1 Divide the reading in half. Post enlarge copies of first half on the front wall and the second half on the back wall.
2 Divide the class into pairs. Divide the questions and assign half to the groups. ―e.g., this group, you must answer the questions 1
through 5. The answer in thi s part of the reading.‖ point to the
copies on the front wall that group, you answer 6 through 10. The answers are in that part.‖ point to the copies on the back
wall. 3 When you tell them to start, all this group ask the first question to
their partners. The partners run to the texts posted on the front wall and scan for the answer. When they find the answer, they
run back to the first group and tell the answer. This group writes it, and then asks the next question. Half-way, through the activity,
they change roles; the next group asks while the previous one reads and runs.
3. Learning Outcome
In order to set the research analysis of Local Text with Scanning in the context of curriculum design it is first necessary to consider the
nature of the learning outcomes that are sought through educational innovation.
Bloom‘s 1956 taxonomy was originally developed to classify the complexity of questions asked in assessment, but has become used as a
general system for classifying learning outcomes. The basic cognitive
competences to be demonstrated are: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation see Bloom 1956 for the
full schema. There are also competences for psychomotor and affective learning. Teachers are often encouraged to use Local Text with Scanning
from Bloom‘s taxonomy to define the desired outcomes of a course or learning session. This is often carried out as a post-hoc justification for
teaching decisions that have already been taken and is quite inadequate as a basis for thinking through fundamental pedagogic issues. As students
learn, the outcomes of their learning display increasing structural complexity, both quantitatively the detail in their responses increases
and qualitatively the detail becomes integrated into a more complex pattern. Biggs 1999 adopts the view that real understanding is
performative – the constructivist challenge is to describe what the
students can do differently as a result of their developing understanding, which then specifies the assessment and allows us to measure the
alignment of learning objectives and learning outcomes.
4. The Meaning of Local Text
A word, when used in a piece of text, usually denotes only one meaning out of multiple meanings it inherently carries. Although it is still
unknown to us how does it happen, the general observation is that it is the context that determines which meaning of the word should be considered.
The researcher then tried to identify the context responsible for meaning
variation of a word. The general conviction is that identification of context depends heavily on intuitive ability of a language user. The
researcher argues that natural language texts are the best resources for the task, since words are usually represented within these texts with all kinds
of context-based information. Language corpora, made with different kinds of natural text, contain numerous examples of contextual use of
words to provide useful information for understanding meaning variation of words as well as for deciphering their actual context-based meaning.
In this study the researcher used the term context to refer to an immediate linguistic environment rarely detached or isolated in which a
particular word occurs. Since it is not always explicit, it may be hidden within the neighboring members of a word used in a piece of text. Taking
these factors into consideration, Miller and Leacock 2000 have classified context into two types: a local context, and b topical context.
According to Miller and Leacock 2002, reference to the two contexts is more of less sufficient in understanding the actual contextual meaning
used in any text. In the researcher point of view, the two contexts mentioned above
are not enough for understanding the intended meaning of a word, as these contexts often fail to provide the necessary information required for
the purpose. In certain readings, information acquired from the local context may be sufficient, but this is not enough for understanding all
possible meaning variations of a word. To acquire more information the
researcher, therefore, argue to classify context into four broad types Dash 2005a actually, but the researcher limit them in order to more focus on
local context. The local context refers to the immediate circle of text. Based on the meaning above, then, the researcher used local text
in the same term and positions with local context. So, the local text more refers to the immediate environment in where texts used, familiar with
people who nearby that text and within any particular situation. Local text and language learning are not separable. In the process of learning
reading, texts are the main role. Texts are structured in different ways to achieve their purpose.
In relation to the term ‗genre‘, it should be discussed first about the distinction
of the term ‗text‘ and ‗genre‘. According to Macken and Horarol 1997: 305 text is considered as a social construct in which the
structure is identified and as a construct, its structure and social function can be deconstruct and analyzed. Text has many kinds of genres in it. Lee
2001: 38 underlies that one way of making a distinction and between ‗genre‘ and ‗text‘ is that the former is based on external, non- linguistic,
―traditional‖ criteria while the latter is based on the internal, linguistic characteristics of texts themselves. . Biber 1988 as cited in Lee 2001:
38 has his own opinion about the definition of genre by statement as follows,
A ‗genre‘, in this view, is defined as a category assigned on the basis of external criteria such as intended audience, purpose,
and activity type, that is, it refers to a conventional, culturally
recognized grouping of texts based on properties other than lexical or grammatical co- occurrence features, which are,
instead, the internal linguistic criteria forming the basis of ‗text type‘ categories.
Meanwhile, besides defining the term ‗genre‘, Biber also explicates the genre in relation to the external criteria. In his opinion,
genre categories are determined on the basis of external criteria relating to speaker‘s purpose. Thus, genre is considered as the level of organization
which is theoretically and pedagogically most useful and practical to work with since it takes more on the function of communication itself.
Moreover, those two terms, text and genre, are imperative to discuss since sometimes they are confusedly used and thus needs to
clarify the relation between two. Therefore, in this research, the definition of ‗genre‘ follows Biber‘s definition. ‗Genre‘ is then understood as a
category assigned on the basis of three external criteria which are related to speakers‘ point of view‘s consideration, such as intended audience,
purpose, and activity type. ‗Genre‘ is not only defined as a category, but also a level of organization which is considered the most useful and
practical level to work theoretically and pedagogically. While genre is on the basis of external criteria, text is built on the basis of internal criteria
with linguistic characteristics in it. Feez and Joyce 1998: 6 point out the difference between those
two terms in a simpler way. While text is defined as any stretch of language which is held together cohesively through meaning, genre refers
to the patterns tied from recognizable patterns of structure and language within texts which have evolved in cultural context to achieve particular
purposes and the same general patterns which recur in texts to achieve similar purposes. Thus, this research defines ‗text‘ as any stretch of
language formed by a social construct which its structure and social function can be deconstructed and analyzed as well as held together
cohesively through meaning.
Using Local Text for Learning Reading to Junior Students
When engaging in reading activities, to avoid boredom, teachers almost always implement collaborative techniques which sometimes
proved to be unsuccessful. This condition has spurred from students‘ lack of responsibility and involvement in the activity thus encouraging only
clever students to complete the task. Consequently, using Local text is the best way in guarantying the success of collaborative activities in the
teaching of reading. Local text is seen not as something possessed as a skill, but
something done or performed as a contextualized practice Barton 1994, Baynham 1995. Within reading local text, students of junior
high level discuss the questions in their own language, assist their student friends who disabilities in read English text. Each student in
the team is responsible not only for learning the material being taught, but also for helping teammates learn. The most important goal of
learning reading using local text is to provide students with the
knowledge, concept, skills, and understanding they need to become happy and contributing members of the society.
5. Scanning
