The Background of Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. The Background of Study

English is well known as an international language in the world. It is spoken by some countries as a first language or mother tongue, as a second language or as an official language, which is used as a means in international communication among countries. Based on the statement above Brumfit also said that “English is an international language that, it is the most dispread medium of international communication, both because of the number and geographical spread of its speaker and because of the large number of non-native speaker who use it for part at least of their international contact. 1 Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a world language , the lingua franca of the modern era. While English is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a second language around the world. Some linguists such as David Graddol believe that it is no longer the exclusive cultural property of native English speakers, but is rather a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it continues to grow. It is, by international tread, the official language for area and maritime communications. English is an official language of the United Nations and many other international organizations, including the International Olympic Committee . 2 Based on the fact explained above, English language has an important position, because of that English language becomes the first foreign language that should taught to student in every level of education in Indonesia. Government and 1 Christopher Brumfit, English for International Communication London: Pergamon Press, 1982, p. 1. 2 http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiEnglish_language 3.47pm private institution are struggling to enhance teaching and learning process of English in Indonesia. As that the compulsory foreign language subject it must be learnt by students at school in Indonesia. It is given to the student from very early age preschool up to university level. Evaluation is an integral part of the instructional program. In educational side, one of the most important aspects of teaching learning process is evaluation. It contributes directly to the teaching and learning process, used in the classroom instruction. The main focus of classroom evaluation is the pupil and their learning focus. Evaluation is the continuous inspection of all available information concerning the student, teacher, educational program and the teaching-learning process to ascertain the degree of change in students and form valid judgments about the students and the effectiveness of the program. 3 Through evaluation a teacher will be able to know his or her student achievement on the materials that have been taught in a certain period of time. And the teacher can measure his or her teaching effectiveness which has been applied in the classroom. There are many methods for collecting information or evaluation process. One of them is by using a test. “Tes adalah suatu alat atau prosedur yang sistematis dan objective untuk memperoleh data-data atau keterangan-keterangan yang diinginkan tentang seseorang, dengan cara yang boleh dikatakan tepat dan cepat. 4 Test at school usually uses two kinds of test. There are formative test and summative test, the formative test is usually made by teacher of each class of school and given at the end of the lesson unit. And summative test is usually made 3 Charles D. Hopkins and Richard L. Antes, Classroom Measurement and Evaluation, Third Edition, Itasca: F. E. Peacock Publishers, Inc, 1990, p. 29 4 Drs. Suharsimi Arikunto, Dasar-dasar Evaluasi Pendidikan, Jakarta: Bina Aksara, 1988, p. 29. by a team, given at the end of each term or the end of the school year and it is held in every school together in the same time. As a mean to measure the students’ achievement of the learning process, a test should be constructed well. So that it is able to distinguish between the students who have studied well and they who have not. In constructing the test, the teachers have to consider some of its criteria. Each test, especially achievement test, has its own principle and approaches. Here the teacher hoped to apply them as appropriately as they can. After the teacher has administered and score the test. It is usually desirable to evaluate the effectiveness of the test especially the test item. Because it is necessary for the teachers to use their own judgment, as how well item usually will work. This is done by studying the students’ responses of each item. When formalized, the procedure is called item analysis. Nitko stated that “Item analysis refers to the process of collecting, summarizing and using information about individual test item, especially information about pupils’ response to the item.” 5 “Item analysis usually concentrates on two vital features: level of difficulties and discriminating power. The former means the percentage of pupils who answer correctly each test item: the latter the ability of the test item to differentiate between pupils who have done well and those who have done poorly.” 6 Based on the statement above, the writer is interested in analyzing the English summative test items administered at the second year student of SMP YMJ Ciputat seen from the level of difficulties. 5 Anthony J. Nitko, Educational test and Measurement, An Introduction, New York: Harcourt Braco Jovanovich Inc, 1983, p. 8. 6 Ahmann, J Stanley and Marvine, D. Glock., Evaluating Student Progress, Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1981, p. 184

B. The Limitation of Problem