Important Concepts in Phenomenology

47 Researcher task is “to transform lived experience into a textual expression” thus the reader can identify him herself to the lived experience van Manen, 1990, 36. The textual expression shou ld be delivered “in such a way that the effect of the text is at once a reflexive re-living and a reflective appropriation of something meaningful: a notion by which a reader is powerfully animated in his or her own l ived experience” van Manen, 36. 8 Meaning Meaning or essence is the final destination of phenomenological study. It is defined by Husserl 1931, as paraphrased by Moustakas 1994, as a thing “which is common or universal, the condition or quality without which a thing would not be what is” 100. Similar to Moustakas, van Manen defined it as “the very nature of a phenomenon, for that which makes a some- “thing” what it is” 1990, 10. In other words, meaning can be defined as what a thing is universally. As quoted by Moustakas 1994, Sartre defines essence as “the „concatenation of appearances‟ xlvi” 100. It „is “radically severed from the individual appearance which manifests it, since on principle it is that which must be able to be manifested by an infinite series of individual manifes tations‟ xlviii” Moustakas, 100. If paraphrased, essence can thus be considered as a reference which is manifested through series of individual appearances. Moustakas 1994 also writes that “essences of any experience are never totally exhausted” 100. Further, he writes, “the fundamental textural-structural synthesis represents the essences at a particular time and place from vantage point of an individual researcher following an exhaustive imaginative and reflective PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 48 study of the phenomenon” 100. Essences for Moustakas can thus be concluded as a thing which always moves depending on the context time and place. From all of those definitions on meaning and essence it can thus be concluded that meaning or essence is what a thing is universally; it is manifested through series of individual appearances and is always changed depending on the context. According to Betti 1967, 1980, as stated by Alvesson Sköldberg 2000, what are important when dealing with meaning in hermeneutics are coherence and correspondence. In order to reach meaning coherence, researchers must turn their attention to “hermeneutic circle of part-whole” Alvesson Sköldberg, 2000, 67 . The researchers are given privilege to decide which elements in the research are part and which elements are whole. However, Alvesson Sköldberg writes, the part may refer to “a word in a text, a clause, a sentence, a paragraph, or a section” 67. Meanwhile, the whole “may be the text, the author behind the work, the historical background” Alvesson Sköldberg , 67. By theorists of historiography, this canon is applied through what is called as criticism of bias Alvesson Sköldberg. Bias is defined as “the interest conscious or not of the informant in skewing the information” Alvesson Sköldberg, 72. If bias is strongly indicated, the value of the information becomes lessen. Meaning correspondence can be acquired if researchers are able to establish “a kind of „resonance‟ with the object of the investigation, a „congeniality‟ by which an invisible bond of meaning is forged between them” Alvesson Sköldberg, 2000, 69. In order to reach meaning correspondence, historiography theorists suggest researchers to implement what they call Verstehen or empathy Alvesson 49 Sköldberg, 2000. More detailed elaboration of this sub subchapter is put under the discussion of Empathy below. 9 Empathy As stated previously, empathy is the application of meaning correspondence, the fourth hermeneutic canon proposed by Betti Alvesson Sköldberg, 2000. Since this study is hermeneutic phenomenology, the elaboration of empathy by Betti is considered relevant to be summarized in this subchapter. Empathy is defined as “the intuitive understanding „from within‟ of the object of investigation, whether the latter is a single individual or overarching social formations” Alvesson Sköldberg , 2000, 75. Alvesson Sköldberg describe at least two significances of empathy in hermeneutics. The first significance is related to the capability of empathy to cover the less value of the source. Other than empathy, the historiography theorists proposed authenticity, bias, and also distance and dependence as the application of the four canons. The more insufficient the three aspects are, the lesser the source is valued. If the other three aspects show that the value of the source is unsound, empathy can be used as the last tool to check whether or not the information from the source useable. Another significance of empathy is related to its ability to reveal the inner meaning from the subjects Collingwood, 1992, as paraphrased in Alvesson Sköldberg, 2000 . 10 Reflection Husserl defines reflection as “the process of analyzing and grasping “stream of experience ... in the light of its o wn evidence” Husserl, 1931, 419 as quoted by Moustakas, 1994, 47. Evidence itself is defined as “something that shows itself – PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 50 something that is t here before one” Moustakas, 47. Reflection “provides a logical, systematic, and coherent resource for carrying out the analysis and synthesis needed to arrive at essential descriptions of e xperience” Moustakas, 47. Radical reflection “begins by „rendering explicit the universal „presupposition‟ which underlies all our life‟” Gurwitsch, 1966, 419 as quoted by Moustakas, 47. Reflection has two focuses. The first focus is self while another focus is context. These two focuses are reflected in the following discussions on reflection. Alvesson Sköldberg 2000 state that reflection “turns attention „inwards‟ towards the person of the r esearcher” 5. It is related with “what one is doing” Alvesson Sköldberg, 245. When reflecting, we contemplate “the premises for our thoughts, our observations, and our use of language” Alvesson Sköldberg, 245. Steier argues that reflection is all about construction and in construction, the constructing subject the researcher plays significant role Alvesson Sköldberg. It also considers language and narrative as the form of interpretation in the research context important Alvesson Sköldberg. These discussions emphasize the importance of self-involvelment. Alvesson Sköldberg 2000 also mention the importance of “the relevant research community, society, and intellectual and cultural traditions” as another part of reflection 245. Reflection is the investigation of “the way in which theoretical, cultural, and political context of individual and intellectual involvement affects interaction with whatever is being researched” Alvesson Sköldberg, 245. These discussions show the relevance of context to reflection. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 51 11 Theme Theme is “structure of experience” van Manen, 1990, 79. It is “an element motif, formula, or device which occurs frequen tly in the text” van Manen, 78. It is something which builds meaning. It is meaning units, structure of meaning van Manen. In order to grasp the meaning of certain lived experience thus, it is important to observe its themes van Manen. This is why theme “gives control and order to our resea rch and writing” van Manen, 79.

e. Research on Lived Experience

Almost all lived experience research reports found focuses on implementation in English education. Only one research discusses English education design. Another one focused on evaluation. From eight research reports on implementation, six of them try to discover meaning from the perspective of the learners. The rest two focuses on meaning from the perspective of the teachers. The only research found which discusses design was conducted by Kiswara 2009. In the research he discovered the meaning of textbook selection to SMP English teachers in his thesis. From the research conducted he found that all participants “tried to meet the students‟ learning needs, interest and cultural background by considering the constraints , and educational policies” Kiswara, xiv in the process of textbook selection. However, they showed difference when dealing with the focus of the needs. The research also showed that the “participants had different level of autonomy” Kiswara, xiv due to their “different educational background and working experience” Kiswara, xiv. This PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 52 difference on autonomy level was caused by the “different perceptions on the students ‟ future professional needs” Kiswara, xiv. It affected “teachers‟ perceptions on the success of study and their teaching orientations” Kiswara, xiv. This perception is what then affects “the process of textbook selections” Kiswara, xiv. Fiharsono 2011 discovered one student‟s lived experience on the English National Examination Fiharsono, 2011. He discovered four themes regarding the topic: 1 student‟s understandings, 2 student‟s beliefs, 3 student‟s intentions, and 4 student‟s action. The six lived experience research which focuses on learners were conducted by Turgut Igrin n.d., Paredes 2010, Trisnowati 2011, Lin, Grom, Lin 2013, Sastrikirana 2015 and Stania 2015. Turgut Igrin n.d. specifically discussed the meaning of the children lived experience in Turkey on learning English through computer games. The finding shows that the students found benefits by learning English through computer games. The benefits are especially related to transfer, motivation, and awareness. A dissertation by Paredes 2010, discusses more fundamental issue: Colombian adult English language learner selection and using of language learning strategies. The research shows that the learners used learning strategies which are not included in Oxfords‟s taxonomy. Trisnowati 2011 discovered the meaning of learning English to Theology students. In her research she found five themes: “respect for language use, reflection on language learning experience, self-knowledge, professional development, and self- actualization”. From the themes she found two essences. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 53 The first one is “meaningful language learning in the sense of respect for language use” and the second one is “a desire in seeking for understanding of the meanings of life through language le arning in theology studies” Trisnowati, xv. In their research, Lin, Groom, Lin 2013 described the meaning of blog- assisted learning in the ESL writing classroom to Taiwanese students. The research shows that blog-assisted ESL writing learning made students with low proficiency levels feel anxious and embarrassed because of the possibly unpleasant reactions from other students regarding their writings and the slowness of their task completions. These findings are argued to give explanation to the findings previous studies had regarding blog-assisted language writing learning. Previous studies showed that second language writing students were enthusiastic with the blog-assisted learning. Yet, they were not motivated to participate voluntarily in the blogging activities. Sastrikirana 2015 discovered the meaning of vocabulary learning using IPALL to students. From the research she found empirical and transcendent themes. The empirical theme is “better knowledge of word meaning and forms, better learning atmosphere, chances to repea t, focus and concentration” Sastrikirana, xvii. Meanwhile, the transcendent themes are “perseverance, honesty, accep tance, connection with a bigger world, God talks to me” Sastrikirana, xvii. She also found that IPALL “has helped students to be more self-actualized bot h as students and as human” Sastrikirana, xvii. In her research Stania 2015 discovered the meaning of learning English to International Class students of University of Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta UMY. She found two interpreted themes which are related to body and mind and to God. 54 She also found sub-themes which include being happy, being worried, being confused, being unsecured, being uncomfortable, being respectful, being grateful, being challenged, and being accommodated. The rest of the research reports, as stated previously, discovered meaning in the context of English education implementation from the perspective of the learners. The first research was conducted by Kirk 2004 and the second one was conducted by Astuti 2010. Kirk 2004 discovered lived experience of women teachers in Karachi, Pakistan in his research. Specifically, the research described the meaning of experience of becoming and being a woman teacher and women experience on teaching boys and girls Kirk. Astuti 2010 investigated the meaning of teaching English large classes to a novice teacher. Specifically she discovered what “the teacher thinks about teaching English large classes, how she gives meaning to it, how she conducts and approaches her teaching, how she experiences success and failure, what she learns from it to become more empowered and self- fulfilling” Astuti, xiv. From her research she found problems and potentials found in previous studies related to classroom management, learners‟ variation, and learning materials are experienced by the participant. She also found that the participant felt the necessity to implement learner-centered instruction when teaching. The participant also posited herself as peer to her students. She considered self- development and professionalism important in teaching. She also felt it necessary to create appropriate learning environment for the class she taught by using certain strategies and teaching principles. 55 This research, as shown in its title, aims to discover the meaning of the 2015 English National Examination to senior high school graduates. Similar to most previous research reports, or, more precisely, seven other research reports, this research report focuses on learner‟s perspective. Similar to one previous research, this research discovers how the participants experienced a subject matter within the scope of Evaluation: national examination. Clearer mapping of the research compared to the previous research reports can be seen in Table 2.1 below. Subject Matter Concept Goal Design Process Implementation Evaluation Revision Participant Teaching teacher Kiswara, 2009: SMP English teachers‟ meaning to the process of selecting textbooks. Astuti, 2010: The meaning of teaching English large classes to a novice teacher. Kirk, 2004: The meaning of experience of “becoming and being a woman teacher” and women experience on teaching boys and girls. Learning learner Sastrikirana, 2015: The meaning of vocabulary learning using IPALL to students. Lin, Groom, Lin, 2013: The meaning of blog-assisted learning in the ESL writing classroom to Taiwanese students Fiharsono, 2011: The meaning of the English National Examination to student My research: The meaning of the 2015 English National Examination to senior