READERS’ RESPONSES TO THE NOVELS OF HARRY POTTER.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iv

Table of Contents v

List of Tables vii

List of Appendices viii

Chapter I Introduction 1

1.1 Background of the Research 1

1.2 Purposes of the Research 5

1.3 Research Questions 5

1.4 Significance of the Research 6

1.5 Organization of the Thesis 7

Chapter II Theoretical Review 9

2.1 Reading 9

2.2 Text, Reader, and Transaction 14

2.3 Reader Response 16

2.4 Literature 20

2.5 Related Research Findings 22

Chapter III Methodology 25

3.1 Research Design 25

3.2 Research Sites 26

3.3 Participants of the Research 27 3.4 Characteristics of the Participants 28

3.5 Data Collection Techniques 37

3.6 Data Analysis 39

3.7 Short Description of the Novels of Harry Potter 41

4.1 Classification of the Data 44 4.2 Analysis of the Data, Findings, and Discussion 45 4.2.1 The Students’ Responses to the Novels of Harry Potter 45 4.2.2 Similar Response to the Novels of Harry Potter 48 4.2.3 Different Response to the Novels of Harry Potter 50 4.2.4 Factors Influencing the Students’ Reading Habit 52

Chapter V Conclusions and Suggestions 56

Bibliography 58

LIST OF TABLES

Tables

3.1 The Measure of Reader Stance towards a Literary Work 40 on an Efferent to Aesthetic Continuum

4.1 The Students’ Responses to the Novels of Harry Potter 45 4.2 Similar Response to the Novels of Harry Potter 46 4.3 Different Response to the Novels of Harry Potter 47 4.4 Factors Influencing the Students’ Reading Habit 48 4.5 Factors Influencing the Students’ Reading Habit 48

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Reseach

Reading is an activity that literate people can do for getting information and pleasure. By reading we could obtain a lot of benefits e.g. widening our perspective, extending our knowledge. Asfadiyar, General Manager of Mizan Publisher Bandung, (Pikiran Rakyat, 4 July 2003) convinces us about the importance of reading developed since the early age. He says:

Melalui membaca, anak-anak akan mendapatkan pengetahuan dan pengalaman yang luas sehingga mereka bisa mengikuti dan menikmati suatu diskusi dibandingkan dengan teman-temannya yang tidak suka membaca. Mereka lebih mudah mengolah informasi baru, punya lebih banyak tambahan ide dan lebih cepat melihat kepelikan yang ada. Selain itu, karena memiliki kosakata yang banyak dan beragam, mereka akan mudah menulis dengan baik dan mengekspresikan pikiran dan perasaan mereka. (Pikiran Rakyat, 4 July 2003)

(By reading children could extend their knowledge, and it makes them more able to have and enjoy a discussion compared to their friends who are not interested in reading. Those who love reading are easy to keep up with new information, have a lot of ideas, see existing problems. Due to possessing a lot of vocabulary, they will be easy to write and to express their thought and feeling.)

In fact, reading habit among Indonesian people has not been developed well yet, since the oral tradition is still very strong in Indonesia (Campbell, 1995). Saputra, the Vice Governer of West Java, (Pikiran Rakyat, 4 July 2003) says the same statement that:

Rendahnya sumber daya manusia di Jawa Barat salah satu faktor penyebabnya karena belum terbangunnya budaya membaca secara menyeluruh. Di kalangan anak didik, di seluruh strata juga memprihatinkan. Dari murid di sekolah dasar sampai perguruan tinggi, minat baca mereka masih jauh dari ideal. (Pikiran Rakyat, 4 July 2003 )

(Lack of good human resources in West Java is due to the lack of reading habit. The interest of reading on the levels of educated people- from elementary school students to higher education ones- is not quite ideal.)

Meanwhile, teaching learning process of literature in schools is considered not to encourage the development of reading habit as a core of the lesson. Since teachers still focus on efferent stance and neglect aesthetical stance (Alwasilah, Media Indonesia, June 30, 2001). They do not give a chance to students to express their feeling and thought when or after reading a literary work. Concerning with this issue, Morrow, et al (1990 cited from Sweet, 1993) presents their research finding that it is important to provide children daily with positive experiences involving stories and other literature. Such experiences include reading and retelling stories, discussing stories critically, role-playing, responding to stories both orally and in writing or through expressive art (e.g. drawing), and sharing books with peers. Cox and Many (1992) believe that by asking the students to respond to a story, the literary evocation will be revealed. They quote the meaning of literary evocation from Rosenblatt (1985) that it is the process in which the reader selects out ideas, sensations, feelings, and images drawn from his past linguistic, literary, and life experience, and synthesizes them new experience. Pugh (1988) adds that the most frequently given advice for stimulating creative reader response is simply to surround children with good reading.

Toffler (cited from Campbell, 1995) says that the world has passed from the industrial age to the age of information, information is the new capital and control of information is now more important than control of money. One of the ways to get

and keep up with new information is that people have to read, and a facility to read is reading material. It consists of many kinds of material, various written genres are shaped in books and novel is one of them, it is a long written story (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 1992). It could be enjoyed by all levels of ages, from children to adults. The importance of books is stated by Cooper-Mullin & Coye (1998 cited from Heine, et al, 1999). They say that books play an important role in development and growth of ideas. Our future is shaped by our childhood, and the books of our childhood are such an important part of our journey. It is also added by Hunt (1994) saying that children’s books are important tools in reading education.

In line with the increase of educated people and high technology applied, people are getting aware of the importance of developing reading habit from the early age and the way we read. To develop reading habit, people have to be aware of their reading experience, and the reading experience is influenced by the stances readers take towards texts (Briton et.al., 1984 cited from Beach & Hynds, 1991). Reader response is one of the ways to identify reader stance. Sweet, et al (1993) says that responding is a natural part of reading process. By responding to the stories students read, the students have a chance to express what they feel and think when they are reading or after reading, they are expected to enjoy what they read and think critically. In turn, this event is assumed to be able to trigger their interest to love reading.

To respond to a text, we need an object to read, and the choice of the object has to be considered appropriately. The following statement revealed by Bishop (1990) could be base of the choice of the book:

We ought to help young people to choose literature that can engage them in the kind of thinking and feeling and imagining that will help them grow into decent, contributing members of this society. Building literary experiences on books that deal with individual freedom, love, friendship, loyalty, courage, and hope, can be a powerful beginning.

Many publishing companies try to accommodate people’s interest in developing their reading habit by cooperating with authors and translators to publish books for all levels of ages, whether the books are original or translated. Professional authors have created many kinds of books from fiction to science. Even, amateurs have participated in writing, some of them turn out to be brilliant, it is proved by the number of the books sold. One of the amateurs was J.K. Rowling, a single parent who was raising her daughter living in Edinburgh (at the time she wrote her first novel of Harry Potter). Surprisingly, her first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone written in a local café during her daughter’s naps, is acclaimed as an international phenomenon. Her novel was analyzed in mass media and got several awards including Children Book of the Year from British

Book Awards and the Smarties Prize

(http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/author/index.htm).

Based on the description above, the choice of the novels of Harry Potter to be the object of the response is quite reasonable. The power of the stories of Harry Potter is on the author’s imagination without overlooking human values. The choice

is also supported by the statement of Hunt (1994) saying that a book for children is not a good book unless it is enjoyed by the majority of children.

From the issues and statements above, it can be inferred that this report was attempted to investigate the study of how students felt and thought when reading the novels of Harry Potter, i.e., how they responded to the stories when they were reading them. This study was also aimed to seek the similar and different responses to the stories made by Indonesian students and foreign ones to find the background of the similarity and the difference. Factors influencing the students’ reading habit were also investigated.

1.2 The Purposes of the Research

To make it clear, it is necessary to present the purposes of the research. This study was attempted to seek explanation of kinds of stance the students had in responding to the stories. The similar and different responses made by Indonesian and foreign students were explored to get the background of the similarity and the difference. This study was also held to investigate the factors influencing the students’ reading habit.

1.3 Research Questions

This study was conducted to answer the following questions:

1.3.1 What kinds of response did the students give to the Harry Potter stories based on the measure of reader stance proposed by Rosenblatt?

1.3.2 Were there any similar and different responses to the stories made by the Indonesian and foreign students?

1.3.3 What factors influenced the students’ reading habit?

1.4 Significance of the Research

A research on “Readers’ Responses to the Novels of Harry Potter” is expected to gain information that contributes significantly to the instruction of literature. Knowing how the students respond to the story will indicate their reading ability, so their teachers will be more easily to develop their belief and strategy to enhance their reading habit.

Response to literary works by writing provides an opportunity to promote reflection about the literary works. It involves students in linking their ideas to those put forward by the author, teacher, or other students. In this way, the students have a chance to think critically, and understand the difference of their responses to the same text. Therefore, the students will be used to thinking critically, and democratic teaching will be created.

The factors influencing the students’ reading habit are expected to be found out by examining the background of the students. Thus, the factors are more readily designed to make the students successful readers.

1.5 Organization of the Thesis

This thesis consists of five chapters preceded with Approval forms of the Supervisors and the Examiners, Preface, Acknowledgment, Abstract, Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Appendices, and followed by Bibliography and Appendices.

Chapter I Introduction presents Background of the Research; Purposes of the Research; Research Questions; Significance of the Research; and Organization of the Thesis. Chapter II Theoretical Review reveals the theories dealing with the research, the theories are about Reading; Text, Reader, and Transaction; Reader Response; Literature; and Related Research Findings. Chapter III Methodology describes Research Design, Research Sites, Participants of the Research, Characteristics of the Participants, Data Collection Techniques consisting of Open-ended Questionnaire and Semi-structured Interview, Data Analysis, and Short Description of the Novels of Harry Potter. Chapter IV Data Analysis, Findings and Discussion presents analysis of the data gained from respondents, the data was classified into categories to make it easy to interpret. Measure of reader stance towards a literary work on efferent to aesthetic continuum proposed by Rosenblatt was used to evaluate the responses of students. After the data has been analyzed, findings are gained and then they are discussed to see how they fit into the research questions and the existing theories. Chapter V reveals Conclusions that can be drawn from the research and

Suggestions for those who are concerned with developing reading habit especially reading habit from early age.

Table 1.1 Research Continuum

Purposes Research

Questions

Significances Methodology 1. To seek

explanation of kinds of stance the students had in responding to the stories.

2. To find similar and different responses made by Indonesian and foreign students to get the

background of the similarity and the difference. 3. To investigate the factors influencing the students’ reading habit.

1. What kinds of response do the students give to the Harry Potter stories based on the measure of reader stance proposed by Rosenblatt? 2. Are there any similar and

different responses to the stories made by the Indonesian and foreign

students? 3. What factors influence the students’ reading habit?

1. Knowing how students respond to the story will indicate their reading ability, so their teachers will be more easily to develop their belief and strategy to enhance their reading habit. 2. Response to a text by writing provides an opportunity to promote reflection about it. The reflection involves students in linking their ideas to those put forward by the author, teacher, or other students. In this way, the students have a chance to think critically, and understand the difference of their responses to the same text. Therefore, democratic teaching will be created. 3. By examining

1. In this qualitative research, a case study was

employed, since the case selected took place in the respondents of the sixth grade of elementary school students at Assalaam and Bandund International School. 2. Purposive sampling was used, as the students chosen were the ones who had read Harry Potter stories. 3. The

questionnaire consisted of three categories: first one to gain information about the social

background of the students; second one to get the data of their

background of literacy; third one

the background of the students, the factors influencing the students’ reading habit are found out, thus they are more readily designed to make them

successful readers.

to gain their responses to the stories.

4. To categorize the reader’s response towards a story, the

measure of reader stance on an efferent to aesthetic continuum proposed by Rosenblatt was used.

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter consists of sub topics discussing Research Design, Research Sites, Participants of the Research, Characteristics of the Participants of the Research from Assalaam (Indonesian Respondents, R1 - R4) and from Bandung International School (Foreign Respondents, R5 – R9), Data Collection Techniques consisting of Open-ended Questionnaire and Semi-structured Interview, Data Analysis, and Short Description of the Novels of Harry Potter.

3.1 Research Design

In this study, qualitative research was used. It is interpretative research (Creswell, 1994). As such, the biases, values, and judgment of the researcher become stated explicitly in the research report. Some assumptions of qualitative designs revealed by Merriam (1988) cited by Creswell (1994) are suggested. Qualitative researchers are concerned primarily with process, rather than outcomes or products. They are interested in meaning – how people make sense of their lives, experiences, and their structures of the world. Qualitative research is descriptive in that the researcher is interested in process, meaning, and understanding gained through words or pictures. The process of qualitative research is inductive in that the researcher builds abstractions, concepts, hypotheses, and theories from details.

In this qualitative research, a case study was employed because the case selected took place in some primary students of Assalaam and Bandung international School/ B.I.S and it is based on what Maxwell (1996) says that in a case study, the researcher often selects the case and then states the questions in terms of the particular case selected. He continues his statement about the case study that it, on the other hand, justifies the selection of a particular case in terms of the purposes of the study and existing theory and research, and a different kind of argument is needed to support the generalizability of its conclusions.

After the case had been determined, the participants and the sites of the research, instruments (open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interview) were used to gain the data from the participants. Then, the data collected from the respondents was classified to make it easy to analyze and interpret based on the research questions. The measure of reader stance on an efferent to aesthetic continuum proposed by Rosenblatt was used to analyze students’ response. It was then interpreted and discussed in line with the existing theory to make the data meaningful. The following sub topics are presented to give a clearer description

3.2 Research Sites

Before mentioning research sites, it is necessary to put forward the purposes of the research, because the purposes will determine the research sites. This study attempted to seek explanation of kinds of stance that students

had in responding to the novels of Harry Potter. The similar and different responses made by Indonesian and foreign students were explored to get the background of the similarity and the difference. This study was also held to investigate the factors influencing the students’ reading habit.

From the purposes stated above, the study required two different groups of population – one from Indonesian group and another from international one, as one of the purposes of the research was aimed at seeing the similar and different responses made by the students from Indonesia and foreign countries. Therefore, two elementary schools in Bandung were decided to be the research sites, they were Assalaam representing Indonesian students and Bandung International School (B.I.S) representing foreign students. The choice of Assalaam and B.I.S. considered an assumption that students from the two schools were familiar with the novels of Harry Potter, had been able to read the novels and were from the same level of education and social status.

3.3 Participants of the Research

The technique of purposive sampling (Maxwell,1996) was employed for this study in choosing participants of the research, because the students involved were the ones who had read Harry Potter stories. So that they were able to provide important information in line with the research questions and the purposes of the research.

The participants/ respondents at Assalaam were selected from three classes of the sixth grade to seek the proper respondents, as it was quite difficult

to get the students required: those who had read Harry Potter’s stories. Most of them watched the film but did not read the books. On the contrary, at B.I.S. all the students at the sixth grade had read the books and watched the film. Therefore, it was also difficult to choose the respondents. Finally, with the help of their teacher and the requirements needed for the research, it was decided to choose 5 primary students of Bandung International School (2 girls and 3 boys), and 4 primary students of Assalaam (2 girls and 2 boys) with the assumption that they were familiar with Harry Potter’s stories, had been able to read them, and were from the same level of education and social status.

The number of the students was only 9 considering what Maxwell (1996) says that qualitative researchers typically study a relatively small number of individuals or situations and preserve the individuality of each of these in their analyses, rather than collecting data from large samples and aggregating the data across individuals or situations. Thus, they are able to understand how events, actions, and meanings are shaped by the unique circumstances in which they occur.

3.4 Characteristics of the Participants from Assalaam (Indonesian Respondents, R1 - R4) and from Bandung International School (Foreign Respondents, R5 - R9)

Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 1 (R1)

She was born in Bandung, 23 August 1991 (11 years old at the time she was interviewed), the youngest child of the two. Her parents were graduates, even her mother had pursued S3 degree. She liked reading novels and comics

since there were so many interesting novels and comics available that she was always eager and curious to read them. She liked reading since she was a child (the 1st year at elementary school). The first story she read was Majalah Bobo that she got from her mother. Since then she has continued reading books/ stories/ comics of her sister’s which were considered to be interesting to read.

She had been a member of the school library since she was at the 3rd year of elementary school. She often borrowed novels because of their long and interesting stories. She collected the stories of Harry Potter and Detektif Conan.

In her surroundings, her father, sister, niece, and uncle liked reading. Her sister and teacher supported her to like reading. She knew exactly by reading she could extend her knowledge and by reading she would get some ideas to write. She was used to writing stories and pantun since she was at the 4th year of elementary school. When reading she enjoyed the story played by the main character. Although she confessed that there was no effect on her after reading the story. Sometimes she had a problem in reading (difficult words) and she would read them many times to get the ideas of the reading materials. She was the 1st rank of the class.

Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 2 (R2)

She was an 11 year old girl in 2002—at the time to be one of the research respondents. She was raised in well educated family, her parents were graduates. She was the 1st child of the three. She liked reading any kinds of reading material that could enlarge her knowledge. Her favorite reading materials

were folk stories with their native places because they were not only interesting but also could extend her knowledge.

She read the 1st story--Cinderella, when she was at pre school. She bought it from a bookshop. Since then she has developed her reading by collecting and reading scientific books, comics, scary novels and stories (including Harry Potter and outstanding people like Issac Newton, Isadora Duncan, Hellen Keller). She had been a member of the library school since she was at the 3rd year of elementary school. She liked to borrow the stories of outstanding people in the world. Her father, mother, sisters and cousins were also fond of reading. Her parents, friends, and teacher always encouraged her to like reading.

When she read an article/ a story, she always paid attention to its content and enjoyed the words (diction). After reading it, she always got something useful, knew about the difference between good and bad things, and could enlarge her knowledge.

Sometimes, she had difficulty when reading (difficult words). To overcome it, she consulted a dictionary. In her opinion, reading and writing were closely related since we read a writing. She had written summaries of readings/ stories, poems, pantun since she was at the 1st year of elementary school. She was an outstanding student on reading at kindergarten.

Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 3 (R3)

He was a twelve year old boy in 2002. He was a jolly boy brought up in a well educated family (his parents were graduates), the youngest of the 3 children. Like his character, his favorite readings were any kinds of readings which had something to do with funny things, but he also liked scary and mysterious ones.

He read the first story, Dora Emon, when he was a child. He bought it from a bookstore. Since then, he has continued reading many books (Dora Emon and Ghostbump were some of his collection). He had been a member of the school library since he was at the 1st year of elementary school, he liked borrowing mysterious stories.

He did not mention the members of his family, instead he mentioned a name, Ferdi, when asked to mention the people around him who liked reading. He got no support from his surroundings to encourage him to love reading.

When he read an article, he knew that he could learn from good characters. He enjoyed the middle part of the story very much (usually the most difficult scene in the story). After reading it, he had something good. If he got a problem in reading, he would try to understand the content by asking the people considered to be able to help him.

He had no opinion about the relationship between reading and writing. Instead, he said that the forms of his writing had something to do with class assignments. He had done it since the 1st year of elementary school. He had a good achievement dealing with reading and writing, but he did not mention what it was in details.

Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 4 (R4)

He was an eleven year old boy when he became one of the respondents. He was a quite careful kid raised in a middle class family with well educated parents. He was the 2nd child of the four.

He read the 1st story when his parents gave him the Dragon Ball story. Since then he had continued reading other books especially after becoming a member of KIKI library near his house since he was 10 years old. (He did not mention his membership in his school library). Novels and comics were the readings he borrowed most because the contents of the stories were always great. His collection consisted of Harry Potter, Dragon Ball, Hot Shot Challenge.

He mentioned his name first followed by his brother, mother, and father who liked reading. His friends were also the ones who loved reading. Parents and teacher were the people who supported him to love reading. When he read, he always imagined what he was reading e.g. if he read a scary story, he felt scared. He enjoyed the most strained part of the story (the climax). When he got a difficulty in understanding a reading text, he tried to understand it himself. If he failed to do it, he would ask for help to someone else.

After reading, he admitted that he always got something to learn from the story. He had an opinion about writing and reading that they were closely related since when we were writing, we were also reading.

Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 5 (R5)

She was a Malaysian, turned to be 12 years old on May 16, 2003. She had been in Indonesia for 11 years. She had 1 sister and was raised in educated family and good socio-economic class. Inside her family--her mother and father— and outside her family—her friends in class: Arpit, Sharon, and Arlin--were the ones who loved reading. Her parents, her teacher at school, and her English teacher supported her to love reading.

She read the first short story when she was at grade 1, and continued reading short stories regularly to improve her reading and language. She was fond of adventurous stories, for they were interesting to read, and always finished reading them. She had been a member of the school library (Bandung International School/ B.I.S.) since she was a student at B.I.S. Enyd Bliton, Harry Potter, and short stories were some of her collection.

When reading a story, she was curios to know what was going to happen next. The climax and the ending were the parts she enjoyed most. Sometimes, she was influenced by the story she read, she could not stop thinking about it. She, sometimes, got a problem in understanding a reading, as she was not very good at English. To find the meanings of the difficult words, she looked up the words in a dictionary or asked her mother for help.

In her opinion about the relationship between reading and writing, she said that reading was to improve our reading, and writing was to improve our writing. She began to write when she was at grade 1. She wrote journals 2 times a week

and short stories. She won a competition of writing a poem when she was at grade 5.

Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 6 (R6)

She was a German, a twelve year old girl on April 9, 2003 and had been living in Indonesia for 8 years. She was raised in educated family and good socio-economic class. She had a sister.

She read the first story when she was 3 years old, it was a fairy tale from his parents. Since then, she always attempted to read as much as she could. She became a member of the school library. She liked reading mystery, legend, and any kinds of reading materials to make her mood good especially when she was bored, and she could learn a moral from them. She also enjoyed reading comics and interesting stuff from Jakarta Post, for there was always “the odd world.” History, science fiction, non fiction- fantasy- were some of her collection. His father, sister, uncle, cousins, and mother were the ones who loved reading, but only her father supported her to develop a good reading habit.

When she was reading e.g. an article about war and terrorists, then she would think of it and asked whether or not it would get better. Sometimes, she got a problem in understanding a reading e.g. when words were too difficult or she missed a part of the article. Then, she would ask her father for help and consult a dictionary.

After reading e.g. some stories, she admitted that she always had something to learn—a lesson to teach us, a moral. She preferred reading to

writing when she was asked to give opinion about the relationship between reading and writing. She began to write a story when she was 5 years old, but she never got any achievement on reading and writing.

Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 7 (R7)

He was an Indian, 12 years old on March 3, 2003, grown up in good socioeconomic class and educated family. He had been living in Indonesia for 11 years.

He read the first story when he was at pre school 2, it was a fantasy, borrowed from a library, for he became a member of the school library at pre school 1. Since then, he tried to develop reading habit by reading as many books as he could. He was fond of reading adventure, for it made him feel as if he were in the situation in the book. He read it to spend time and it was fun for him. He did not mention his collection of reading materials. Inside his family--his sister-- and outside his family—Aaroon and Ms Gillece, his teacher-- were the ones who loved reading. His sister and Ms Gillece encouraged him to develop reading habit.

He had nothing but the topic in his mind when he was reading. He was not quite sure whether or not he got an influence from the story after reading it. It depended on the type of the story. He had no difficulty in understanding a reading. In his opinion, reading was different from writing because in writing we needed ideas and in reading we needed enthusiasm. He began to write when he was at grade 3 which was expressed mostly in dialogue.

Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 8 (R8)

He was a British, a twelve year old boy at the time he was a respondent of the research. He had been living in Indonesia for 4 years, was raised in a good socioeconomic class and a well educated family.

He read fairy tale at the first time he could read story, but he did not mention the time when he did it. He got it from bookstore. Since then, he had attempted to develop reading habit by writing anything. He liked reading action and science fiction stories because they had a lot of interesting details. He became a member of the school library at the time he joined the school whether it was in England or Indonesia. He got many kinds of reading materials in his collection. His mother, father, and brother were the ones who loved reading inside his family. His parents and teachers supported him to develop reading habit.

When he was reading, he was curious to know what happened next. The climax was the part of the stories he enjoyed most. After reading, he got an influence from the stories, they made him want to write something. Although he could not tell anything when asked to give opinion about the relationship between reading and writing. He started writing when he was at pre school, and he expressed it by writing anything. He had no achievement dealing with writing and reading.

Social and Literacy Background of Respondent 9 (R9)

He was a Scottish boy, aged twelve at the time he was one of the participants of the research, was the only one child in his family, and had been living in Indonesia for six years.

Chapter books and magazines were the kinds of reading material he read regularly. Talking about people around him who loved reading, he mentioned his mother and friends and he got an encouragement to like reading from his mother and English teacher.

When he was reading, he imagined what was happening in the story. If he liked a story e.g. a novel, he read the novel many times. He never had any difficulty in reading. When he was asked about the relationship between reading and writing, he said that they were different and similar, people only wrote things for people to read.

3.5 Data Collection Techniques

The techniques used to collect the data were semi-structured interview and open-ended questionnaire. The open-ended questionnaire consisted of 3 categories: the first one asking about social background (4 items for Assalaam respondents and 5 items for Bandung International School/ B.I.S respondents); the second one asking about literacy background (15 items); and the third one dealing with reader response to Harry Potter stories (6 items including a space to express anything they wanted to say about the novels of Harry Potter). The questionnaire was open ended one because it was aimed to reflect readers’

actual response preferences or proclivities (Cooper et al, 1981 cited from Beach and Hynds, 1991. The response was conducted in writing based on Halpern’s argument (1986 cited by Jerry, 1990) that students will learn more about literature if they personally respond to the books in writing.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted in groups during the school break for about an hour in a room at B.I.S., and after school in a class at Assalaam. It was done to make them comfortable during the interview, and the statement of Farrel & Bishop (1990) supports the way of the interview. They say that each reader is unique, each also shares particular cultural, social and interpretative experiences with other readers. The interview was guided by 15 open questions: some of them were the same questions as the ones in questionnaire, it was done to be confirmed and required more explanation and or a medium to ask other questions related with the one in questionnaire. The interview was done to give more information dealing with the data required for the research. It is in line with Johns’ statement (1997) that one important purpose for interview is questionnaire follow up: to gain additional insights into how and why faculty responded in certain ways.

The librarians and the principals of the two schools were very cooperative, they did not only give some information required, but also helped to determine the respondents.

Before doing the real research, a pilot study was taken to try out the instrument to know whether or not it worked. From the pilot study, there were some questions deleted and improved in accordance with the purposes of the

research. The layout was improved, space for response was added, grammatical mistakes were corrected, the questions were classified into certain categories to make the students convenient to respond and aware of the data required.

3.6 Data Analysis

Coding was one of the ways to classify the data to make it easy to analyze. Strauss (1987 cited from Maxwell, 1996) describes it that in qualitative research, the goal of coding is not to produce counts of things, but to “fracture” the data and rearrange them into categories that facilitate the comparison of data within and between these categories and that aid in the development of theoretical concepts. Contextualizing strategy was another way to analyze the data. According to Maxwell (1996) it is used in case studies, since it looks for relationships that connect statements and events within a context into a coherent whole. Thus, the data was classified into categories by using those strategies and gained three categories: the first one dealing with students’ social background, the second one concerning with their literacy background, and the third one dealing with their response to the novels of Harry Potter.

The measure of reader stance on an efferent to aesthetic continuum proposed by Rosenblatt (1986 cited from Cox and Many, 1992) was used to examine the reader’s response towards a story. It comprises five categories: 1 up to 5: 1 is most efferent response, 2 is primarily efferent response, 3 is elements of both aesthetic evocation and efferent analysis, 4 is primarily aesthetic response, 5 is most aesthetic response. Each category describes its own

characteristics, so that the reader response can be classified into each of the measure. The table below shows the measure of reader stance.

The rest of the data was analyzed sensibly based on the existing theory. Any conflicting data was resolved through discussion with supervisors and colleagues.

Table 3.1

The Measure of Reader Stance towards a Literary Work on an Efferent to Aesthetic Continuum

(proposed by Rosenblatt,1986 cited from Cox and Many, 1992)

Efferent Aesthetic

1

2

3

4

5

Analysis of elements according to outside structure (what was learned, literary elements, production analysis, realism) Retelling (concentration on relating the storyline, narrating what the story was about) Portions of both efferent analysis and aesthetic experience of work (primary focus using a single stance indeterminable) Selection of story events or characters to elaborate preference, judgment, or description ( I enjoyed it when …, I thought it was good/ funny/ unfair when …)

Focus on the-lived thorough experience of the literary work (the world created while reading and the emotions or associations resulting from the experience)

3.7 Short Description of the Novels of Harry Potter

From the title of this research, it can be seen that there are two variables: readers’ responses and the novels of Harry Potter. The responses were gained from the students by giving them the questionnaire and interviewing concerned with the stories. Therefore, it is necessary to give a description about the stories of Harry Potter written by J.K. Rowling. She was a single parent who was raising her daughter living in Edinburgh (at the time she wrote her first novel of Harry Potter). Surprisingly, her first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone written in a local café during her daughter’s naps, is acclaimed as an international phenomenon. Her novel was analyzed in mass media and got several awards including Children Book of the Year from British Book Awards and the Smarties Prize (http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/author/index.htm).

Now, she has published six novels of Harry Potter adventures: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of the Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (she has planned to write and publish seven novels of Harry Potter). The novels have been translated into native languages all over the world. In Indonesia, Harry Potter stories have been translated into Indonesian by Srisanti Lusiana and published by PT. Gramedia, Jakarta since 2000. The first to the fourth books have been transferred into movies and they had been shown in theatres in Indonesia.

The novels have got warm welcome not only from children but also from teenagers, and adults, it is known from the data given by the respondents. They really liked the stories of Harry Potter – an orphan who is a small, skinny, bespectacled boy with an unusual lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. The stories begins on his eleventh birthday, he receives letters inviting him to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry learns that his parents did not die in a car crash but were killed by Voldemort, the Lord of Darkness, and that makes him famous in the world of wizardry. So Harry leaves the home of his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and their hateful son Dudley, who are muggles (humans without one drop of magic in them), and embarks on a new life. And the changes continue as Harry spends year after year at Horgwarts, a place where he not only learns about being a wizard, but also about friendship with Ron and Hermione, loyalty, fear, and courage, and about his own past, his family, and his destiny. In each of the stories, there were fun and laughter, pranks and pitfalls, mystery and suspense, Harry’s battle against the evil Lord Voldemort provides the major conflict (good against evil) and the existence of many eccentric characters (such as Nearly Headless Nick who was not quite completely beheaded, Moaning Myrtle who haunts the girls’ bathroom), brilliantly original ideas, and breathtaking excitement appeal to readers of all ages.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Conclusions

Based on the data analysis, findings, and discussion on the previous chapter the following conclusions are drawn:

Students responded uniquely to the same text based on their previous knowledge with texts and life. This is in accordance with the statements revealed in the theoretical review by some experts that previous experience with text and knowledge will frame the student response to a text.

Students from different countries responded similarly to the same story, if they were impressed by the story dealing with universal values like love, friendship, loyalty, courage. They responded differently to the same story, if it dealt with familiarity of the characters, events, places of the story. The foreign respondents identified the natural character with their own ones, because the character was recognized in their daily life.

Students’ interests, social interaction, and their awareness of the importance of reading played important roles in their reading habit. The availability of many kinds of reading materials facilitated them to enhance their reading habit, the students were able to choose the reading materials they wanted. Their parents, siblings, relatives, teachers, and friends had also significant influence to the students’ reading habit. The students were aware of the importance of reading, so that they made some efforts to develop their reading habit. This awareness is a powerful asset to do it and makes adults easy to encourage them to love reading.

5.2 Suggestions

From the issues revealed in the first chapter, the existing theory, methodology of the research, the analysis, the findings, and discussion, there are some suggestions put forward to give contribution to the parties interested in reading.

To make students interested in reading, their people around them-inside and outside their family- should facilitate them to create a good atmosphere and provide facilities to love reading.

To teach students to respond aesthetically to a text, teachers should possess good reading skill, good teaching skill, and favorable attitude to literature as it is cited from Alwasilah ( 2001).

It is advisable to conduct a longitudinal research on the development to know more about development of reading habit of children,

Further research is suggested to examine the influence of activities (e.g. retelling, mapping, oral interpretation, role play, book or movie review) on reader response.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Altieri, J.L. (1995). Multicultural Literature and Multiethnic Readers : Examining Aesthetic Involvement and Preferences for Text. Journal of Reading Psychology, (16), 43 – 68.

Alwasilah, A.C. (2001). Meluruskan Pengajaran Sastra. Media Indonesia. 30 Juni 2001.

Appleyard, J.A. (1994). Becoming a Reader: The Experince of Fiction from Childhood to Adulthood. New York: Cambridge University Press. Asfandiyar, A.Y. (2003). Gemar Membaca, Anak Unggul. Pikiran Rakyat. (4

July, 2003).

Beach, R. & Hynds, S. (1991). Research on Response to Literature. Handbook of Reading Research. Volume II

Beach, R. & Marshall, J. (1991). Teaching Literature in the Secondary School. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

Campbell, Jane. (1995). The Habit of Reading. Jakarta: British Council.

Cooper, J. (1995). Children Reading Non-Fiction for Pleasure. Journal of Reading, (29)-1, 15-21.

Cox, C. & Many, J.E. (1992). Stance towards a Literary Work: Applying the Transactional Theory to Children’s Responses. Journal of Reading Psychology, (13) – 1, 37 – 73.

Creswell, J.W. (1994). Research Design Qualitative and Quantitative Research. California: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Farell, E.J. & Squire, J.R. (1990). Transactions with Literature. Illinois: N.C.T.E.

Goetz, J.A. (1994). Focus on Research A Response-Based Approach to Reading Literature. Language Arts. (71).

Hancock, M.R. (1992). Literature Response Journals: Insights beyond the Printed Page. Language Arts. (69).

Heine, P. et al. (1999). Strong Female Characters in Recent Children’s Literature. Language Arts. (76).

Hunt, P. (1994). An Introduction to Children’s Literature. New York: Oxford University Press.

Johns, A. M. (1997). Text, Role, and Context. Developing Academic Literacy. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Maxwell, J.A. (1996). Qualitative Research Design. California: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Pradl, Gordon. (1984). The Study of Story Structure. ERIC clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills. Urbana, IL.

Pugh, Sharon L. (1988). Teaching Children to Appreciate Literature. [Online]. Available:

http://www.ed.gov/database/ERIC_Digests/ed292108.html. (31 July, 2001)

Rosenblatt, L.M. (1978). The Reader, the Text, the Poem, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press.

Rosenblatt, L.M. (1991). Literature – S.O.S.! Language Arts, (68).

Saputra. (2003). Jalan Menuju “Wisata Buku”. Pikiran Rakyat. (4 July, 2003). Smith, S. (1998). Understanding Reading. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates, Inc.

Spiegel, D.L. (1998). Reader Response Approaches and the Growth of Readers. Language Arts, (76).

Stewart, E.C. (1985). American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. Maine: Intercultural Press.

Sweet, A.P. et al. (2000). State of the Art. Transforming Ideas for Teaching and Learning to Read. [Online]. Available:

http//www.ed.gov./pubs/StateArt/Read/idea6. (16 April, 2000) Wallace, Catherine. (1993). Reading. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Watson, V. (1993). Power and Freedom in Children’s Reading. Journal of Reading, (27) – 3, 45-50.

Winterowd, W.R. (1989). The Culture and Politics of Literacy. New York: Oxford University Press.

……… (2002). Harry Potter: Meet J.K. Rowling. [Online]. Available: http: //www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/books/guides/index.htm. (6 June, 2002).

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Conclusions

Based on the data analysis, findings, and discussion on the previous chapter the following conclusions are drawn:

Students responded uniquely to the same text based on their previous knowledge with texts and life. This is in accordance with the statements revealed in the theoretical review by some experts that previous experience with text and knowledge will frame the student response to a text.

Students from different countries responded similarly to the same story, if they were impressed by the story dealing with universal values like love, friendship, loyalty, courage. They responded differently to the same story, if it dealt with familiarity of the characters, events, places of the story. The foreign respondents identified the natural character with their own ones, because the character was recognized in their daily life.

Students’ interests, social interaction, and their awareness of the importance of reading played important roles in their reading habit. The availability of many kinds of reading materials facilitated them to enhance their reading habit, the students were able to choose the reading materials they wanted. Their parents, siblings, relatives, teachers, and friends had also significant influence to the students’ reading habit. The students were aware of the importance of reading, so that they made some efforts to develop their reading habit. This awareness is a powerful asset to do it and makes adults easy to encourage them to love reading.

57 5.2 Suggestions

From the issues revealed in the first chapter, the existing theory, methodology of the research, the analysis, the findings, and discussion, there are some suggestions put forward to give contribution to the parties interested in reading.

To make students interested in reading, their people around them-inside and outside their family- should facilitate them to create a good atmosphere and provide facilities to love reading.

To teach students to respond aesthetically to a text, teachers should possess good reading skill, good teaching skill, and favorable attitude to literature as it is cited from Alwasilah ( 2001).

It is advisable to conduct a longitudinal research on the development to know more about development of reading habit of children,

Further research is suggested to examine the influence of activities (e.g. retelling, mapping, oral interpretation, role play, book or movie review) on reader response.

58

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Altieri, J.L. (1995). Multicultural Literature and Multiethnic Readers : Examining Aesthetic Involvement and Preferences for Text. Journal of Reading Psychology, (16), 43 – 68.

Alwasilah, A.C. (2001). Meluruskan Pengajaran Sastra. Media Indonesia. 30 Juni 2001.

Appleyard, J.A. (1994). Becoming a Reader: The Experince of Fiction from Childhood to Adulthood. New York: Cambridge University Press. Asfandiyar, A.Y. (2003). Gemar Membaca, Anak Unggul. Pikiran Rakyat. (4

July, 2003).

Beach, R. & Hynds, S. (1991). Research on Response to Literature. Handbook of Reading Research. Volume II

Beach, R. & Marshall, J. (1991). Teaching Literature in the Secondary School. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

Campbell, Jane. (1995). The Habit of Reading. Jakarta: British Council.

Cooper, J. (1995). Children Reading Non-Fiction for Pleasure. Journal of Reading, (29)-1, 15-21.

Cox, C. & Many, J.E. (1992). Stance towards a Literary Work: Applying the Transactional Theory to Children’s Responses. Journal of Reading Psychology, (13) – 1, 37 – 73.

Creswell, J.W. (1994). Research Design Qualitative and Quantitative Research. California: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Farell, E.J. & Squire, J.R. (1990). Transactions with Literature. Illinois: N.C.T.E.

Goetz, J.A. (1994). Focus on Research A Response-Based Approach to Reading Literature. Language Arts. (71).

Hancock, M.R. (1992). Literature Response Journals: Insights beyond the Printed Page. Language Arts. (69).

Heine, P. et al. (1999). Strong Female Characters in Recent Children’s Literature. Language Arts. (76).

Hunt, P. (1994). An Introduction to Children’s Literature. New York: Oxford University Press.

Johns, A. M. (1997). Text, Role, and Context. Developing Academic Literacy. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Maxwell, J.A. (1996). Qualitative Research Design. California: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Pradl, Gordon. (1984). The Study of Story Structure. ERIC clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills. Urbana, IL.

Pugh, Sharon L. (1988). Teaching Children to Appreciate Literature. [Online]. Available:

http://www.ed.gov/database/ERIC_Digests/ed292108.html. (31 July, 2001)

Rosenblatt, L.M. (1978). The Reader, the Text, the Poem, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press.

Rosenblatt, L.M. (1991). Literature – S.O.S.! Language Arts, (68).

Saputra. (2003). Jalan Menuju “Wisata Buku”. Pikiran Rakyat. (4 July, 2003). Smith, S. (1998). Understanding Reading. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates, Inc.

Spiegel, D.L. (1998). Reader Response Approaches and the Growth of Readers. Language Arts, (76).

Stewart, E.C. (1985). American Cultural Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. Maine: Intercultural Press.

Sweet, A.P. et al. (2000). State of the Art. Transforming Ideas for Teaching and Learning to Read. [Online]. Available:

http//www.ed.gov./pubs/StateArt/Read/idea6. (16 April, 2000) Wallace, Catherine. (1993). Reading. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Watson, V. (1993). Power and Freedom in Children’s Reading. Journal of Reading, (27) – 3, 45-50.

Winterowd, W.R. (1989). The Culture and Politics of Literacy. New York: Oxford University Press.

……… (2002). Harry Potter: Meet J.K. Rowling. [Online]. Available: http: //www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/books/guides/index.htm. (6 June, 2002).