English Competency based Curriculum for SMA

20 3. to demonstrate the basic competence of grammar and the rule of writing. The speaking indicators stated in Competency Based Curriculum pages 16 - 29 can be formulated into four objectives. They are 1. to ask and answer simple question in various thing. 2. to do short dialogue fluently. 3. to convey the description of things, people or place, a set of moment in simple way. 4. to express the thought, opinion, feeling, and attitude in simple way. In this study, all items in the progress test should relate to the objectives of skills indicator in the Competency Based Curriculum for the first year students of Senior High School.

2.1.8. A Test Blueprint

Ebel 1979: 69 states a test blueprint is one of the strategies that have been used to outline the coverage of test, as part of specification. It is useful in guiding the construction of a test and informing the students what they may expect to find on the examination and how they can best prepare to do well on it. It means that test blueprint is the framework of the test.

2.1.8.1 The Purpose of Test Blueprint

Mehrens and Lehmans 1973: 181 state that the purpose of test blueprint is to define as clearly as possible the scope and emphasis of the test and relate the objectives to the content of the test. The blueprint makes it possible to classify each 21 test items in terms of both objectives and content. A completed blueprint describes the number of test items needed to obtain a balanced measure of the instructional objectives and the course content emphasized in the instruction. In addition, teachers use the blueprints to plan a unit in the first place. The blueprints become convenient checklists to help the teacher and the students keep working toward their started objectives. It lists the activities a unit covered teachers can more easily monitoring instrument of her teaching process. In this research, the purpose of finding the test blueprints is to know the construct of the test. The curriculum is the basis of finding the test blueprint. It is analyzed based on the language skills and language elements. Teachers have to bring students to achieve the requirements stated in the curriculum. To help teachers prepare the test, the process of finding the blueprints is done after the test is constructed. The last, this research is aimed to find out the English test type of the progress test for the first year students in SMAN 1 Pamulang. It may be seen from the blueprints that are found.

2.1.8.2 Preparing the Test Blueprint

Mehrens and Lehmans 1973: 181 states that the major areas of contents and abilities to be covered by the test are assigned to the several rows or columns. He adds that each item may the classified in one of the cells. Various numbers of items are assigned to each of the rows and columns. Knowing the proportion of items specified for a particular row and column, one can ideally determine the proportion of items appropriate for the cell formed by that row and column. 22 In addition, Bertrand 1979: 80 states blueprint as the setting levels of category into a table and then listing the content, subject matter, skills, or other learning activities which is designed to measure. Therefore, in this study, some categorizations are made. Each item of the test is categorized into four skills. They are listening, speaking, reading and writing. After that, the items are classified based on objectives and indicators of the study. The items are also analyzed its topic or subtopic that is applied in the test, and what material I used. To know the percentage of the result clearly, the test blueprint are in the form of column and row.

2.1.9. Language Skills and Language Elements being Tested

There are two main components of language testing, they are language skills and language elements. Heaton 1979 said that there are four major skills in communicating language : listening, reading, speaking, writing and three language elements, they are : phonology, vocabulary, and grammar.

2.1.9.1. Testing Language Skills

1 Listening Comprehension ; it is a test in which single utterances, dialogue, talks, and lecturers are given to the tester. 2 Speaking ability ; it usually uses the form of an interview, a picture description, and reading aloud. 3 Reading ; it is a test in which questions are set to the students’ understanding of a written text, and 4 Writing ability ; it usually uses the form of essays and letters. 23

2.1.9.2. Testing the Language Elements

1 Phonology ; a test of phonology concerns pronunciation, stress, and intonation. 2 Vocabulary ; a test of vocabulary concerns word meaning and arrangements. Vocabulary tests measure students’ knowledge of the meaning of certain words and word groups. 3 Grammar ; a grammar test measure students’ ability to manipulate structures and to distinguish appropriate grammatical forms from inappropriate ones. On the other hand, Lado 1961 said that there are two variables in language testing, they are: language skills and language components. Language skills can be divided into four namely: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Besides, there is another skill, that is ability to translate. Language elements can be divided into four, namely: pronunciation, grammatical structure, the lexicon, and cultural meaning. Similar to Heaton, Harris 1969 describes that language included four language skills and complexes of skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and four language elements, namely: phonology, grammatical structure, vocabulary rate and general fluency. Briefly, he classifies the language into the four skills and four elements. He clarifies his idea to the following table. Table 1 Chart of the language skills and their components Language Skills Components Listening Speaking Reading Writing Phonology √ Structure √ Vocabulary √ √ Fluency √