Text Acquisition TEXT ACQUISITION, TEXT DESCRIPTION, AND INTERPRETATION

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CHAPTER IV TEXT ACQUISITION, TEXT DESCRIPTION, AND INTERPRETATION

This chapter presents, describes, and interprets the data through a qualitative approach. It is meant to show the process of meaning construction and interpretation. The data was presented in sentences. There are tables and diagrams to facilitate and complete the data interpretations. This chapter is divided into three parts: 1 text acquisition, 2 text description, and 3 interpretation.

A. Text Acquisition

The participants in this research are three high school teachers. I arranged the times for doing the interview. There were some meetings organized as many as needed, according to an agreement with the interviewees. Table 4.1 Research Participants No. Name Gender Institution Age 1. Kus male SMA 3 50 2. Widi male SMA De Britto 45 3. Tri female SMA 2 59 Bapak Widi Nugroho has been teaching English at De Britto High School for 23 years. Besides teaching English, he is also a writer. He has written various 54 education books that have been published. Ibu Tri Indarti has been teaching at SMA 2 since 1991. She is an active teacher in developing her profession. Being active in writing papers which are related to teaching English, Ibu Tri has even become a presenter in an international seminar. Pak Kuswara is a teacher at SMA 3. He is very active in many activities including PKG and Batliank. He was even asked to make the national test. All activities done by teachers are considered their best way to actualize themselves as teachers. After finding the appropriate participants, I started to gather components, indicators see table and categorization related to SHS English teachers‟ professional development regarding their lived experiences. I constructed semi-structured interview questions. The constructions were used to make the conversation more specific and lead the participants to tell their stories well. The framework helped me guide the participants to tell stories in a specific context. In designing questions, I considered bracketing, in which the researcher set aside a pre-understanding of the topic. The participants were allowed to articulate their experiences, understanding, beliefs, and thoughts relevant to their professional development. What became important was how they constructed meaning from their lived experiences. The table below presents the semi-structured interview guidelines relevant to SHS English teachers‟ lived experiences regarding their professional development. 55 Semi-Structured Interview Guidelines 1. The process of becoming an English teacher at senior high school 2. The preparations before teaching 3. The strategies in teaching 4. The strategies in facing students 5. The strategies in solving students‟ difficulties 6. The certification program 7. The professional development program workshop or seminar 8. The process of maintaining the input 9. The struggle of managing time and the commitment 10. The support of the school or institution Figure 4.2 Semi-structured Interview Guidelines A semi-structured interview is employed before the in-depth interview. Considering the answers varied from one to another, in-depth interview questions were made based on the initial interview. I tried to manage the data to find the essential points in the story. After finding the essential points, I started to construct in- depth interviews. The main aim of this part was to make clear the participants‟ stories about their lived experiences. The participants‟ answers could vary from one another. I conducted the interviews at the places that the participants offered to make them feel comfortable. A snowballing process was conducted to get the essential points of the stories. There were no complicated problems in contacting the participants since they were willing to give information. All of the participants were cooperative and enthusiastic in telling their stories. After transcribing the text, I directly confirmed the 56 results of the transcription. Then, I went over the pre-interview carefully to find the essential points to discuss more through in-depth interviews. In transcribing the data, I coded the data to help determine the theme. It was also used to make clear the personal voices of the participants. After determining the theme, the researcher considered the elements of theme development, evidence of themes, multiple themes, quotes used to provide the voices of the participants, layering themes, and interconnecting themes Creswell, 2007. In describing the findings, I tried to “build broad to narrow, situate the reader in the place or context provided in detail to create a sense of “being there”, use action verbs and vivid modifiers and adjectives, just describe the facts, do not interpret the situation, and use quotes or italics to emphasize ideas or “reflexive comments” Creswell, 2007. In interpreting the lived experiences, I determined the essence theme of the description. I tried to relate it with the related theory. 57 Figure 4.3 Text Acquisition In the process of acquiring the texts, the researcher tried to find the essences through identifying the sub-themes followed by interconnecting themes. In identifying the sub- themes, the researcher focused on exploring and understanding participants‟ thoughts, perspectives, experiences, and beliefs. The following table is an example of the coding process and the reflection of the participants‟ accounts. Interpretation Transcribing coding elements of theme development Interconnecting themes emergent themes 58 Table 4.4 Theme identification Codes Description themes MSEF For time, we have to manage time actually, not time which manages us. I usually conduct tasks based on priorities, which one should I finish first. For example, tomorrow I have to teach this material, but I do not have it, so I have a priority to search on the Internet first, and then accommodate my creativity. So it should be used, because it cannot be postponed. Since I have a class tomorrow, I need to bring something for the students. Well, after I finished going through everything, I would decide the plan that I would do next. So it is a priority scale. I will try it at the last minute as a teacher, like now Im trying to go up one level, I proposed to 4 C, so I had to gather the requirements in May and in July I will be evaluated. Well there is still some time yet. There is still May and June, but this has become my priority, so when Im not preparing for something urgent, I have prepared it, but when I have something not urgent later, it must be put off for a while, but it does not mean I will leave this until May, so I always have a principle, “Do what you can do today, do not put it off until tomorrow ”. Ibu Tri-ID 2, p.100 Self-Efficacy In this case, the researcher read the participants‟ accounts carefully. It does not taint the researchers‟ pre-understanding. The researcher‟s conclusion is oriented toward the participants‟ lived-experiences. The researcher reduced the data into meaningful 59 segments related to the topic of inquiry. Moreover, the researcher tried to find what parts of the text were significant for the study. Then, they were highlighted and named as a sub-theme. Table 4.5 Theme Identification Codes Description Themes MSA Actually when a teacher must follow the development, he must build his motivation. A teacher should take many challenges. It is very important for teachers to improve. I think its for learning. I need to develop myself by reading a book. I need to follow the developments. Now, the challenge is the curriculum in 2013, which focuses on scientific approaches. I should deepen my knowledge, especially for an approach such as constructivism, and so on. The trend is different from time to time. Thus, I need to maintain my motivation to keep learning. Pak Kus-ID 3, p.110 Self-renewal From the participants‟ accounts, a cluster of meaning can be developed. The process is managed by determining the specific sub-themes to gather the material in a particular scope. In formulating the sub-theme, the researcher also tried hard to pay attention to strong and significant points in the composite descriptions. 60 Table 4.6 Theme Identification Codes Description Sub-Themes MKAUR It is more on self-satisfaction, feeling so happy. There is a certain satisfaction when I produce something that is accepted by people and everyone needs it. Oh great, I do not have to do it, but when it works and is appreciated I like it. It is more than enough. I think it is important. I think the impetus is the greatest in my opinion. Pak Widi-ID 3, p. 128 . Self-satisfaction After I listed all the personal accounts of each participant, the sub-themes were categorized. I tried to see the essential points from the parti cipants‟ accounts. The next step was to find the theme based on that sub-theme. After implementing the process of an interconnecting theme, I started to describe the parti cipants‟ accounts based on the theme. The table below shows the results of the resear chers‟ reflections considering the determination of the emergent theme. Table 4.7 interconnecting Themes Pre-understabding Theme Emergent theme 61 After formulating the sub-themes, the theme or the core element was determined. In processing the theme, the research focused more on the essence, as it was also natural. If it was necessary, the researcher went back to retrieve the relevant points in the description that could help to construct the theme.

B. Text Description