28 5 Dealing with Unknown Words
One of the best ways to acquire vocabulary in a Foreign Language may be trough reading. By reading, students learn vocabulary from context. Learning
vocabulary from context can promote meaningful learning. It is said top-down models of reading that to be fluent readers, students
should avoid word by word comprehension. However, in reading there are words which may be unfamiliar to students but they are important for comprehension of
the text. Nutall 1996: 67-77 as cited by Urquhart and weir 19988: 199 provides valuable activities as strategies for dealing with difficult words which are
important for comprehension: a Looking for structural clues
b Grammatical function: its place in the sentence c Morphology: its internal structure
d Inferencing its meaning from context e Using a dictionary for unknown key words not accessible by other means.
Paran 1991,193 as cited by Urquhart and Weir 1998: 199 also offers exercises as strategies that might be used to help students to acquire the meaning
of words such as: a Relating a new word to a known word
b Contrasting a word with another word in the sentence c Understanding the sentence as a whole
d Employing knowledge of the world PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
29 e Relating a word to a word in L1
Urquhart and Weir 1998:199 say, “It is noticeable that top-down techniques are being used here on occasion.”
6 Making a Story Map Making text map is one of the ways t
o enhance students‟ comprehension of the text. Grabe and Stoller use the term graphic organizers for map which
shows patterns of rhetorical organization through visual display. The visual displays can be in various kinds of forms such as time lines, Venn diagrams,
comparecontrast matrices, flow charts, bar graphs, pay chart grids, family trees etc Grabe and Stoller, 2002: 216.
Related to choosing of this strategy, the researcher wanted to focus on story map. It means that the type of text to be explored is narrative. According to
O‟Malley and Chamot 1994: 288 a story map identifies the story main features and sequence of events which can help increase students‟ comprehension of a
story. As a language learning strategy, O‟Malley and Chamot 1994 categorize making story map as one of taking notes strategy. Figure 4.2 on the next page
presents an example of story map format proposed by O‟Malley and Chamot 1994: 289.
30
Figure 2.2 Story Map
7 Self-evaluation In self-evaluation, students evaluate their progress in their learning.
Questions of evaluation and personal response can be done either orally which is in the form of discussion and exchange of views or in writing Urquhart and Weir,
1998:187. According to Chamot, Kupper, and Impink-Hernandez, 1988 as cited by
O‟Malley and Chamot 1990: 137, Self-evaluation may consist of: a Production evaluation: checking
one‟s work when the task is finished. b
Performance evaluation: judging one‟s overall execution of the task.
Name:____________________________ Date:_______________________ Title of story
________________________________________________
CHARACTERS TIME AND PLACE
PROBLEM:
EVENTS
PROBLEM SOLUTION: MORAL:
31 c
Ability evaluation: judging one‟s ability to perform the task. d
Strategy evaluation: judging one‟s strategy use when the task is completed. By doing self-evaluation, students will be able to identify their strengths and
weaknesses so that they can do better next time.
5. 2006 Curriculum
2006 curriculum is also called KTSP Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan. This is the latest curriculum proposed by Indonesian government.
According to 2006 curriculum, SMPSekolah Menengah Pertama Junior High School students are targeted to achieve functional literacy level, meaning that
they are expected to be able to communicate in the form of both written and oral to solve everyday problem or to fulfill everyday needs such as reading
newspapers, magazines, manuals, etc. having communicative competence in English enables students to explore knowledge and information conveyed in
English. Students‟ understanding of the connection between language and culture are expected to be developed since language competency also involves knowledge
of the target language‟s culture. In this study, the scope of English teaching and learning is specified to
reading skill. The discourse ability is specified to comprehend various written texts in the form of descriptive, recount and narrative. The strategic competence is
specified into reading strategies. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
32
6. Grade VIII Students of Junior High School
This research intended to design supplementary English reading materials for grade VIII of SMPSekolah Menengah Pertama Junior High School. The
average age of grade VIII students is around 13 to 14 years old. Can teachers teach about language learning strategies to these students? By knowing how these
students think and how their thinking develops teachers can decide whether they are ready to learn language-learning strategies or not.
The older the learners are the greater cognitive abilities they have. According to Woolfolk, cognitive
development refers to “changes in thinking and understanding” 1995: 33. According to Piaget as cited by Woolfolk, 1995: 33
starting from the age of 11, learners enter the final stage of cognitive development namely formal-operational stage with the fo
llowing characteristics: “Able to solve abstract problems in logical fashion; Becomes more scientific in thinking;
Develops concerns about social issues, identity”. Related to their cognitive abilities development, Syah 2003:33 says that learners in this final stage have
had the ability to coordinate whether simultaneously and orderly, two kinds of cognitive abilities; they are capacity to use hypotheses and capacity to use abstract
thinking. According to Oxford 1990: 11, one of the features of language learning
strategies is problem orientation. She says that strategies are tools to solve problem, accomplish a task, meet an objective or attain a goal. Learners who have
entered formal operational stage are able to use learning strategies effectively as it PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
33 is said by Syah 2003:37 that those learners are able to think hypothetically in
solving a problem with relevance hypotheses. The capacity to use abstract thinking also supports learners‟ ability to
apply learning strategies. Ellis says 1985: 108: The onset of abstract thinking that comes around the age of twelve with
the final stage of cognitive development, as described by Piaget i.e. Formal Operations, means that the learner is predisposed to recognize
differences as well as similarities, to think flexibly, and to become increasingly de-centered. As a result he possesses a strong meta-
awareness.
It means that learners are aware that they can consciously take steps to accomplish a task that called strategies. They use these strategies flexibly adjusting the type of
task or problem they face in learning. They can also evaluate and monitor their strategies or they can be reflective in learning and using learning strategies.
7. Instructional Design Model
In this section, the researcher would like to discuss some basic consideration in making the instructional materials design. Kemp‟s model is the
only instructional design model which is adapted in designing the intended materials in this research Kemp‟s model lies on the existence of the concept that
design and development process may start from any step and then move back and forth to the other steps whenever the designer is ready. Therefore, it can be said
that Kemp offers a flexible model which makes the researcher chooses it as the instructional design model for her research in designing a set of reading materials.
34 According to Kemp 1977: 8, an instructional design model should be
able to fulfill essential elements of instructional technology. Those essential elements are characterized by three important questions. The questions are:
1 What must be learned? objectives 2 What procedures and resources will work best to reach the desired learning
levels? activities and resources 3 How will we know when the required learning has taken place? evaluation
In designing the program development to supply answers to the three questions, there are steps consist of eight parts as listed below Kemp, 1997:
1 Goals, Topics, and General Purposes The design begins with considering goals, listing topics, and then stating
the general purposes for teaching each topic. The broadly stated goals as the basis of the program can be derived from three sources, namely society, learners, and
subject areas. To achieve the expected goals, major topics are selected which will become the scope of the course or program in the content area. Then, the general
purposes of each topic are listed to determine what generally expected to learn to achieve the goals of the program.
2 Learner Characteristics The second step is enumerating the important characteristics of the
learners for whom the instruction is to be designed. The selection of topics and the level at which topics are introduced, the choice and sequencing of objectives, the
depth of treatment, and the variety of learning activities should be based on the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
35 learners‟ characteristics which include learners capabilities, needs and interests.
The designer can get that information from questionnaires, interviews, and also from pre-test before the course or the program is conducted.
3 Learning Objectives The third step is specifying the learning objectives to be achieved in terms
of measurable student behavioral outcomes. Learning objectives answer the question of what students should know or be able to do, or in what ways they
should behave differently, after studying each topic. In order to be the learning guideline, all objectives must be stated in the form of activities that will guide the
learning process. 4 Subject Content
After specifying the learning objectives, the next steep is listing the subject content that supports each objective. Subject content consist of the selection on
organizing of the specific knowledge facts and information, skills step-by step procedures, conditions, and requirements, and attitudinal factors of any topic.
5 Pre-Assessment The fifth step, developing pre-assessment is important in finding out: 1
to what extent each student has acquired the necessary prerequisites for studying the topic and 2 what the students may have already mastered about the subject to
be studied. The information from the pre-assessment ensures that learners do not waste their time on things they have already known and measures the learners‟
readiness in following the planned instruction. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
