The English language education study program students`competence in constructing a set of reading assessment.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ABSTRACT
Susanti, Maria Ivona Purwa. 2012. The English Language Education Study
Program Students’ Competence in Constructing a Set of Reading Assessment.
Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Assessment as the way to form and to measure students’ ability,
knowledge, performance or achievement in a certain domain obviously plays an
important role in students’ learning process. As teacher candidates, English
Language Education Study Program students should be able to construct a good,
effective, and appropriate assessment. Referring to the fact that reading skill takes
a big part in Indonesia’s formal education system, it is considered essential to be
discussed. Thus, this research is conducted to figure out the competence of fifth
semester students of English Language Education Study Program in constructing a
set of reading assessment.
The research problems then were formulated as: 1) How is the fifth
semester students’ competence in constructing a set of reading assessment? and 2)
What are students’ difficulties in constructing a set of reading assessment?
To respond to the first research problem, the writer analyzed the fifth
semester students’ work of a set of reading assessment using an assessment rubric
consisting of several considerations to be observed. The data were obtained from

Language Learning Assessment course’s final project in 2011/2012 academic
year. The results then were tabulated and discussed to obtain a comprehensive
understanding of the fifth semester students’ competence in constructing a set of
reading assessment. To respond to the second research problem, focus group
interviews were conducted.
From the analysis, it could be concluded that: first, in general, most of the
fifth semester students, represented by seven groups of participants, had good
competence in constructing a set of reading assessment (70%). The rest fifth
semester students, represented by three groups of participants, had fair
competence in constructing a set of reading assessment (30%). Nevertheless, none
of the participants was fully competent in constructing a set of reading
assessment. Comprehensive discussions in this thesis explained that their
competences were various, depend on the considerations. Second, there were ten
difficulties faced by the fifth semester students in constructing a set of reading
assessment. Generally, their difficulties were their poor understanding; their
carelessness, laziness, and fatigue; a few examples of good reading assessment;
the lecturer’s ineffective teaching method; and unclear explanations and
instructions given by the lecturer. Therefore, the writer then addressed several
recommendations to 1) the lecturers to really understand the students’ difficulties
in constructing a set of reading assessment, 2) all English Language Education

Study Program students to be more proactive, and 3) any future researcher on
students’ competence in constructing a set of reading assessment to design a more
effective learning method to the students or to improve this research by
broadening the samples to better represent the whole population.
Keywords: reading assessment, competence, fifth semester
vi

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ABSTRAK
Susanti, Maria Ivona Purwa. 2012. The English Language Education Study
Program Students’ Competence in Constructing a Set of Reading Assessment.
Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Penilaian sebagai salah satu cara untuk membentuk dan mengukur
kemampuan, pengetahuan, performansi, atau pencapaian siswa secara jelas
mempunyai peranan penting dalam proses pembelajaran siswa. Sebagai calon
guru, mahasiswa-mahasiswa Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris
diharuskan untuk mampu membuat sebuah penilaian yang baik, efektif, dan tepat
sasaran. Melihat fakta bahwa salah satu kemampuan berbahasa, yaitu membaca,
mempunyai peranan besar di dalam sistem pendidikan formal Indonesia, maka hal

ini dianggap penting untuk dibahas. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini dilaksanakan
dengan tujuan untuk mencari tahu kompetensi mahasiswa-mahasiswa semester
lima program studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dalam membuat perangkat
penilaian kemampuan membaca.
Pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang kemudian akan dijawab dalam skripsi ini
dapat dirumuskan sebagai berikut: 1) Bagaimanakah kompetensi mahasiswamahasiswa semester lima dalam membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan
membaca? dan 2) Kesulitan apa saja yang dihadapi oleh mahasiswa dalam
membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca?
Untuk menjawab pertanyaan yang pertama, penulis menggunakan rubrik
yang terdiri dari beberapa aspek pertimbangan untuk menganalisa perangkat
penilaian kemampuan membaca yang dibuat oleh mahasiswa semester lima. Data
diambil dari tugas akhir mata kuliah Language Learning Assessment tahun ajaran
2011/2012. Hasil penelitian kemudian ditabulasi dan dibahas untuk mendapatkan
pemahaman secara mendalam mengenai kompetensi mahasiswa-mahasiswa
semester lima dalam membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca. Untuk
menjawab pertanyaan yang kedua, penulis melakukan interview dengan grup
partisipan.
Berdasarkan analisa data, dapat disimpulkan bahwa: pertama, secara
umum kebanyakan dari mahasiswa semester lima atau 70% dari mereka, memiliki
kompetensi yang baik dalam membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca.

Tiga grup partisipan yang lainnya atau 30% dari mereka dikatakan cukup
berkompeten dalam membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca. Namun,
tidak ada satupun partisipan yang benar-benar berkompeten dalam membuat
perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca. Pembahasan secara mendalam
mengenai hal ini menjelaskan bahwa kompetensi mereka beragam, tergantung
dari pertimbangan aspeknya. Kedua, ada sepuluh kesulitan yang dihadapi oleh
mahasiswa dalam membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca. Pada
umumnya, kesulitan-kesulitan mereka tersebut dikarenakan oleh kurangnya
pemahaman, kecerobohan, kemalasan, dan faktor kelelahan. Selain itu juga
dikarenakan oleh kurangnya contoh tentang assessmen yang baik, metode
perkuliahan yang kurang efisien dari dosen pengampu, dan penjelasan serta
vii

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

instruksi yang kurang jelas dari dosen pengampu. Oleh karena itu, penulis
kemudian mengusulkan beberapa rekomendasi yang ditujukan kepada: 1) para
dosen untuk benar-benar memahami kesulitan peserta didik (mahasiswa) dalam
membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca, 2) seluruh mahasiswa
Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris untuk menjadi lebih proaktif, dan 3)

calon peneliti selanjutnya untuk membuat metode pembelajaran yang lebih efektif
atau untuk memperkaya penelitian ini dengan cara memperbanyak jumlah sampel
agar lebih merepresentasi keseluruhan populasi.
Kata kunci: reading assessment, competence, fifth semester

viii

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY
PROGRAM STUDENTS’ COMPETENCE IN CONSTRUCTING
A SET OF READING ASSESSMENT
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education

By
Maria Ivona Purwa Susanti
Student Number: 081214070

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
2012

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY
PROGRAM STUDENTS’ COMPETENCE IN CONSTRUCTING
A SET OF READING ASSESSMENT
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education

By
Maria Ivona Purwa Susanti
Student Number: 081214070

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
2012
i

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ii

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

iii

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY

I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work
of parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the
references, as a scientific paper should.

Yogyakarta, 6 December 2012
The Writer

Maria Ivona Purwa Susanti
081214070

iv

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan dibawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama

: Maria Ivona Purwa Susanti

Nomor Mahasiswa

: 081214070

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM STUDENTS’
COMPETENCE IN CONSTRUCTING A SET OF READING ASSESSMENT
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan
data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau
media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya
maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 6 December 2012
Yang menyatakan,

Maria Ivona Purwa Susanti

v

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ABSTRACT
Susanti, Maria Ivona Purwa. 2012. The English Language Education Study
Program Students’ Competence in Constructing a Set of Reading Assessment.
Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Assessment as the way to form and to measure students’ ability,
knowledge, performance or achievement in a certain domain obviously plays an
important role in students’ learning process. As teacher candidates, English
Language Education Study Program students should be able to construct a good,
effective, and appropriate assessment. Referring to the fact that reading skill takes
a big part in Indonesia’s formal education system, it is considered essential to be
discussed. Thus, this research is conducted to figure out the competence of fifth
semester students of English Language Education Study Program in constructing a
set of reading assessment.

The research problems then were formulated as: 1) How is the fifth
semester students’ competence in constructing a set of reading assessment? and 2)
What are students’ difficulties in constructing a set of reading assessment?
To respond to the first research problem, the writer analyzed the fifth
semester students’ work of a set of reading assessment using an assessment rubric
consisting of several considerations to be observed. The data were obtained from
Language Learning Assessment course’s final project in 2011/2012 academic
year. The results then were tabulated and discussed to obtain a comprehensive
understanding of the fifth semester students’ competence in constructing a set of
reading assessment. To respond to the second research problem, focus group
interviews were conducted.
From the analysis, it could be concluded that: first, in general, most of the
fifth semester students, represented by seven groups of participants, had good
competence in constructing a set of reading assessment (70%). The rest fifth
semester students, represented by three groups of participants, had fair
competence in constructing a set of reading assessment (30%). Nevertheless, none
of the participants was fully competent in constructing a set of reading
assessment. Comprehensive discussions in this thesis explained that their
competences were various, depend on the considerations. Second, there were ten
difficulties faced by the fifth semester students in constructing a set of reading
assessment. Generally, their difficulties were their poor understanding; their
carelessness, laziness, and fatigue; a few examples of good reading assessment;
the lecturer’s ineffective teaching method; and unclear explanations and
instructions given by the lecturer. Therefore, the writer then addressed several
recommendations to 1) the lecturers to really understand the students’ difficulties
in constructing a set of reading assessment, 2) all English Language Education
Study Program students to be more proactive, and 3) any future researcher on
students’ competence in constructing a set of reading assessment to design a more
effective learning method to the students or to improve this research by
broadening the samples to better represent the whole population.
Keywords: reading assessment, competence, fifth semester
vi

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ABSTRAK
Susanti, Maria Ivona Purwa. 2012. The English Language Education Study
Program Students’ Competence in Constructing a Set of Reading Assessment.
Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.
Penilaian sebagai salah satu cara untuk membentuk dan mengukur
kemampuan, pengetahuan, performansi, atau pencapaian siswa secara jelas
mempunyai peranan penting dalam proses pembelajaran siswa. Sebagai calon
guru, mahasiswa-mahasiswa Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris
diharuskan untuk mampu membuat sebuah penilaian yang baik, efektif, dan tepat
sasaran. Melihat fakta bahwa salah satu kemampuan berbahasa, yaitu membaca,
mempunyai peranan besar di dalam sistem pendidikan formal Indonesia, maka hal
ini dianggap penting untuk dibahas. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini dilaksanakan
dengan tujuan untuk mencari tahu kompetensi mahasiswa-mahasiswa semester
lima program studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dalam membuat perangkat
penilaian kemampuan membaca.
Pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang kemudian akan dijawab dalam skripsi ini
dapat dirumuskan sebagai berikut: 1) Bagaimanakah kompetensi mahasiswamahasiswa semester lima dalam membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan
membaca? dan 2) Kesulitan apa saja yang dihadapi oleh mahasiswa dalam
membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca?
Untuk menjawab pertanyaan yang pertama, penulis menggunakan rubrik
yang terdiri dari beberapa aspek pertimbangan untuk menganalisa perangkat
penilaian kemampuan membaca yang dibuat oleh mahasiswa semester lima. Data
diambil dari tugas akhir mata kuliah Language Learning Assessment tahun ajaran
2011/2012. Hasil penelitian kemudian ditabulasi dan dibahas untuk mendapatkan
pemahaman secara mendalam mengenai kompetensi mahasiswa-mahasiswa
semester lima dalam membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca. Untuk
menjawab pertanyaan yang kedua, penulis melakukan interview dengan grup
partisipan.
Berdasarkan analisa data, dapat disimpulkan bahwa: pertama, secara
umum kebanyakan dari mahasiswa semester lima atau 70% dari mereka, memiliki
kompetensi yang baik dalam membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca.
Tiga grup partisipan yang lainnya atau 30% dari mereka dikatakan cukup
berkompeten dalam membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca. Namun,
tidak ada satupun partisipan yang benar-benar berkompeten dalam membuat
perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca. Pembahasan secara mendalam
mengenai hal ini menjelaskan bahwa kompetensi mereka beragam, tergantung
dari pertimbangan aspeknya. Kedua, ada sepuluh kesulitan yang dihadapi oleh
mahasiswa dalam membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca. Pada
umumnya, kesulitan-kesulitan mereka tersebut dikarenakan oleh kurangnya
pemahaman, kecerobohan, kemalasan, dan faktor kelelahan. Selain itu juga
dikarenakan oleh kurangnya contoh tentang assessmen yang baik, metode
perkuliahan yang kurang efisien dari dosen pengampu, dan penjelasan serta
vii

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

instruksi yang kurang jelas dari dosen pengampu. Oleh karena itu, penulis
kemudian mengusulkan beberapa rekomendasi yang ditujukan kepada: 1) para
dosen untuk benar-benar memahami kesulitan peserta didik (mahasiswa) dalam
membuat perangkat penilaian kemampuan membaca, 2) seluruh mahasiswa
Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris untuk menjadi lebih proaktif, dan 3)
calon peneliti selanjutnya untuk membuat metode pembelajaran yang lebih efektif
atau untuk memperkaya penelitian ini dengan cara memperbanyak jumlah sampel
agar lebih merepresentasi keseluruhan populasi.
Kata kunci: reading assessment, competence, fifth semester

viii

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to give my deepest gratitude to the Almighty God
for blessing, guiding, and letting me learn many valuable things during the whole
process of finishing my thesis. He let me learn from every single thing happened
along the journey of my thesis and meet many wonderful people who then gave
big contributions to this thesis.
Second, my greatest appreciation goes to my great sponsor, Agustinus
Hardi Prasetyo, S.Pd., M.A., for his advice, comments, suggestions, corrections,
valuable time, great patience, and sincere support in writing this thesis. I would
also like to thank V. Triprihatmini, S.Pd., M.Hum., M.A., for validating my
research instrument. For Sr. Margareth, FCJ and my sister-in-law-to-be,
Pricillia Linawati C. P., S.Pd., M.Hum., I thank them for proofreading my
thesis and listening to my heart during the process of finishing this thesis.
Third, my sincere love and gratitude goes to my beloved and wonderful
parents Bapak Franciscus Xaverius Suripto and Ibu Vincentia Yoviniana
Sulisti for their love, support, guidance, and prayers. I deeply thank my beloved
sister Silvia Dwi Puspa Susanti, for helping me when I was sick and
accompanying me stayed up late at night. For my lovely brother and little sister,
Yosef Surya Atmaja and Gabriella Christie Susanti, I thank them for
motivating me when I am down. My deepest thankfulness I give to my beloved
fiancé, Matheo Raoldy Wicaksono, for loving me, helping me, patiently waiting
for me finishing this thesis, supporting me when I am powerless, and kindly
taking care of me when I was sick.
ix

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

I definitely owe much to my supporting seniors, Mas Dwi, Mbak Leonie,
and Kak Lucy for their advice, support, ideas and opinions. Without them, this
thesis would not exist. I also owe much to my spiritual consultant, Mbak
Anastasia Shanty RumahMOMO, for keeping me on the right track and for
reminding me to take every good chance in order to make a change. I deeply
thank my loyal juniors, Budi, Tika, Dhian, Vian, Nana, Willy, for their
willingness to be my interviewees. My deep thankfulness also goes to Rissa, my
junior and my boarding house mate, for giving me a hand every time I needed her
help.
Not to forget, I would like to thank all my best friends, Ika, Vita, Tania,
Tiyas, Dircia, Venty, Ratna, Windru, Nora, Lia, and Deby for the love and
togetherness we shared. I would also like to express my appreciation to all my
coincidental thesis consultants and proofreaders, Rean, Adhi, Adam, Bang
Franky, Mas Desta, Dhita, Yus, Yosua, Octa, Astri, Meita, Seto, Delis, and all
PBI survivors for giving me a hand and support in finishing this thesis.
Finally, my greatest gratitude I give to all who had helped me and
supported me during my study in Sanata Dharma University whose names could
not be mentioned one by one. May God’s blessing will always be with them.

Maria Ivona Purwa Susanti

x

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ……………………………………………………………........

i

APPROVAL PAGES ………………………………………………………….

ii

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ………………………………..

iv

PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ………………………………...

v

ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………….......

vi

ABSTRAK ……………………………………………………………………... vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………….......

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………….......

xi

LIST OF TABLES ……………………………………………………………. xiii
LIST OF FIGURE …………………………………………………………….. xiv
LIST OF APPENDICES ……………………………………………………… xv
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
A. Research Background ……………………………………...

1

B. Research Problems …………………………………...........

5

C. Problem Limitation ………………………………………..

5

D. Research Objectives ……………………………………….

6

E. Research Benefits ………………………………………….

6

F. Definition of Terms ………………………………………..

8

CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Theoretical Description …………………………………… 11
1. Reading ……………………………………………….. 11
a. The Nature of Reading ……………………..…....... 11
b. Reading in Indonesia’s Formal Education
System …………………………………………….. 12
2. Instructional Goals and Learning Objectives …………. 13
a. Instructional Goals and Learning Objectives as
the Foundation of Assessment ……..………..……. 13
b. Formulating Objectives …………………...………. 15
3. Language Assessment ………………………………… 17
xi

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

a. The Nature of Test and Assessment …...…….……. 17
b. Types of Assessment ……………………...………. 17
c. The Principles of Language Assessment ……….…. 19
4. Competence ………………………………………….... 33
5. KPE 359 Language Learning Assessment Course ......... 34
a. The Nature …………...……………………….…… 34
b. The Objectives …………………...……………….. 35
c. The Participants …………………………………… 35
B. Theoretical Framework …………………………………… 35
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Research Method ………………………….………………. 38
B. Research Setting ………………………………….……….. 39
C. Research Participants ……………………………….…….. 40
D. Instruments and Data Gathering Technique ……….……… 42
E. Data Analysis Technique …………………………………. 44
F. Research Procedure ……………………………………….. 50
CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS
A. Research Findings ………………………………………… 56
1. The Fifth Semester Students’ Competence in
Constructing a Set of Reading Assessment …….……... 56
2. The Students’ Difficulties in Constructing a Set of
Reading Assessment ……………………..………..…..

84

B. Other Findings …………………………………….………. 85
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
A. Conclusions ……………………………………………….. 88
B. Recommendations ………………………………………… 91
REFERENCES …………………………………………………….………….. 94
APPENDICES ………………………………………………………………...

xii

96

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

LIST OF TABLES
Table

Page

3.1:

Data analysis of assessment rubric ………………………………........

3.2:

Tabulation of data analysis results of the fifth semester students’
competence in constructing a set of reading assessment ……………..

3.3:

61

Percentage of the participants’ score for item 3: Learning Objective’s
Conciseness ………………………………………………………..….

4.5:

59

Percentage of the participants’ score for item 2: Learning Objective’s
Appropriateness ……………………………………………….……...

4.4:

57

Percentage of the participants’ score for item 1: Learning Objective’s
Accuracy ………………………………………………………….…..

4.3:

49

Data analysis result of the fifth semester students’ competence in
constructing a set of reading assessment ……………………………...

4.2:

49

Tabulation of the participants’ score for item 1: Learning Objective’s
Accuracy ………………………………………………………………

4.1:

47

63

Percentage of the participants’ score for item 4: Arrangement of
Learning Objectives ……………………………………………..…….

65

4.6:

Percentage of the participants’ score for item 5: Content Validity …..

67

4.7:

Percentage of the participants’ score for item 6: Face Validity ……....

70

4.8:

Percentage of the participants’ score for item 7: Number of Tasks …..

74

4.9:

Percentage of the participants’ score for item 8: Objectivity …….…...

75

4.10: Percentage of the participants’ score for item 9: Test Reliability ….…

77

4.11: Percentage of the participants’ score for item 10: Ease of
Administration ……………………………………………………..….

79

4.12: Percentage of the participants’ score for item 11: Time Required for
Administration …………………………………………………..…….

81

4.13: Percentage of the participants’ score for item 12: Human and Material
Costs …………………………………………………………………..

xiii

83

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

LIST OF FIGURE

Figure
3.1:

Page
Validation process …………………………………………………....... 53

xiv

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix

Page

A: Surat Permohonan Ijin Penelitian ………………………………………..

96

B: Competence Standard and Basic Competence of Reading Skill ………...

98

C: Bloom’s Taxonomy ……………………………………………………… 106
D: Assessment Rubric ………………………………………………………. 109
E:

Interview Protocol ………………………………………………………. 113

F:

Interview Results …………..……………………………………………. 115

xv

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the introduction of this study. There are six parts to
this chapter. The first part covers the background of this research. The second part
is the problem formulation in which this study is conducted. The third part is the
problem limitation, which gives the boundary and also becomes the focus of this
study. The fourth part focuses on the objectives of this topic. The benefits of this
research are mentioned in the fifth part. This part also identifies who obtains the
benefit of this study. The last part of this chapter is the definition of terms. This
part explains the definition of several terms that are used in this study.

A. Research Background
Reading is a common activity that people do. It is impossible to separate
reading from human’s life. People search and dig more knowledge usually from
the books or other related written sources. As one of the recorded media in
learning, books transfer knowledge to anyone reading it. In English language
education field, reading is one of the four skills that are important for the learners
to master.
In fact, reading skill plays a crucial role in Indonesia’s formal education
system. As a proof, most of the total test items in English National Final
Examination or Ujian Akhir Nasional Bahasa Inggris (UAN) are reading
comprehension questions. It is stated in National Final Examination Guidelines
1

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

2
academic year 2011/2012 published by National Professional Certification
Agency or Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan (BNSP) that, from ten indicators
for Junior High School students, six of them measure reading comprehension
skill. Similarly, from twenty indicators for Senior High School students, thirteen
of them measure reading comprehension. Obviously, there is an importance for all
educators to be able to construct a good, effective, and appropriate reading
assessment.
Assessment itself is the way for educators to enhance and measure
learners’ competency in certain subject and skill. A good assessment design
reflects the learning objectives that should be achieved by the learners. Related to
the context of English reading skill, a set of assessment may help the learners to
enhance their reading competency. A set of reading assessment may also be used
by educators to measure the learners’ reading competency. Therefore, it is
important for educators to be able to construct a good and effective assessment to
assess or measure the learners’ competency in reading.
As teacher candidates, the fifth semester students of English Language
Education Study Program (ELESP) should know how to make a good assessment,
including reading assessment. The fifth semester students are prepared for their
following teaching practices. There are several teaching courses in English
Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University, for example:
Instructional Design (ID), Curriculum and Material Development (CMD), and
Language Learning Assessment (LLA). Tim Dosen Program Studi Pendidikan
Bahaas Inggris in Panduan Akademik (2007) stated that Instructional Design is an

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

3
ELESP course that trains the course-takers to “understand principles of
instructional design and produce good instructional design for his teaching
purposes” (p.89). Curriculum and Material Development is an ELESP course
which trains the course-takers to be able to “understand the National Curriculum,
to design a syllabus and to develop a lesson plan and materials based on the
national curriculum” (p.86). Language Learning Assessment is an ELESP course
which trains the course-takers to understand the theories and principles of
language assessment and to construct a set of English language learning
assessment in order to assess students’ achievement (p.88).
After taking those three courses, the ELESP students have to take the
teaching practices. The first teaching practice, in Micro Teaching course, is
generally held in the sixth semester. Micro Teaching course is a practice course
for all Teachers Training and Education Faculty of Sanata Dharma University
(FKIP) students. It trains the students to be able to “apply the concepts and
procedure of English Language teaching in a real classroom teaching situation”
(p.90). Another teaching practice is Micro Teaching 2 or also known as Program
Pengalaman Lapangan. A step higher than Micro Teaching course, Program
Pengalaman Lapangan (PPL) is a teaching practice course for all FKIP students
which is conducted by teaching in the real classroom of real high schools (p.91).
In Micro Teaching course, ELESP students are responsible to design sets of
assessment according to certain competence standard and basic competence
decided by the lecturer. Then, they have to try it out to the students with the same
characteristics to the real students in a real classroom teaching situation. Not only

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

4
in Micro Teaching course, when ELESP students do their Program Pengalaman
Lapangan (PPL), they also have the responsibilities to make some kinds of
assessments for the students, including reading assessment.
Unfortunately, there is a concern that inspires the writer to conduct this
research. Based on the writer’s personal experience and personal interviews with
some lecturers and students of the English Language Education Study Program,
there is an interesting fact. When students practice teaching in Micro Teaching
and Program Pengalaman Lapangan (PPL) courses, they face difficulties in
constructing a good, effective, and appropriate assessment, including reading
assessment. Often, the ELESP students find it difficult to decide what things they
have to assess, what things they have to test the students. Another concern is that
sometimes in other examples of reading assessment, even the National
Examination, the writer finds inappropriate assessment design to measure
students’ reading comprehension. Therefore, the writer argues that as teacher
candidates, it is important for the ELESP students to understand and master how
to construct a good, effective, and appropriate set of reading assessment according
to the principles of language assessment.
This study then will analyze the competence of the fifth semester students
of the English Language Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University
in constructing a set of reading assessment through their final assignment in
Language Learning Assessment (LLA) class. Besides, this research also
elaborates the students’ difficulties in constructing a set of reading assessment.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

5
B. Research Problems
This study covers two research problems as follows.
1. How is the fifth semester students’ competence in constructing a set of
reading assessment?
2. What are the students’ difficulties in constructing a set of reading
assessment?

C. Problem Limitation
There are two main points of this study. The first point is the fifth semester
students’ competence in constructing a set of reading assessment. The second
point is the fifth semester students’ difficulties in constructing a good, effective,
and appropriate reading assessment.
The writer argues that the fifth semester students of the English Language
Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University are qualified enough to
become the participants of this study for they are expected to have learned the
theories of English Language Education, especially the theories of formulating
instructional objective and the principles of language assessment. They are also
chosen because they have taken all the courses related to English language
education and have to get ready for the next level of course, that is, the teaching
practices: Micro Teaching and Program Pengalaman Lapangan (PPL).

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

6
D. Research Objectives
This study is conducted to reach the following objectives.
1. To find out the competence of fifth semester students of Sanata Dharma
University in constructing a set of reading assessment.
2. To find out the students’ difficulties in constructing a set of reading
assessment.

E. Research Benefits
This study is worth studying for it will give contributions to the students
and lecturers of the English Language Education Study Program, the future
writers, and the readers of this thesis.
1.

The Students of The English Language Education Study Program
This study contains related knowledge about constructing language

assessment. Therefore, it will help the ELESP students improve their
understanding of constructing a valid, reliable, and usable reading assessment. It
is important for them because they are educated as teachers. One of the
characteristics of a good teacher is having a good competence in constructing a
good, effective, and appropriate assessment for the students. By knowing the
result of this research, the fifth semester students in academic year 2011/2012
could also evaluate their own product of reading assessment. Hopefully, the result
of this research could encourage the ELESP students to improve their
understanding of the principles of language assessment and their skill in
constructing an effective assessment.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

7
2.

The Lecturers of The English Language Education Study Program
This study will give a description of the fifth semester students’

competence in constructing a set of reading assessment to the ELESP lecturer.
Besides, this study will help the lecturers to know the students’ difficulties in
understanding the principles of language assessment and constructing a set of
reading assessment. It also provides the possible factors causing the students’
difficulties. By knowing the students’ difficulties, the lecturers will be encouraged
to improve or find appropriate teaching method and technique in order to help the
students understand the principles of language assessment. Lecturers could also
help them comprehend how to construct a good, effective, and appropriate
language assessment, especially reading. Another benefit of this research is that
the assessment rubric instrument could help the lecturer to minimize the
probability of subjectivity when assessing fifth semester students’ work. It is
because the assessment rubric contains the summary of instructional design and
the principles of language assessment.

3.

The Future Researchers
The writer hopes that this research may inspire other English Language

Education Study Program students to conduct further research related to students’
competence in constructing a set of reading assessment. Those future researchers
may enrich or revise this research in order to give more contributions for English
Language Education field. For those future researchers who want to conduct

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

8
further research related to a similar topic to this research, hopefully this research
may be one of their references in conducting their research.

F. Definition of Terms
This part explains the definition of some important terms used in this study
in order to avoid misunderstanding. The terms, the definitions, and the brief
explanations are provided as follows.
1.

Competence
As a common term, there are many definitions of competence. On some

occasions, competence is even mismatched with competency. In fact, those terms
are different in both definition and areas of focus. Gilbert (1996) as cited in
Teodorescu (2006) defines competence as “worthy performance which comes
from the ratio of valuable accomplishments to closely behavior”. Further, he
explained that competence judgment is obtained only from the underlying
knowledge of a system, fact, or event, and the result of human performance; the
intended learning outcome on certain condition. Thus, competent people are those
who successfully perform intended learning outcome.
Different from competence, Richards and Rodgers (2001) state that
competency contributes to the successful performance of an individual in doing
task, job, or activity in both academic setting and real working-world setting.
While competence focuses only on the successful performance of desired
outcome, competency underlies a set of individual characteristics-knowledge,

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

9
skills, mindsets, thought patterns, behavior, attitude, and the like, which then
results in successful performance.
In short, competency is a set of human characteristics which becomes the
determining factors leading to a successful and effective performance, while
competence focuses only on the underlying knowledge and valuable result of
performance. The data of this research was obtained from the fifth semester
students’ final projects of constructing sets of reading assessment. The judgments
then would be made based on their underlying knowledge which results in their
valuable result of performance. Considering the appropriateness to the context of
this thesis, the writer chose the term competence instead of competency.

2.

Performance
To observe human competences, more efforts are need since competence

is considered difficult to observe by some people. In fact, performance can be
used to make a judgment about human competence and human competency
because they are both reflected in performance. Brown (2000) argues that
competence is non-observable while performance is the observable realization or
concrete manifestation of competence. Therefore, performance itself can be
defined as an actual production or a work output in an academic setting or a work
setting, which is produced by someone as the result of his competence or
competency. Because performance is observable, it can be used as the means of
observation to measure or to assess students’ competence. Thus, it is obvious that
students’ competence can be observed, assessed, and measured.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

10
3.

Assessment
According to Miller, Linn, and Gronlund (2009), assessment is viewed as

almost any method, way, treatment, or experience that is used to better understand
the knowledge possessed by the learners. Assessment is used to observe and to
measure what students have learned during the learning process. Since
measurement is one of the purposes of conducting assessment, test is a subset of
assessment. Thus, assessment can be conducted in various forms, written or
spoken, formal or informal, formative or summative.
Miller et al. (2009) state that an effective and appropriate assessment has
to measure the learning objectives to help the educators measuring or observing
what students have achieved. Besides, there are also several principles of a good
language assessment to be taken into account. Brown (2004) argues that a good
and effective assessment should be practical, valid, reliable, authentic, and leading
towards washback effect. Miller et al. (2009) classify the principles of language
assessment into 3 principles only: validity, reliability, and usability. In fact, those
two statements are similar to each other. The difference lies on the number of the
principles. Due to the efficiency, all those theories were synthesized into 3 major
principles of a good assessment: validity, reliability, and usability, which then
become the focus of this study.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter gives the theoretical writings which underlie this research.
There are two parts to this chapter: theoretical description and theoretical
framework. The theoretical description gives descriptions about the theories used
in this research, divided into 5 sections: reading, instructional goals and
objectives, language assessment, competence, and KPE 359 Language Learning
and Assessment course. The theoretical framework gives the summary and the
synthesis of the theories and how they will be used in this study.

A. Theoretical Description
1.

Reading
As mentioned in the chapter I, reading plays a crucial role in Indonesia’s

formal education system. Therefore, firstly the writer would like to discuss the
nature of reading and how reading is applied in Indonesia’s formal education
system.
a. The Nature of Reading
One of the skills in language learning is reading. Generally, reading means
the whole process of getting and transferring information from text to the readers’
mind. Gibson and Levin (1975) interpret reading as an active process, selfdirected by the reader in many ways and for many purposes. In learning English
as a second language, Brown (2004) states that reading is an “arguably essential
11

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

12
skill for success in all educational contexts”. In order to become efficient second
language readers, there are two concerns to be taken into account. First, they have
to master bottom-up and top-down approach. Bottom-up approach is related to the
strategies for processing of separate letters, words, and phrases. Meanwhile, topdown approach is related to the strategies for reading comprehension, or can be
also called reading as interpreting. Second, they need to develop appropriate
concept and formal schemata in order to better understand and interpret
efficiently. Schemata here mean the related background information and cultural
experience to the reading text. (p.185)
b. Reading in Indonesia’s Formal Education System
In Indonesia’s formal education system, there are four levels of learners,
they are Elementary School or also known as Sekolah Dasar (SD), Junior High
School or also known as Sekolah Menengah Pertama (SMP), Senior High School
or also known as Sekolah Menengah Atas (SMA), and Higher Education or also
known as Pendidikan Tinggi. Another one, Vocational School or also known as
Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan (SMK) is in the same level with Senior High School.
English language is one of main subjects for Junior High School, Senior High
School, and Vocational School students (Kementrian Pendidikan Nasional, 2012).
As one of main subjects, the setting, the learning goals, the topics, the general
purposes and the application of English language subject are regulated in the
National Education's Ministry's Regulation or Peraturan Menteri Dinas
Pendidikan Nasional (Permendiknas) No 22, 23, 24. Reading as one of four
English language skills, also has its fixed learning goals, topics and general

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

13
purposes stated in the Permendiknas No.22. The attachment of this regulation,
Competence Standard and Basic Competence, could be seen in Appendix B.
Refering to Indonesia’s Education Unit Level Curriculum or Kurikulum Tingkat
Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP), English teachers in Indonesia have the authority to
formulate learning objective based on the learning goals and the learners’
characteristics. Reading is also tested in National Final Examination or Ujian
Akhir Nasional (UAN), and its portion is stated in National Final Examination
Guidelines academic year 2011/2012 published by National Professional
Certification Agency or Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan (BNSP).
After discussing the nature of reading and how it is applied in Indonesia’s
formal education system, the writer would like to discuss instructional goals and
learning objective as the foundation of assessment: the definitions, the role in
instructional and assessment process, and the formulation.

2.

Instructional Goals and Learning Objectives

a. Instructional Goals and Learning Objectives as the Foundation of
Assessment
According to Kemp (1977), goals are the statements about the main
purpose of certain course which then underlie all educational programs. It is about
what educators want to accomplish in teaching. Instructional goals cover three
sources: society, students, and subject area. Gronlund (1991) states that
instructional objective is described as intended learning outcomes which have to
be performed by the students at the end of the instruction in order to show what

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

14
they have achieved during the instruction. Because “the concern here is about
learning as the outcome of the instruction”, thus the term learning objective is
used (Kemp, 1977).
Instructional goals and learning objective play important role in the
instructional and assessment process. They are the foundation and the guidance of
constructing an assessment. Miller, Linn, and Gronlund (2009) argue that properly
stated instructional goals and learning objective’ function is to describe intended
learning outcome in the form of students’ performance. Learning objective helps
not only the teacher, but also other people including parents to understand the
focus of the instruction. “Effective assessment depends as much on a clear
description of what is to be assessed as on determination of how to assess. Thus,
“clear and specified learning outcomes are highly needed.” (p.50).
It must be kept in mind that different countries may have different
instructional goals and learning objectives on their curriculum. The standards vary
in terms of the specificity and emphases within a content area (Miller et al. 2009).
Indonesian’s present Education Unit Level Curriculum has fixed instructional
goals, topics, and general purposes for each level of learners, represented as
Competence Standard and Basic Competence (Appendix B). They are regulated in
the National Education's Ministry's Regulation No.22 and specifically stated in the
attachment of the regulation. Those Competence Standards and Basic
Competences then would be used to evaluate the appropriateness of the learning
objectives formulated by the participants.

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

15
b. Formulating Objectives
As mentioned above, a good learning objective should indicate specifically
about what students have to achieve or perform at the end of the course.
Therefore, educators should carefully formulate effective learning objectives.
1) Criteria of Good Learning Objectives
There are a number of criteria of a good learning objective stated by Kemp
(1977). The summary of such practical criteria stated by Kemp are as follows. A
good learning objective:
a) Needs to be understandable, meaning that it is clearly understandable for
any readers.
b) Has clear purpose and consists of one learning outcome in order to avoid
misunderstanding.
c) Provides observable and measurable learning outcome.
d) Is in line with the instructional goals stated (Competence Standard and
Basic Competence).
e) May involve two domains. Note that educational objective is divided into
three domains: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Each of them is
subdivided into categories.
f) When sequenced with other learning objectives, they are arranged from
simple to advanced level.
g) Starts with an action verb which meets measurable and observable behavior.
Most of the learning objectives in educational program belong to cognitive

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

16
domain. The action verbs expressing behaviors on each stage of cognitive
domain, known as Bloom’s Taxonomy are listed in Appendix C.
h) Uses content reference. Content reference refers to the subject given the
action; the subject being treated, e.g. “name the fifty state capitals.” (Kemp,
1977. p.29).
i) Uses performance standard, which “indicates the minimum acceptable
accomplishment in measurable terms, e.g. Nam