The teaching of English preparing students for English National Examination: a washback study / Furaidah
| Main Author: | Furaidah |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis NonPeerReviewed |
| Terbitan: |
, 2013
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| Online Access: |
http://repository.um.ac.id/64411/ |
Daftar Isi:
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Furaidah.2013.TheTeachingofEnglishPreparingStudentsforEnglishNationalExaminationaWashbackStudy.DissertationEnglishLanguage12288122881228812288TeachingGraduateProgramStateUniversityofMalang.12288122881228812288Advisor(I)Prof.AliSaukahM.A.Ph.D.(II)Prof.AdnanLatiefM.A.12288122881228812288Ph.D.and(III)Prof.UtamiWidiatiM.A.Ph.D.KeywordsEnglishnationalexaminationhigh-stakestestwashbackIndonesian12288122881228812288context1228812288122881228812288122881228812288Theimplementationofhigh-stakesEnglishNationalExamination(ENE)hasinflictedcontroversyoverthewashbackofthetesttowardtheteachingandlearningofEnglish.Manydisagreeduetothenegativewashbackconsideredastheinevitablecorollaryofahigh-stakestestthatfaroutweighsthepositivewashback.ThisstudyaimsatfindingouthowteachersactuallyteachEnglishtopreparetheirstudentsforEnglishnationalexamination.Theresearchproblemisfurtherelaboratedintofourquestions1)WhatisthefocusoftheteachersteachingtopreparetheirstudentsforENE2)WhatteachingmaterialsdoteachersusetopreparetheirstudentsforENE3)HowdoteachersmanagetheallocationoftimetopreparetheirstudentsforENE4)WhataretheclassroomactivitiesthattheteachersusetopreparetheirstudentsforENEThisisaqualitativedescriptivestudyinwhichdatawerecollectedintheirnaturalcontextusingnon-participatoryobservationsinterviewsandquestionnaires.ThesubjectstakenpurposivelyweretheEnglishteachersteachingatthetwelfthgrade.12288122881228812288Theresearchsitesincluded5schoolswhichwereclassifiedinto3schoolsoflowachievers(SLOW)and2schoolsofhighachievers(SHIGH).Thecategorizationwasbasedontheschoolsinputsaveragescoresofjuniorhighschoolnationalexaminationandtherationalethathigh-stakestestsaffecthighachievingandlowachievingstudentsdifferently.Thenumberofresearchsitesforeachcategoryfolloweddataredundancythatallowedconfirmationoffindings.12288122881228812288ThefindingsrevealthattheteachersinbothgroupsofschoolsheldexampreparationclassestopreparetheirstudentsforENE.Atthepreparationclassestheteachersfocusedonteachinghowtoanswerlisteningandreadingmultiple-choicequestionsandsometimesvocabulary.Thematerialsusedweremostlyinmultiple-choice-questionformatandweretakenfrompreviousexaminationquestionsdownloadedfrominternetboughtfromcommercialpublisheror(inoneSHIGH)selfconstructedbytheteachers.IntermsoftimeallocationtherewasasignificantincreaseattheSLOW.Theclassroomactivitywasmostlydrillinginwhichthestudentsansweredthemultiple-choicequestionsanditwasteacher-centeredwithminimalinteractionsamongthestudents.AttheSLOWtheteachersusedIndonesianfrequentlyandtranslationtodealwithunfamiliarwordsandtheyperceivedthattheirstudentshadlimitedvocabularyandlanguagecompetence.AttheSHIGHEnglishwasthemediumofinstructionandtheteachersperceivedthattheirstudentalreadyhadtherequiredlanguagecompetence.AtthetwogroupsofschoolsthepreparationforENEwasconductedindifferentmode.AttheSHIGHthepreparationclassescoexistedwiththeregularteachingthatwasmorecommunicativewhileattheSLOWitreplacedtheregularteachingalmosttotally.Suchprovisionoftheexampreparationandthedifferentmodesuggesttheoccurrenceofthebi-directionandthedifferentintensityofwashback.ThepositivewashbackisindicatedintheprovisionofthepreparationprogramthatshowsthatENEindeedcanincreasetheteachersorschoolsattentiontowardstheteachingofEnglish.ThenegativewashbackwhichismoreintensiveattheSLOWisindicatedintheteachingtothetestphenomenonthatresultinthenarrowingfocusofcurriculumonlyonlisteningandreadingaligningtheteachingtothetestedskillsinENEimpromptuvocabularyteachingtheteachersrelianceonENE-likematerialsandthemechanicalinteractionsintheclassrooms.TheoccurrenceandintensityofnegativewashbackhoweverisconditionaldependingontheteachersperceptionabouttheleveloftheirstudentscompetencesafeforpassingENE.Iftheteachersperceivethattheirstudentsalreadyacquirethecompetencethenegativewashbackwillbeminimalandconverselyiftheteachershavetheoppositeperceptionthenegativewashbackwillbemoreintensive.FurthermorethehigherthequalityoftheschoolthelessintensivethenegativewashbackofENEtowardtheteachingofEnglishwillbe.12288122881228812288BasedonthefindingsitissuggestedthatthegovernmenttakesomemeasurestohelpthestudentsattheschoolswhoseresultofENEisconsistentlynotsatisfactorydespitethegreattimeinvestment.Basedonteacherscomplaintsabouttheirstudentslimitedvocabularythegovernmentshouldprovideasystematicvocabularydevelopmentintegratedinthegovernment-endorsedtextbooksbecauseteacherstendtotreattextbooksassurrogatecurriculumandtextbooksfrequentlybecometheonlyaccessiblelearningresourcesforstudentsfromlowermiddleclass.ThesufficientsizeofvocabularycanhelpnotonlythedevelopmentoflisteningandreadingskillssothatstudentswillbeabletotackleENEbutalsoforthedevelopmentoftheotherlanguageskills.IfsuchsupportcannotbeyetimplementedforsomereasonsitissuggestedthatthegovernmentlettheschoolsthemselvesdecidethedegreeofthestakesofENEsothatnostudentswillbeharmed.ItisalsosuggestedthatthegovernmentmotivatetheSHIGHandSLOWtoconductneedassessmenttoinvestigatewhatthestudentsreallyneedtoattaintherequiredcompetenceorbeyond.BasedontheresultoftheneedassessmentasyllabuscanbedevelopedaccordinglytoavoidcrammingfashioninpreparingthestudentsforENE.FurtherstudiesaresuggestedtodofocusingonthedailyteachingofEnglishatgrade10and11attheschoolswiththehighesttimeallocationbutunsatisfactoryresultofENEandotherareasofwashbacksuchashowhighandlowachievingstudentslearnwhatthestudentsteachersandotherstakeholdersperceptionaboutENEetc.TheresultofthosestudieswillenrichtheinformationaboutwashbackinIndonesiancontext.