Method of the Study

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the methodology that the writer applied in the research. This chapter consists of method of the study, participants of the study, instruments used in the designing the materials, data gathering technique, data analysis technique, and the research procedures.

A. Method of the Study

The writer chose to employ research and developmental study since the study deals with designing materials. Gay 1992: 221 defines research and developmental study as a study which aims at constructing and developing relevant materials to the target learners based on the way learners study and behave towards particular phenomena. Correspondingly, Borg and Gall 1998: 772 states that educational research and development RD is a method for organizing an instruction by developing and validating pedagogical products such as material objects and teaching-learning methods. This educational research has a goal to find out some particular questions dealing with practical problems. There are four steps in educational research and development which are called educational research and development cycle. The cycle consists of studying research sources related to the products, developing the products, field testing them to the participants, and revising them based on the evaluation. As stated by Borg and Gall 1998: 775, educational research and development cycle can still be divided into ten major steps, namely information gathering, planning, developing the outline of the designed materials, preliminary test, main product revision, main field test, operational product revision, operational field test, final product revision and dissemination and implementation. However, the writer only carried out half of those steps in designing the materials. Those steps included: 1. Information Gathering In this step, the writer gathered any supporting references and prepared everything needed for the research, such as questionnaire sheet, interview sheet and observation check list. The writer gathered some references from reliable sources such as books, ESLEFL journals and the internet. Furthermore, the writer interviewed the participant and observed the participants to learn directly their teaching-learning process. Additionally, the writer distributed questionnaires for the students to gather as many data as possible about their characteristics and interest, especially related to the types of stories. 2. Planning The writer made a rough draft of the designed materials based on the assembled information in the preceding step. This draft represented what the designed materials would look like. The writer also decided what objectives the students were going to achieve and what topics she was going to present in the designed materials.

3. Developing the Outline of the Designed-Materials

Constructing the outline of the materials, the writer then developed it. The writer developed the rough draft of the materials based on the results of the needs analysis and the curriculum demand.

4. Conducting Preliminary Test

Accomplishing the outline of the materials, the writer carried out a preliminary test which involved distributing the questionnaire for the design evaluation. The writer investigated the participants’ opinions and beliefs about the designed-materials to find out whether the materials are appropriate for the students. The writer then analyzed the data. 5. Carrying Out Main Product Revision Based on the data of the preliminary test, the writer found out some parts that needed some improvement. Thus, the writer revised the designed materials.

B. Research Participants