VOXRATEWATI.Com. By Wara Cypriano
Culture-based English reading materials for Junior
High School students: as breakthrough to preserve the local genius
Siprianus Wara*, I Ketut Seken, and
I Gede Budasi
English
Education Department, Postgraduate Program, Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha, Singaraja
Bali Indonesia
Abstract. This
study aimed to find out the material needed to be developed, identify how to
develop Ngadanese local culture-based English material, and to analyse the
quality of the local culture-based supplementary English reading material for
the eighth grade students of Junior High School. The material development
followed Research and Development design model. The first finding, the
identification of the material was through need analysis by classroom
observation, interview, questionnaire, and the document study. The teacher of
the school and the students agreed that the supplementary English reading
material to be developed based on Ngadanese local culture. Second was the
material has fulfilled the aspects of good material: content, language used, activities, and
the assessment. The third was the quality of the prototype categorized as
having good material and the excellent material. In addition, the
eighth grade students of Junior High School gave big positive agreement toward
the product. The good material: attractiveness, simplicity, practicality,
usefulness, clarity and detail. The implication of the study, the product can
be used as the supplementary English reading material not only for the eighth
grade of Junior High School students in Soa district but also for the Junior
High School Students in Ngada Regency.
Keywords: Reading Material, Local Culture, Research and
Development
1 Introduction
Learning material plays an important role as the
source of learning. The material can influence
learners’ interest, attention, and understanding of what they learnt in leaning
process [1]. One aspect of authentic material is students’ local culture [2]. The
English teacher can develop the supplementary material related to the local
culture. English was the first world’s language has certainly made people aware
to learn it for different purposes. English is prioritized over other foreign
languages and is taught as a compulsory subject in junior and senior high
schools as determined by central government policy since Indonesia gained
independence in 1945 [3]. In Indonesia, English
is taught based on School-Based Curriculum (SBC) meanwhile some schools implement
curriculum 2013. The SBC is developed based on educational unit, school
potential, characteristics, social cultural aspects, and the students’ characteristics
[4].
In an effort to maintain the local culture values,
activities, and the artifact as related to cultural heritage aspects, the
researcher developed Ngadanese local culture-based English reading material for
the eighth grade of State Junior High School students (Sekolah Menengah Pertama) in
Soa district of Ngada Regency. The study was conducted in this area because
Ngada is one of the regencies in Flores island of East Nusa Tenggara province,
Indonesia which has beautiful nature and magnificent sceneries. According to
UNESCO [5] East Nusa Tenggara province is associated with backward region and
poverty but owns rich nature and culture resources. One way to make all the local potencies
survive is by basing English teaching and learning materials on local culture
related to the students’ needs and also learning needs. Relation to the
cultural heritage matters to individuals, ethnic groups, nation and
international community [6].
The heritage of tourism in East Nusa Tenggara
contributes to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) [5]. The potencies of
the East Nusa Tenggara especially in Ngada Regency should be developed. After inventorying all potencies and the
problems, the researcher conducted the preliminary observation in the classroom
at state Junior High School in Soa district of Ngada Regency. The study found
that the teacher did not have enough English reading materials and the existing
English reading materials did not contain local culture aspects. Based on the
problems found, the researcher tried to develop the local culture-based English
reading material. Generally, the manifestations of culture are distinguished
into three categories as 1) manifestation of culture as a complex as ideas,
values, norms, rules and so forth, 2) manifestation of culture as a complex
pattern of activities and actions of human being in a society, 3) manifestation
of culture as objects of human works (artifacts) [7] . This study focused on
the manifestation of culture as complex pattern of activities and actions of
human being in local ceremonies such as: reba
ceremony, sagi ceremony, and also
rori witu ceremony. Besides is also
focused on the manifestation of Ngadanese local culture as the objects of human
work (artifacts) such as Bena traditional village, Ngadanese traditional
costumes, ja’i dance, dero dance, local food and beverages
like bogi or sui wu’u, tua ara, tua bhara, and Ngadanese folklores or folktales
etc. Developing culture-based an English material model for elementary schools
in Bali. The material constructed in themes based [8].
The material was developed based on the local
culture as directed by the School-Based Curriculum. The first thing done in
data collecting in the research was the preliminary observation. The data were collected
by using the classroom observation, teacher’s and the students’ interview,
questionnaire and also the scoring rubric. The development of the material design
model which is elaborated into eight steps namely 1) need analysis, 2) data
collection, 3) design product, 4) product validation, 5) product revision, 6)
user try out, 7) product revision, and 8) final product [9].
The material development
was done based on the School-Based Curriculum (SBC) because the school still
uses that curriculum. The SBC is developed based on the educational unit,
school potential, school characteristics, social cultural aspects, and the
students’ characteristics [4]. Reading comprehension is the result of interaction
between thought and language, and the evaluation of success in comprehension is
based on the extent to which the readers’ reconstructed the massage agrees with
the writer’s intended massage [10]. The framework of the textbook follows the four
elements of the material namely input, content, language focus and the task or
assessment [11]. Reading activities that have a long text or the large
quantities for general understanding that the learners are free to choose topic
what will they read or discussed. It means the teacher must provide the reading
sources in form of authentic reading material.
2 Method
This study used Research and Development
(R&D) in design since it was basically focused on developing the
instructional material for used at Junior High School. Therefore, a design model
was adapted. The phases of this study mainly design model which is elaborated into eight steps namely 1) need
analysis, 2) data collection, 3) design product, 4) product validation, 5)
product revision, 6) user try out, 7) product revision, and 8) final product [9].
The study started with the
need analysis. It was conducted to obtain as much information as possible
through classroom observation, questionnaire, interview, and document study.
The next step was data collection. The information from the English teacher and
students is surely needed as the basis to develop suitable materials for the
eighth grade of Junior High School Students. The sample class consisted of 34
students. The designing of the product used the framework of the [11]. Further step was product validation. This
phase is related to the experts’ judgment for improvement of the product. The
product validation was conducted by two lectures of English Education Department
at Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha whose are expertise in English reading
material. The validation process consisted of some components: the content of
the material, language used, task and assessment [1]. The next step was the
revision of the product based on the suggestions of the experts. After that
administered the user try out. The product was evaluated by two English teachers
and also the eighth grade students. To improve the product the revision was done
based on the suggestions from the users. Finally, the product became the final
product. In the data analysis and also the product evaluation the formula [12]
which can be seen on table 1 was used the scoring rubric used a Likert scale
instrument where score 5 was excellent, 4
was good, 3 was average, 2 was below average,
and 1 was poor material. The category
of good material formula can be seen on table 1.
Table 1formula category of good
material
|
Score
|
Criteria
|
|
|
Excellence material
|
|
Mi + 0.5 Sdi
|
Good material
|
|
Mi – 0.5 Sdi
|
Average material
|
|
Mi – 1.5 Sdi
|
Below Average material
|
|
|
Poor material
|
3 Results and Discussion
The following section
discusses the results of the research during the development of the product and
its discussion as the special merit of the study. The result of the study
consists of the description of material needed to be developed, the way how to
develop the material and also analyze the quality of the material. First was
the analyzing of material to be developed by using students’ questionnaire, the
interview to the English teacher and also the eighth grade of Junior High
School students. The result showed that 100 % or 34 students gave a big
positive agreement that the supplementary English reading material to be developed
based on Ngadanese local culture. In relation to the material that needs to be
developed, the English teacher stated that the teacher and institution gave a
big appreciation for the project to develop local culture-based supplementary
English reading material Moreover, the way of how material to be developed, the
researcher used the research and development (R&D) material model design [9].
The design model was elaborated into eight phases. The phases of the study
started with need analysis, data collection, design product, product
validation, product revision1, user try out, product revision 2, and the final
product.
Furthermore, the quality
of the product was analyzed based on the result of the scores given by the
expert judges, the English teachers, and also the interview result of the
eighth grade of Junior High School students in Soa district of Ngada Regency. The
result from the two experts judgment of the product evaluation showed that the
material was categorized into good material as indicated by the
experts’ mean score of 4.2 < 4.5. Meanwhile, the result of the two English
teachers evaluation of the material was the excellent
material as indicated by the teachers’ mean scores of 4.65
4.5. The result
is shown on table 2.
Table 2 result of the calculation converted
into the criteria of material
|
Score
|
Criteria
|
|
|
Excellence
material
|
|
3.5
|
Good
material
|
|
2.5
|
Average material
|
|
1.5
|
Below average material
|
|
|
Poor material
|
In addition, to know the users feedback toward
the product, the interview was done to the representative of the 34 students
were 6 students were chosen in conducting the interview. The result of the
eighth grade students’ perceptions toward the product showed that the English
reading material had met the aspects of attractiveness, simplicity,
practicality, usefulness, clarity and detail. Based on the result of the expert
judgment, the English teachers and also the students’ interview result, the
researcher concluded that Ngadanese local culture-based supplementary English
reading material could be applied as the supplementary English reading for the
Junior High School students and the other schools in Ngada Regency.
The final product of the
study was Ngadanese local culture-based supplementary English reading material
for the eighth grade of Junior High School students in Soa district of Ngada
Regency in academic year of 2016/2017. The product was in a textbook form used
as the supplementary English reading material. The product which has been
developed fulfilled the criteria of good material as proposed by Tomlinson [2]
which has some aspects namely the content of the material, language used, the
activities and also the assessment of the material. The content of the material
based on the manifestation of culture distinguish the three manifestations of
cultures: 1) culture as complex of ideas, values, norms, rules, and so forth,
2) culture as a complex of activities and actions of human being in society, 3)
culture as objects of human work (artifacts) [7].
Dealing with the
manifestations of culture, the two were used in this study related to Ngdanese
local culture such as: 1) manifestation of culture as a complex of activities
and actions of human being in society presented in Ngadanese traditional
ceremonies like Reba ceremony (thanksgiving festival), Sagi ceremony (traditional boxing), Rori witu ceremony (traditional hunting), 2) the manifestation of
culture as a complex of activities and actions of human being in society
presented in Ngadanese local culture in Bena traditional village, traditional
house (Bhaga and Ngadhu), traditional
costumes (Sapu Lu’e and Lawo Butu)
and also the nature, marine and other local potencies.
The implications of this
study are firstly, the English
teacher of the eighth grade students can use Ngadanese local culture-based
supplementary English reading material to improve the English reading skill in
teaching and learning activities. The second,
the students can learn their local culture through reading class activities by
using the local culture-based English reading materials. The third, the material cannot only be used
for the eighth grade of Junior High School students in Soa district but also
for all the Junior High School students in Ngada Regency.
4Conclusion
As is clear from
foregoing discussion, the developing local culture based supplementary English
reading material is must to preserve the local culture through English learning
activities. By using local culture based English reading material the students
are more interested with the text or the materials provided as the source of
learning. Familiarity of the reading material boosts students’ interest and
motives them to read. Besides, the use of local culture-base English reading
material will be effective for the students’ learning because they have prior
knowledge about the topic which can trigger them to be more active in reading
class. In another word, using local culture-based English reading material is
more understandable as the authentic material to improve the students reading
skill. It also gives the appropriate culture for the students as related to
their real life. Considering the advantage, it suggested for the English
teachers to either adapt or develop of local culture reading materials that match
students’ interest and fulfill pedagogical goal. Therefore, the use of local
culture-based English reading material in reading class is very useful.
Acknowledgment
The
paper was supported by the two supervisors: I Ketut Seken and I Gede Budasi as
the lectures of English Education Department, Post Graduate study program of
Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha Singaraja Bali Indonesia.
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