Subject of Study Procedures of Collecting Data

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CHAPTER III METHOD OF INVESTIGATION

This chapter presents method of investigation which is divided into five subsections: subject of the study, research design, instruments of study, procedures of collecting data, and criterion of assessment.

3.1 Subject of Study

To reach the objective of the study, I conducted an action research at SD Neger i Kambangan 1 Tegal. This elementary school is located at Lebaksiu sub district in Tegal regency. There were six grades. I decided to choose the fourth grade students because they were in the first year of learning English. Teacher needed to reinforce their motivation in learning English. In class there were 38 students consisting of 24 boys and 14 girls. I took all the students at the subject.

3.2 Research Design

I conducted two cycles cycle 1 and cycle 2 in this research. Every cycle of this research consists of four phases. They are planning, action, observation and reflection. The orders of activities during the research were presented more clearly as the table next page. 23

3.2.1 Cycle 1 Table 1. The activities of Cycle 1

Planning Selecting a problem as the topic for the study. Finding an institution to do an action research SD Negeri Kambangan 1 Tegal. Asking the principal of SD Negeri Kambangan 1, Tegal for permission to conduct the study there. Constructing teaching plans and instruments of the study test items, field note sheets, and questionnaire. Action First Activity Pre-test Explaining materials briefly and giving a pre-test. Second Activity Treatment 1. Developing a background understanding of the text to the students. 2. Reading the text. 3. Explaining the key words of the text. 4. Reading the text again and practicing look and say technique to convey the whole content of the text. 5. Giving a formative test to the students. Observation Analyzing and collecting the result of the action. Its purpose is to know to what extent the result of “action” reaches the objective. 24 Reflection Finding out the significant progress from the first activity to the last activity.

3.2.2 Cycle 2 Table 2. The Activities of Cycle 2

Planning Focusing on the unsolved problem. Modify the teaching plans. Action First Activity Treatment 1. Developing a background understanding of the text to the students. 2. Reading the second text. 3. Explaining the key words of the text. 4. Reading the text again and practicing look and say technique. 5. Giving a formative test to the students to check the students’ progress. Second Activity Post-Test 1. Reviewing all materials given. 2. Giving a post-test to compare the difference of the results of the students between before and after using look and say technique. 25

3. Distributing the questionnaire to know the students’

interest and opinion about the use of look and say technique in teaching English. Observation Analyzing and collecting the result of the action to know to what extent it reaches the objective. Reflection Finding out the significant progress of the whole processes of the study. Analyzing the result of field notes and questionnaire.

3.3 Instruments of the Study

To support my study, I utilized three kinds of instruments: tests, field notes and questionnaire. These instruments were appropriate to the school environment and could be used effectively and efficiently to collect the data needed.

3.3.1 Test

A test is a method of measuring a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in given domain Brown, 2004, 3. Test plays an important role in teaching and learning experience. The tests used in this research are pre-test, two formative tests and post test. The pre-test was conducted to check the students’ reading ability in comprehending the materials. The students were given 25 items of multiple choices test. If the students’ results of the pre-test are lower than the criterion, I will begin to conduct 26 action research cycles by using the new technique. There were two cycles. In the end of every cycle, I presented 10 items of multiple choices as formative test to know the result of the students after they had been treated by using look and say in the action. After all of the cycles are done, I gave post-test to compare the difference of the results of the students between before and after the look and say treatments given to them. In this test, I presented 25 items of multiple choices test.

3.3.2 Field Notes

Field notes were used to collect qualitative data. Field notes described the situation and the activities during the teaching and learning process. By using field notes, I could know whether the teaching and learning process was making progress or declined. In this study, I wanted to observe, to check, and to take notes about: 1 The class situation during teaching and learning process; 2 The implementation of look and say technique in teaching and learning process; 3 The participation of the students in teaching and learning process; 4 The condition of reading ability of the students.

3.3.3 Questionnaire

Questionnaire is a list of questions to be answered by a number of people. The purpose of distributing questionnaire in this study was to collect information from the 27 students about the factors that may influence their improvement in reading. To calculate the result of questionnaire, the formula is on next page: ∑x = the number of students’ answer n = the total number of the students I selected close questionnaire to be filled out by the students because it was relatively easy to construct and easy to analyze. The responses were only “Yes” and “No”. The questionnaire was used to find out: 1 The students’ interest in learning English, especially reading; 2 The advantages students got after using look and say technique; 3 The students’ opinion about the continuity of the program conducted during the action research.

3.4 Procedures of Collecting Data

In doing the action research, I use the several appropriate techniques and methods. To carry out my study, I have to collect the data containing some information needed for the research. Mc Niff 1997: 76 states there is a list of techniques, which can be used to gather the evidence in the reconnaissance and monitoring phases of action research. The percentage = x 100 28 According to the Mc Niff’s techniques, each of them has advantages and disadvantages in their use. In this research, in order to collect the data, I use the pre- test and post-test, field notes, and questionnaires. I take the pre-test and post-test based on the considerations that generally they are not expensive. The aims of using pre and post tests are to know the students’ response during the activities, to see their abilities in mastering the reading materials and their progress, to gather information and to find a simple way for students to answer the specific predetermined questions. The test sometimes called ‘quiz’ can be seen either as a general observational procedure, akin to the case study, protocol or experiment, for eliciting data on how users behave in particular dictionary reference situations, or as a way of measuring the knowledge or performance of an individual or group inrelation to achievable proficiency levels before, during or after courses on dictionary skills Hartman, 2001: 119. I decide to use multiple choice test type based on the following considerations: 1 Multiple choice test type is economical in term of the number of item that can be answered in a short period of testing time 2 Students’ test paper can be easily and quickly scored 3 Since the correct answers are limited in number, objective test type will not make examinees have different interpretation of studet’s test paper Harris, 1969: 2 29 Meanwhile, the other technique in collecting data is the use of field notes. The aim is to have the document about the situation of the class where I am conducting the action research. Mc Niff 1997: 77 says that the use of field notes is more than keeping a record book as a kind of diary which would record only ground covered and material used. He says further that the document is a significant aspect of the action. Therefore I pay attention to the students’ response during the activity objectively. I systematically keep notes of the class situation, either while the lesson is in progress or immediately afterwards. Beside field notes, a questionnaire is also given. I take the questionnaire because they are highly specific, easy and comparative. I give some questions to the students in a paper related to the teaching and learning process, and English teaching. The students answer the questions honestly.

3.5 Criterion of Assessment