. Arikunto, Suharsimi. 1999. Dasar-Dasar Evaluasi Pendidikan. Jakarta: Bina

Aksara.

Ary, Donald. 2002. Introduction to Research in Education. Sixth Edition. New York

Ary, Donald, Lucy Cheser Jacobs, Chris Sorensen and Asghar Razavieh. 2010. Introduction Research in Education. Canada: Nelson Education, Ltd.

Azwar, Saifudin.1987. Test Prestasi. Yogyakarta: Liberty

Basuki, Sulistyo. 2006. Metode Penelitian. Jakarta: Wedatama Widya Sastra bekerja sama dengan fakultas Ilmu Pengetahuan Budaya, Universitas Indonesia.

Depdiknas. 2004. Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia nomor 14 pasal 2 Tentang Guru dan Dosen. Jakarta: Biro Hukum Organisasi Depdiknas. Djiwandono, Soenardi. M. 2008. Tes Bahasa. Jakarta: Pt. Indeks.

Mcmillan, James H. 1993. Research in Education a Conceptual Introduction. Third Edition

Ornstein, Allan. C. 1990. Strategy for Effective Teaching. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

Ramlan. 2011. Buku Teks Pelajaran dan Peranannya. [online]. Tersedia:

http://ramlannarie.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/buku-teks-pelajaran-dan-peranannya.html. [05 October 2012]

Richards, Jack. C. 2001. Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.

Sumadi Suryabrata. 2000. Metodologi Penelitian. Jakarta : PT Raja Grafindo Persada.

Sutrisno, Joko. 2008. Pengaruh Pemakaian LKS Jenis Tertentu Terhadap Kemampuan Membaca dan Berpikir Kritis Pada Siswa SD Tingkat Rendah. [online]. Tersedia: http://majalahkita.blogspot.com/2008/06/pro-kontra-buku-lks-lembar-kerja-siswa.html. [03 Mei 2012]

Tim Proaktif. NY. Materi Berkarakter Bahasa Inggris: Proaktif. Surabaya: Media Pustaka.

Ur, Penny. 1996. A Course in Language Teaching, Practice and Theory. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Wijayanto, Yanuar. 2009. An Analysis of Level Difficulty on Reading Exercises in English Textbook Used By The First Year Students of Senior High School. Unpublished

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter discusses the background of the study, the statement of problem, purpose of the study, significance of the study, scope and limitation and definition of key terms.

1.1Background of the Study

English as a compulsory subject is one of the important languages to be taught in every school degree. English is included in national curriculum by the government. It can be seen that of all educational levels include English as a subject whether from elementary school to university. Moreover, English has to be mastered by students in order to meet the requirement of the English as an international language. These are reflected by a number of communication tools and others which use English, for example, the using of technology like hand phone, computer and also textbook in teaching learning process.

In teaching learning process, it cannot be avoided that teachers cannot be separated from textbooks as guidance. Both of them are interrelated in favor of teaching learning activities in the classroom. By using textbooks, students can be assisted in doing their assignments and easy to understand the instructions. Besides, teachers would find difficulty in teaching process when there are not

2

guidebooks used as a source of knowledge. Richards (2001) states that created material refers to textbook and other developed instructional resources. Textbooks are often accompanied by workbooks, CDs and cassettes, videos, CDs-ROMs, and comprehensive teaching guides, providing a rich and varied resource for teachers and learners. As printed material, textbook is extremely helpful to transmit the information and instruction for students.

In achieving the goal of the teaching learning process, textbooks can be useful as a media that ease the students in understanding the material. Textbooks are books that students hold on to a certain level as a medium of learning (instructional), related to the specific subject areas (Ministry of National Education, 2004). Textbooks as an element of education has important role, as a media, textbooks can increase the students’ comprehension of material given. Krisanjaya (1997) states that the function of a textbook for teachers are as a guide to identify what should be taught or learned by the students, knowing the order of presentation materials, knowing the teaching techniques and methods, teaching materials are easy to be obtained, and use it as a learning tool of students inside or outside of school.

Regarding the role of textbooks in teaching and learning activity, teachers as a dominant person in the class, can be selective in choosing the textbook used. Although textbooks have interesting material or good content, but teachers have to know which textbooks really needed for students and appropriate with the curriculum. Moreover, teachers have to know the criteria of good textbooks. According to Ornstein (1990), good textbooks have desirable characteristic. They

3

are well organized, coherent, unified, relatively up to date, accurate, and relatively unbiased. Therefore, some researchers conducted the studies about the relevancy of the textbook with curriculum, the quality of the textbook and worksheet, etc.

To know well about the quality of the textbook and worksheet, it is very important to conduct item analysis. According to Arikunto (1999), item analysis can be used to identify the quality of test items. The goal of item analysis is to identify the good item, poor item, and bad item. By analyzing the item, it can be found the information of the poor item and immediately conduct the improvement. It can be seen how far the difficulty level of each item.

Furthermore, Djiwandono (2008) states that the item difficulty level means to investigate how easy or difficult the test is either as a whole or each items of the test. The item difficulty level can be counted by means comparing between students who did well and those who did poorly on the test. The item can be categorized easy if the more items can be answered correctly and vice versa. Thus the students know their ability and improve their learning activities.

Empirically, the study of textbook is explained by other researchers, Wijayanto (2010) conducted the difficulty level on reading exercise in English textbook published by Ganeca in 2007. The result showed that the reading exercise had moderate difficulty level, since the average difficulty level of that book was in the range of 0.30-0.70. Another study is done by Arifin (2008), who investigated the quality of English student worksheet used by second year of junior high school arranged by MGMP team in Trenggalek. The result is the

4

English student worksheet arranged appropriate for students and dealt with the curriculum.

In fact, textbooks are not the main sources in educational material. If the teachers use textbooks as the primary sources of their teaching, it can be a monotonous material and cannot expand. Besides, according to Richards (2001), textbook sometimes present in authentic language because texts, dialogues, and other aspects of content tend to be specially written to incorporate teaching points and are often not representative of real language use. It means that the existing of language in textbook sometimes not same as language use in daily life. The students would have difficulty in understanding the language in textbook. Therefore, some of schools use other sources as a guidebook in their teaching learning process, for instance worksheet.

Nowadays, worksheet is used in every school from elementary to senior high school. Most of teachers assess students’ ability in learning process by using it. Some schools prefer to choose worksheet as their main media in teaching learning process to textbook. Printed material such as worksheet is considered as simple and appropriate materials. Worksheet can be easy or difficult material for students. If the worksheet is too easy, students will get good score and have no challenge to do the exercise and vice versa. Based on English teachers in elementary school, worksheet has the main role in getting the students score in order to know students’ understanding the material. Because of worksheet as the important media, teachers have to consider the content of the worksheet includes the materials and exercises.

5

There are many English student worksheets published by different publishers and one of those publishers is Media Pustaka. This worksheet is used by some elementary schools in Pasuruan. Besides, in SDN Pakukerto II, this worksheet used by three classes and the average scores is high, especially fifth grade. In fact, almost all students get high scores in doing this worksheet while they get low scores in middle test. It is the reason why the researcher intends to find out the difficulty level of students’ result on Proaktif worksheet used by fifth grade students of elementary school.

1.2Statement of the Problem

Based on the background of the study above, the writer formulates the problem as follows:

“How is the difficulty level of the students’ result on Proaktif worksheet published by Media Pustaka?”

1.3Purpose of the Study

Based on the problem above, the purpose of the study is to find out the difficulty level of the students’ result on Proaktif worksheet published by Media Pustaka.

1.4Significance of the Study

The result of the study is expected to:

1. Give information for the English teachers who are responsible for evaluating and selecting the appropriate worksheet for each level, so that they will not make a mistake in choosing the worksheet.

6

2. Give the information to English textbook writers especially for the elementary school to give more attention and evaluate the relevance of the textbook that published.

1.5Scope and Limitation

This study is focused on the difficulty level of the students’ result on Proaktif worksheet published by Media Pustaka used by fifth grade students at elementary school of Pakukerto II Pasuruan.

Worksheet for fifth grade students of elementary school is divided into two semesters for one period of learning, that are semester one and semester two. In this study, the writer gives limitation only for semester one.

1.6Definition of Key Terms

To get the definite definitions of the key terms used in the study, the following definition is given.

Difficulty level : The proportion of students responding correctly to it and the number of testees (Azwar, 1987)

Worksheet : is a page (two) of task, distributed to each student to do either in class or at home, intended to be written on, and usually taken in by the teacher to be checked. Teacher-made task can be seen as a specific kind of worksheet (Ur: 1996)

This chapter discusses the background of the study, the statement of problem, purpose of the study, significance of the study, scope and limitation and definition of key terms.

1.1Background of the Study

English as a compulsory subject is one of the important languages to be taught in every school degree. English is included in national curriculum by the government. It can be seen that of all educational levels include English as a subject whether from elementary school to university. Moreover, English has to be mastered by students in order to meet the requirement of the English as an international language. These are reflected by a number of communication tools and others which use English, for example, the using of technology like hand phone, computer and also textbook in teaching learning process.

In teaching learning process, it cannot be avoided that teachers cannot be separated from textbooks as guidance. Both of them are interrelated in favor of teaching learning activities in the classroom. By using textbooks, students can be assisted in doing their assignments and easy to understand the instructions. Besides, teachers would find difficulty in teaching process when there are not

guidebooks used as a source of knowledge. Richards (2001) states that created material refers to textbook and other developed instructional resources. Textbooks are often accompanied by workbooks, CDs and cassettes, videos, CDs-ROMs, and comprehensive teaching guides, providing a rich and varied resource for teachers and learners. As printed material, textbook is extremely helpful to transmit the information and instruction for students.

In achieving the goal of the teaching learning process, textbooks can be useful as a media that ease the students in understanding the material. Textbooks are books that students hold on to a certain level as a medium of learning (instructional), related to the specific subject areas (Ministry of National Education, 2004). Textbooks as an element of education has important role, as a media, textbooks can increase the students’ comprehension of material given. Krisanjaya (1997) states that the function of a textbook for teachers are as a guide to identify what should be taught or learned by the students, knowing the order of presentation materials, knowing the teaching techniques and methods, teaching materials are easy to be obtained, and use it as a learning tool of students inside or outside of school.

Regarding the role of textbooks in teaching and learning activity, teachers as a dominant person in the class, can be selective in choosing the textbook used. Although textbooks have interesting material or good content, but teachers have to know which textbooks really needed for students and appropriate with the curriculum. Moreover, teachers have to know the criteria of good textbooks. According to Ornstein (1990), good textbooks have desirable characteristic. They

are well organized, coherent, unified, relatively up to date, accurate, and relatively unbiased. Therefore, some researchers conducted the studies about the relevancy of the textbook with curriculum, the quality of the textbook and worksheet, etc.

To know well about the quality of the textbook and worksheet, it is very important to conduct item analysis. According to Arikunto (1999), item analysis can be used to identify the quality of test items. The goal of item analysis is to identify the good item, poor item, and bad item. By analyzing the item, it can be found the information of the poor item and immediately conduct the improvement. It can be seen how far the difficulty level of each item.

Furthermore, Djiwandono (2008) states that the item difficulty level means to investigate how easy or difficult the test is either as a whole or each items of the test. The item difficulty level can be counted by means comparing between students who did well and those who did poorly on the test. The item can be categorized easy if the more items can be answered correctly and vice versa. Thus the students know their ability and improve their learning activities.

Empirically, the study of textbook is explained by other researchers, Wijayanto (2010) conducted the difficulty level on reading exercise in English textbook published by Ganeca in 2007. The result showed that the reading exercise had moderate difficulty level, since the average difficulty level of that book was in the range of 0.30-0.70. Another study is done by Arifin (2008), who investigated the quality of English student worksheet used by second year of junior high school arranged by MGMP team in Trenggalek. The result is the

English student worksheet arranged appropriate for students and dealt with the curriculum.

In fact, textbooks are not the main sources in educational material. If the teachers use textbooks as the primary sources of their teaching, it can be a monotonous material and cannot expand. Besides, according to Richards (2001), textbook sometimes present in authentic language because texts, dialogues, and other aspects of content tend to be specially written to incorporate teaching points and are often not representative of real language use. It means that the existing of language in textbook sometimes not same as language use in daily life. The students would have difficulty in understanding the language in textbook. Therefore, some of schools use other sources as a guidebook in their teaching learning process, for instance worksheet.

Nowadays, worksheet is used in every school from elementary to senior high school. Most of teachers assess students’ ability in learning process by using it. Some schools prefer to choose worksheet as their main media in teaching learning process to textbook. Printed material such as worksheet is considered as simple and appropriate materials. Worksheet can be easy or difficult material for students. If the worksheet is too easy, students will get good score and have no challenge to do the exercise and vice versa. Based on English teachers in elementary school, worksheet has the main role in getting the students score in order to know students’ understanding the material. Because of worksheet as the important media, teachers have to consider the content of the worksheet includes the materials and exercises.

There are many English student worksheets published by different publishers and one of those publishers is Media Pustaka. This worksheet is used by some elementary schools in Pasuruan. Besides, in SDN Pakukerto II, this worksheet used by three classes and the average scores is high, especially fifth grade. In fact, almost all students get high scores in doing this worksheet while they get low scores in middle test. It is the reason why the researcher intends to find out the difficulty level of students’ result on Proaktif worksheet used by fifth grade students of elementary school.

1.2Statement of the Problem

Based on the background of the study above, the writer formulates the problem as follows:

“How is the difficulty level of the students’ result on Proaktif worksheet published by Media Pustaka?”

1.3Purpose of the Study

Based on the problem above, the purpose of the study is to find out the difficulty level of the students’ result on Proaktif worksheet published by Media Pustaka.

1.4Significance of the Study

The result of the study is expected to:

1. Give information for the English teachers who are responsible for evaluating and selecting the appropriate worksheet for each level, so that they will not make a mistake in choosing the worksheet.

2. Give the information to English textbook writers especially for the elementary school to give more attention and evaluate the relevance of the textbook that published.

1.5Scope and Limitation

This study is focused on the difficulty level of the students’ result on

Proaktif worksheet published by Media Pustaka used by fifth grade students

at elementary school of Pakukerto II Pasuruan.

Worksheet for fifth grade students of elementary school is divided into two semesters for one period of learning, that are semester one and semester two. In this study, the writer gives limitation only for semester one.

1.6Definition of Key Terms

To get the definite definitions of the key terms used in the study, the following definition is given.

Difficulty level : The proportion of students responding correctly to it and the number of testees (Azwar, 1987)

Worksheet : is a page (two) of task, distributed to each student to do either in class or at home, intended to be written on, and usually taken in by the teacher to be checked. Teacher-made task can be seen as a specific kind of worksheet (Ur: 1996)