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DECLARATION OF THESIS / UNDERGRADUATE PROJECT PAPER AND COPYRIGHT
Author’s full name : MUHAMMAD CANDRA Date of birth : 20 OCTOBER 1981 Title : READING HABITS AND STRATEGIES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN PUBLIC
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
Academic Session : 2010/2011 SEMESTER I I declare that this thesis is classified as: I acknowledged that Universiti Teknologi Malaysia reserves the right as follows:
1. The thesis is the property of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. 2. The Library of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has the right to make copies for the purpose
of research only. 3. The Library has the right to make copies of the thesis for academic exchange.
Certified by:
SIGNATURE SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR T335567 PROF. DR. NORAZMAN BIN ABDUL MAJID
(NEW IC NO. /PASSPORT NO.) NAME OF SUPERVISOR
Date: Date:
NOTES : * If the thesis is CONFIDENTAL or RESTRICTED, please attach with the letter from the organization with period and reasons for confidentiality or restriction.
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA
√
CONFIDENTIAL (Contains confidential information under the Official Secret Act 1972)*
RESTRICTED (Contains restricted information as specified by the organisation where research was done)*
OPEN ACCESS I agree that my thesis to be published as online open access (full text)
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I hereby declare that I have read this project report and in my opinion
this project report is sufficient in terms of scope and quality for
the award of the Master of Education (TESL)
Signature : …………………………………………
Name of Supervisor : PROF. DR. NORAZMAN BIN ABDUL MAJID
Date : …………………………………………
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READING HABITS AND STRATEGIES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS
IN PUBLIC SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS
MUHAMMAD CANDRA
A project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Education (TESL)
Faculty of Education
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
DECEMBER 2010
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I declare that this project report entitled “Reading Habits and Strategies of English
Teachers in Public Senior High Schools” is the result of my own except as cited in the
references. The project report has been accepted for any degree and is not
concurrently submitted in candidature of any other degree.
Signature : ………………………………..
Name : Muhammad Candra
Date :
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To my beloved father and mother,
Bakar Bin Rachmad
Rukiah AB Binti Abu Bakar
Especially to my wife Dwi Sukarti,
My children
Syakira Salwa, Muhammad Rizki, Maulana
And my siblings,
Dewi Nurhatimah
Deri Oktaviani,
Novi Andirani
Sualdi Salam
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and will never be end, I want to thank to the Almighty God for giving me
peace, a nice chance in completing this study.
Next, I would like to address my deep gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr.
Norazman bin abdul majid, for his guidance, advice and supports for me to complete this
Master project.
I am also grateful to the examiners and all English lectures in UTM for their
contribution during my project preparation.
Special thanks are given to my mum and my family who motivate me all the time
and also to the most special person in my life Dwi Sukarti. Special gratitude is also given
for English teachers who help me to be the respondents in completing this project.
I also thank to my friends; Toni, Jack, Ellysa, Laksmi, Turiang and all my friends
in Tanjungpinang which I cannot mention your name here.
Finally, thanks to my government to support me on the scholarship.
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ABSTRACT
This research was carried out to investigate reading habits and strategies of English
teachers in six public senior high schools. This is a qualitative study which identifies
types of reading materials read and frequency of reading in academic or non academic
materials, factors that influence reading habits and reading strategies used by English
teachers. Twenty respondents of English teachers in public senior high schools were
chosen for the research. The instruments used for this research were questionnaire,
interview and think aloud procedure. The triangulation technique process was used in
comparing information found. Based on the data analyzed, it is concluded that English
teachers have poor reading habits. The results of the research show that English teachers
read both academic and non academic materials to acquire their knowledge and getting
information. Majority of the respondents read reference books for teaching purpose
between 1 - 3 hours per week. The respondents read at home because the atmosphere and
situational were influenced their habits in reading. Majority of English teachers used
skimming and scanning in reported reading strategies while a small number of
respondents used difficult words. Based on think aloud procedure, it is found that
respondents used more clarify mind strategies in reading and minority of them used
repeat word. The English teachers should be aware that reading habits and strategies are
very important in acquiring the knowledge. The finding of this research can be used as
motivation for the English teachers to have more reading habits and strategies in reading.
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ABSTRAK
Kajian ini di jalankan bagi mengkaji tabiat serta strategi membaca di kalangan guru
bahasa inggeris di sekolah negeri menengah atas. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah
kualitatif dalam mengenal pasti jenis bahan bacaan dan kekerapan membaca bahan
bacaan akademik atau bukan akademik, faktor yang mempengaruhi tabiat membaca serta
strategi membaca yang di gunakan oleh guru bahasa inggeris. Seramai 20 orang guru
bahasa inggeris di sekolah negeri menengah atas telah di pilih sebagai responden bagi
kajian ini. Instrumen yang di gunakan bagi menjalankan kajian ini adalah soal selidik,
temu duga dan prosedur berfikir. Teknik segi tiga telah di gunakan bagi membandingkan
hasil dapatan. Berdasarkan analisis data, dapat di simpulkan bahawa tabiat membaca
dikalangan guru bahasa inggeris adalah lemah. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa guru
bahasa inggeris membaca kedua-dua jenis bahan bacaan akademik dan bukan akademik
dalam memperoleh ilmu dan mendapatkan maklumat. Beberapa responden membaca
buku rujukan bagi tujuan pengajaran di antara 1-3 jam seminggu. Responden memilih
rumah sebagai tempat membaca karena suasana dan situasinya. Majoritinya guru bahasa
inggeris menggunakan kaedah skimming and scanning seperti yang di laporkan dalam
strategi membaca, sejumlah kecil respon menggunakan perkataan susah, Sementara itu,
berdasarkan “prosedur pemikiran” di dapati responden lebih banyak menggunakan
strategi penjelasan minda semasa membaca dan minority dari pada responden
menggunakan ayat ulangan. Guru bahasa inggeris haruslah sedar bahawa tabiat dan
strategy membaca adalah penting bagi meningkatkan kaedah pengajaran. Hasil kajian ini
boleh digunakan sebagai motivasi bagi guru bahasa inggeris untuk memiliki lebih banyak
lagi tabiat dan strategy dalam membaca.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER TITLE PAGE
DECLARATION ii
DEDICATION iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v
ABSTRACT vi
ABSTRAK vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS viii
LIST OF TABLES xii
LIST OF APPENDICES xiv
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Problem 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 2
1.3 Objectives of the Study 4
1.4 Research Questions 4
1.5 Significance of the Study 5
1.6 Scope of the Study 5
1.7 Definition of the Terms 6
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2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction 7
2.2 Definition of Reading 7
2.3 The Reading Process 9
2.3.1 Bottom-up Theory of Reading 10
2.3.2 The Top-down Theory of Reading 10
2.3.3 The Interactive Model of Reading 11
2.4 Attitude towards Reading 12
2.5 Reading Motivation 13
2.6 Factors Affecting Reading 13
2.6.1 The Nature of Reading Materials 14
2.6.2 Goal of Reading 14
2.6.3 The External Factors 15
2.7 Why don’t people read? 16
2.8 Reading and Teaching 16
2.9 Reading Strategies 17
2.10 Think-Aloud Research Procedure 17
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction 19
3.2 Respondents of the Research 20
3.3 Data Collection Instrument 20
3.4 Research Procedure 21
3.5 Data Analysis 22
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4 FINDING AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction 23
4.2 Findings of the questionnaires 23
4.3 Respondents’ Profile 24
4.3.1 Gender 24
4.3.2 Age 24
4.3.3 Race 25
4.3.4 Marital Status 26
4.3.5 Academic Qualification 27
4.3.6 Working Experience 27
4.4 Types of Reading Materials Read by Respondents 28
4.4.1 Types of Books read by the respondents 28
4.4.2 Types of Magazines Read by Respondents 29
4.4.3 Types of Newspaper Read by Respondents 30
4.4.4 Types of Other Publications Read by Respondents 30
4.5 Reading Frequency of Respondents 31
4.5.1 Respondents’ Activity in Reading 31
4.5.2 Reading Materials of Respondents “Academic or Non Academic” 32
4.5.3 Reading Time of Respondents 32
4.5.4 Reading Hours of Respondents in a week 33
4.6 Factors that Influence Reading 34
4.6.1 Reading places of the Respondents 34
4.6.2 Factors that influence respondents in reading 35
4.7 Respondents’ Strategies in reading 35
4.7.1 Respondents’ Reported Strategies used in reading 36
4.7.2 Respondents’ Objectives in reading 37
4.8 Findings of the Interviews 39
4.8.1 Respondents’ Profile 39
4.9 Strategies Used While Reading 40
4.9.1 Strategies used in reading by Mr. A 40
4.9.2 Strategies Used in Reading by Mrs. Y 41
4.9.3 Strategies Used in Reading by Mr. R 42
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4.10 Discussions of the Findings 43
4.11 Respondents’ Profile 43
4.12 Types of Reading Materials Read by the Respondents 44
4.13 Reading frequency of the Respondents 44
4.14 Factors that Influence Reading Habits of Respondents 45
4.15 Comparison between Reported Reading Strategies and Actual Reading
Strategies Used 46
4.16 Respondents’ Objective in Reading 46
5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Introduction 47
5.2 Summary of the Research 47
5.3 Conclusion of the Research 48
5.4 Limitation of the Study 50
5.5 Recommendations for Future Studies 50
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Problem
Reading is an important activity and it is the window to the world. By reading,
people are able to gain much information. Based on the result of the research about
reading habits society made by National Education Department of Indonesia and National
Library (1997), reading habits of Indonesian society are categorized lower than other
countries event if they are compared to some ASEAN countries. Dominantly, speaking is
one of factors that affect the low of reading habits in Indonesian society. Harian Umum
Kompas (1997) stated that the low of reading habits is caused of some factors in society
cultural for instance people like to chat, they only interested in the programs published by
electronic media and it is difficult to find relevance materials needed by readers. In
Indonesia, reading activity is commonly related to students at school. This activity started
since the students are still in the primary school until the university level. However, the
educators also play an important role to guide the students to have good habits in reading.
Teachers as educators in senior high schools are the people who teach the students to gain
knowledge based on their skill.
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Teaching is a good profession that has a responsibility to create students character
to bring them to have a good knowledge. Teaching is also a very challenging profession
for the people who have decided themselves to contribute their knowledge in educational
environment. One of the activities that can improve teachers’ knowledge is by reading.
Gold (1990) describes the benefits of reading in his testimonial to reading, Read for Your
Life. Based on the history of reading, Manguel (1996) explores the joy of reading. He
suggests that “we read to understand, or to begin to understand. We cannot do but read”.
Reading is almost like breathing, it is our essential function.
Therefore, teachers should be motivated to read any kinds of materials to support
their knowledge and read a lot to keep with the fast-changing information from time to
time. Eskey (1986. P.21, cited in Reyandya & Jacobs, 2002): states “Reading must be
developed, and can only be developed by means of extensive and continued practice.
People learn to read, and read better by reading.”
Finnochiaro (1989) suggests that teachers need to read to help facilitate their
teaching learning activity in the classroom as information obtained through their reading
will keep in touch with the current issues and to apply them in their classroom discussion.
As professional and effective teachers they should believe that their responsibility
in teaching and learning play an important role to the students education. They should be
able to keep with changes that take place teaching and learning process. Reading is an
important part of learning. William (1984) classifies reading into three purposes; getting
general information from the text, getting specific information from the text; and for
pleasure interest. By reading many texts, readers will gain much knowledge and they will
be knowledgeable. But there is another problem that commonly faced by Indonesian such
as lack of motivation in reading. Based on the problems view above, the researcher would
like to investigate the reading habits and strategies of English teachers in public senior
high schools.
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This research discusses about reading habits and strategies of public senior high
schools English teachers in Tanjungpinang district. The study focused on the types of
reading materials read and reading frequency of English teachers, factors that influence
reading habits of English teachers’ and reading strategies used by the English teachers.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Research findings in Indonesia on reading habits of Indonesian society is
categorized lower than other countries if it is compared to some ASEAN countries.
Dominantly, speaking is one of factors that influence the low of reading habits in
Indonesian society (National Education Department Indonesia and National Library,
1997). Another factor is the culture of the society. Other recent surveys in Asia also have
shown that books are being put aside for video and CD games, television and other
electronic forms of entertainment (NST Computimes May 3, Normah, 2004) as cited by
Sanjan (2006). In Hong Kong, research about investigating the effects of pleasure reading
among adult learners found that readers made substantial proficiency gains in the
language. They were also motivated to read more (Yang, 2001). Based on the
researcher’s experience and observation in teaching English at Teachers Training
Education Faculty of University of Riau Island, it found that most of the students who
were also teaching at schools did not read. Therefore, according to this view, the
researcher would like to investigate the reading habits and strategies of public senior high
schools English teachers’, in part the types of reading materials read and reading
frequency of English teachers, factors that influence reading habits of English teachers’
and reading strategies used by English teachers.
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1.3 Objectives of the Study
Since the purpose of this study is to investigate the reading habits and strategies of
public senior high schools English teachers, the objectives of this study are specified as
follows:
1. To identify types of reading materials read by public senior high schools English
teachers and their frequency in reading.
2. To investigate factors that influence reading habits of English teachers.
3. To investigate the reading strategies used by the English teachers
1.4 Research Questions
In order to achieve the objectives of this study the following research questions
are addressed:
1. What types of reading materials read by public senior high schools English teachers
and how frequent they read the materials?
2. What are the factors that influence reading habits of English teachers?
3. What are the reading strategies used by senior high schools English teachers?
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1.5 Significance of the Study
It is hoped that the result of this study is able to give several contributions to the
understanding of reading habits of public senior high schools level English teachers. This
research also can be used as a primary study by the next researchers to conduct more
studies related to reading habits for instance doing a research how to increase reading
habits of people through teachers training.
1.6 Scope of the Study
This study is restricted to English teachers in public senior high schools in
Tanjungpinang district, Bintan Island, Indonesia. The study looked into the types of
reading materials read by the English teachers and their reading frequency, factors that
influence their reading habits and reading strategies applied by the English teachers.
Time constraint is one of the main factors in this study. Therefore, this study is
only limited to reading habits and strategies of public senior high schools English
teachers. The findings of this research are not in the real situation in all schools but only
related to respondents in public schools. The study also describes the reading habits and
strategies of public English teachers in public schools and there is no comparison of
reading habits and strategies of English teachers from SMA N 1, SMA N 2, SMA N 3,
SMA N 4, SMA N 5 and SMA N 6. The findings of this small sample may not be
generalized all population of English teachers in Tanjungpinang district.
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1.7 Definition of the Terms
1.7.1 Public Senior High Schools: Schools set up by the government in Tanjungpinang
district.
1.7.2 Academic Materials: materials at academic purposes such as text books, reference
books using at school that useful for teaching and learning activities.
1.7.3 Non Academic Materials: materials read for general knowledge and leisure time
such as novel fiction or non fiction, newspaper, magazines, and books for
personal growth.
1.7.4 Reading Habit: It is an activity relates to English teachers habits in reading any
kinds of materials whether it is in form of academic or non-academic.
1.7.5 Strategies: The strategies used by English teachers while reading in reported
reading strategies and think aloud procedure.
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
There are six main parts of this chapter. The first section discusses on the
definitions of reading habits and it key concepts, the second section presents the theories
of reading, the third section of this chapter describes attitude, motivation and the goal of
reading, the fourth section discusses on the reading habits of school teachers, the fifth
section describes on the reading strategies and the last section of this chapter specifically
discusses on the think aloud procedure.
2.2 Definition of Reading
According to experts there are some definitions of reading. Spache and Spache
(1969) as cited in Sanjan (2006) stated there is a variety of definitions of reading due to
the complexity and successive stages of reading development. Reading can be described
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in a variety of headings such as reading for skill development, as a visual act, as a
perceptual act as a reflection of cultural background and a thinking process.
Byatt (1992, 15) recognizes that reading entails a private relationship between two
people, reader and writer. Spoken language can take cues from the respondent’s face or
situation. Written language is addressed to someone you do not know and you cannot see
and so you have to be very clear. It makes imaginable world, a sustained argument, a
passionate plea, out of a person’s inner life. Reading is a means of encountering the
world outside in a safe way in the world in the head, which can give both experience and
understanding.
Grellet (1981) suggested that understanding a written text means extracting the
required information from it as efficiently as possible. The readers apply different reading
strategies for example reading an advertisement at a notice board and reading an article.
Williams (1984) defined reading as a process in which a reader looks at a text and
understands what has been written. He further stated that reading does not mean a person
needs to understand everything he reads because people read for different reasons and
purpose.
Reading is easy and simple. However, reading is also very complicated process.
Many studies have been conducted to constrict the evidence. According to Ponnusamy
(1997), the first important description of reading and its process can be traced back as
early 1917 by Thorndike, a psychologist who coined reading as reasoning. The process of
reading can best be described in an analogy written by Thorndike (1917) as cited in
Ponnumasy (1997:21) in Sanjan (2006) he described reading process as:
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“…understanding a paragraph is like solving mathematic. It consists of selecting the right
element of situation and putting them together in the right relations, and also within the
right amount of weight or influence or force for each. The mind is assailed as it was
bothered by every word in the paragraph. It must select, repress, soften, emphasize,
correlate organize all under the influence of the right mental shape or purpose or demand.
Thus it appears that reading an explanatory or argumentative paragraph involves the same
sort of organization and analytic action of ideas as those that occur in thinking
supposedly higher sorts”.
2.3 The Reading Process
Several definitions have been given by researchers about reading process. In
Goodman’s famous article written in 1967 (as in Wallace, 1992) Goodman describes
reading as ‘a psycholinguistic guessing game’. A reader uses three cue system,
represented three levels of language within the text namely: grapho-phonic, syntactic and
semantic. Goodman, Yates and Burke’s (in Williams, 1993) describes model of reading
process, the process of reading involves an interaction between the reader’s and the
author’s knowledge or mind. The reader could use his background knowledge to
understand the text written by the author. For instance Firstly Predicting; in this part,
reader selects cues and predicts materials. Secondly integrating; reader integrates
meaning gained with his world view. Williams (1993) states this process evolves in a
cyclical or repetitious manner while building concepts onto concepts. There are three
main approaches of theories of how reading takes place; Bottom Up, Top Down and
Interactive models. The approaches are discussed in detail in the following section.
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2.3.1 Bottom-up Theory of Reading
Gough (1972) describes bottom-up model of reading as a serial process involving
letter by letter visual analysis to positive recognition of words through phonemic
encoding. Gough (1972) states readers need to associate letters with their sounds and
from these sounds they formed words and lastly derive meanings.
According to Zakaluk (1998) the bottom-up model of reading consists of three
levels. Firstly, the level involves the process of obtaining meanings from texts by
decoding graphic symbols into sound. Readers need to know the letters to produce sounds
of the letter. Secondly, individual letters are combined to form words, words then
combined to form sentences and sentences combined to form paragraphs. Through these
combinations, the reader’s knowledge is integrated of the world. So, when the meaning
occurs the readers will be easily to understand the texts written. People who subscribe the
bottom up model are the people who believe that reading is the recognition of words and
the text is the main controlling in reading.
2.3.2 The Top-down Theory of Reading
Top-down model of reading is also well known as the inside-out model, the
concept model or the whole to part model. In this model, the readers understand the
structure of the story; draw inferences from an information passage if they relate it to
their background knowledge. According to Hayes (1981) The Top-down approach
emphasizes readers bringing meaning to text based on their experiential background and
interpreting text based on their prior knowledge of the whole language. The idea is
contrary to Smith (1979) He states that reading is not about decoding the written text into
spoken texts or processing individual letter and words but to bring meaning to print.
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Smith’s also view is in tandem with McCormik’s (1998) that reading is not about
extracting meaning from print but bringing meaning to it.
The top-down processing involves readers to continually make inferences based
on their prior knowledge or schemata (Johnson, 1982; Carrell and Eisterhold, 1983;
Tangliebar, Johnson and Yarbrough, 1988). In other, Reader’s active participation in
using his cognitive or meta-cognitive functions in trying to comprehend the printed texts
contributes to the development of his comprehension (Padron and Waxman, 1988; Shih,
1992). It can be stated that the top-down theory of reading emphasize that reading begins
in the head of the reader because the readers background is the starting point for
recognizing a text and without prior knowledge meaning can not be made from print
(Block, 1992).
2.3.3 The Interactive Model of Reading
Rumelhart (1977, as cited in Walters, 1999), who believes that top-down and
bottom-up processing occur simultaneously in skilled readers. He believes that the
interactive model of reading is the amalgamation of bottom-up and top-down models of
reading. Zakaluk (1998) describes the message board or message centre that regulates the
hypotheses, filter and match the information with that of the existing knowledge and
accepts or rejects it.
Hayes (1991) describes the interactive model as more than just the combination of
the bottom-up and top-down models. In interactive model, reading is the process of
combining textual information with the information the reader brings to a text. The model
stresses both what is written on paper and what a reader brings to it using both top-down
and bottom-up skills (Stanovich, 1980). Then, Eskey (1988) found that good readers are
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both good decoders and good interpreters of text and their decoding skills become more
automatic but no less important as their reading skill develop.
Smith (1971) characterizes reading as a process by charting the reader’s path
through a text rather than making judgments of comprehension based on reading
outcomes. He described reading as “the reduction of uncertainty’, meaning as we
progress through a text our choices of what to select are constrained, often heavily both
by features within the text itself and those external to it, to do for example with the kinds
of schematic knowledge of the reader.
2.4 Attitude towards Reading
In order to be success in reading, a reader should have a good attitude. According
to Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) attitude is defined as learned disposition on how to behave,
either negatively or positively. Based on the definition, it can be defined that reading
attitude as people disposition in reading activity.
McKenna, et al. (1996) in the McKenna Model of Reading Attitude Acquisition
suggested that the individual’s attitude towards reading develops overtime as result of
three factors: 1. Normative beliefs (how ones friends’ view about reading), 2. Beliefs
about outcomes of reading (whether reading is likely to be pleasurable, useful, frustrating
and boring) and beliefs about outcomes of competing activities; and 3. Specific reading
experiences
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2.5 Reading Motivation
Taylor, et al. (1988) uses the term ‘interest’ to describe the action orientation that
occurs when positive attitude and motivation are both present in reading. He believes that
attitude towards reading by itself does not cause an individual to read but rather interest
becomes a factor that motivates one to read in reading. Therefore, motivation in reading
is needed by the readers because it is very important to support their activities and
attitude in reading.
As readers, they must have attitude to read texts or materials as much as they can,
by reading the readers will have strong understanding about any kinds of text and have
more vocabulary. According to Grummit (1977) lack of vocabulary puts off readers as
they are unable to comprehend the material they are reading. Unmotivated readers will
influence their reading activities.
2.6 Factors Affecting Reading
There are several factors why readers read texts or materials. According to
Grummit (1982) there are three factors affecting reading. The factors are: 1. the nature of
the reading materials, 2. the purpose of reading and 3. the external factors. Therefore,
before reading readers are suggested to find materials as their needed to motivate them to
read and gain knowledge. So, they will enjoy the time of reading.
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2.6.1 The Nature of Reading
Grummit (1982) claimed that lacking or poor in vocabulary lets the readers down.
According to him, readers who face difficulties in comprehending the material feel
unmotivated to read where as having interest in the subject can influence readers to read.
2.6.2 Goal of Reading
As readers, they have to know the goal of their reading. Different readers have
different purpose for reading. Therefore, the readers must be able to select the materials
they need. It is to help them to understand easily towards styles of reading used.
Ross (2001) studied the book selection strategies of heavy readers in the USA and
found that readers draw on several interrelated considerations when choosing a book to
read for pleasure. A reader’s selection strategy develops through their entire reading
experiences and is a personalized process.
According to Nuttal (1982) the purpose of reading is to get information such as
facts, ideas, or even feelings from the materials that have been read. Therefore, in
teaching and learning process teachers read before planning their lesson plans. According
to Gan (1999) reading prior to planning a lesson plan can give teachers a better idea of
the lesson. Alderson & Urquhart 1984) and Carrell (1988) maintained that reading is one
of the skills in language teaching and learning.
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2.6.3 The External Factors
Reading habits can be derived from external factors. According to Grummit
(1982), the environment or surrounding has a tremendous influence on one’s reading
habit. Grummit (1982) states the external factors that affect reading habits are reader’s
state of mind and the time that they choose to read. There are some readers who can
concentrate to read in the morning and afternoon whilst other readers feel better to read in
the evening and night.
Grummit (1982) suggested in his book is relaxation. He states that relaxation is
then most important factor in reading and it also acts as a physical consideration. The
right approach in reading also can help the readers to reduce their stress. Below is table
2.1 concludes the main factors affecting the style of reading.
Table 2.1: Factors Influencing Reading Habits
Purpose Materials Others
1. 100 % comprehension 1. Difficult ideas 1. Noise interruption
2. Memorize material 2. Difficult vocabular 2. Time of the day
3. Good Understanding 3. Badly written 3. Relaxation level
4. General out line 4. Prior knowledge 4. Emotional barrier
5. Particular parts 5. Interest 5. Personal physic
condition
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2.7 Why don’t people read?
There are several reasons why people read for instance they read to gain
knowledge or get a pleasure time for their hobbies. Also there are other reasons why
people do not read. According to Pandian (1997) people do not like to read because they
prefer like to listen the radio, watch television, and spend their times to re nature
activities. He added most of the people decline place for reading, reading materials
exposed at school or home, and attitude towards reading particularly English text.
Wee and Sim (2004) found that reading habits of diploma students is prevented
by their vocabulary understanding in reading materials. Furthermore, the students have so
many assignments so they have no time to read.
2.8 Reading and Teaching
Reading is a simple activity but it can be difficult if the readers do not start
themselves to have good habits in reading. The readers also have to be selected to choose
the materials. For instance, commonly teachers read materials because of the curriculum
used in school. Before teaching the students, the teachers must read teaching materials. It
means the teachers take responsibility to understand the materials and explain it to the
students. The teachers also have to create interest atmosphere to their profession.
Alderson & Urquhart (1984) and Carrell (1988) stated in teaching and learning
process, reading is used as one of English skills. Teachers are promoted to have good
competency in reading because without having good reading habit, the academic and
intellectual discussion will not be able to be applied effectively.
17
Chitravelu et al. (2005) suggests that student’s interest in learning English can be
enhanced through an appropriate style of teaching in the class by the English teachers.
Therefore as teachers they must increase their knowledge and they are suggested to read
more academic materials relate to process of teaching and learning. Based on what they
read, it will afford to what they are going to teach to their learners.
2.9 Reading Strategies
Reading strategies are ways that used by the readers to understand the texts. Each
Individual has differences strategy used in reading. In this part of the research, the readers
must be able to use the strategy in a right way not only determine the strategies used but
also how to use the strategy in reading. The Reading revealed an important concept that
strategic reading is not only a matter of knowing what strategy to use, but also that the
reader must know how to use a strategy successfully (Anderson, 1991; Kletzien, 1991).
2.10 Think-Aloud Procedure
Think aloud procedure is procedures of clearing picture to what learners do while
reading a text. It is one of verbal reports type obtained from readers during reading
(Cavalcanti, 1987, cited in Elekes). According to Cohen (1987) think-aloud is readers
report to what they thought while reading it does not relate to analyze their behavior or
introspective the readers. Rankin (1988) stated that think-aloud is a procedure of reading
where the readers are asked to read a text and say out loud whatever comes through their
minds. It is hope the researcher will get a clear idea of readers while reading. Verbal
reports and think-aloud procedures are commonly used in L1 and L2 where goals of
using both languages are to get different situations of mental process of readers.
18
Think-aloud is a suitable strategy for examining poor readers who find difficulties
when trying to read an unfamiliar text (Olshavsky, 1977, cited in Elekes). As a research
procedure, think-aloud has several profits compared to another methods. According to
Olson et al (1984) the systematic observations of thinking will occur during reading
process and the thinking-out-aloud is used as a collecting tool data relate to unobservable
process for instance guessing or prior knowledge using. Elekes (1998) stated that the
readers’ process in reading can be influenced by the individual knowledge and their
particular knowledge
19
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
The main objectives of this research is to identify the reading habits and strategies
of senior high schools English teachers in form of types of reading materials their read
and frequency of their reading, investigate factors that influence reading habits of English
teachers’ and determine reading strategies used by the English teachers. A qualitative
study was applied on this research. The questionnaires, interview and think aloud
procedure were used for data collection. This chapter discusses how the research was
conducted, who were the respondents, how the procedure taken by the researcher, and
how the data was being collected and analyzed to answer the research questions of the
research.
20
3.2 Respondents of the Research
The respondents of this research were English teachers from public senior high
schools in Tanjungpinang district: SMA N 1, SMA N 2, SMA N 3, SMA N 4, SMA N 5
and SMA N 6. Total respondents from the public schools were twenty. There were 13
females and 7 males consisting of 12 Malays, 3 Minangists, 3 Batakists and 2 Javaneses.
The respondents were selected by using convenience sampling method. The
questionnaires were distributed to the respondents in the six schools.
3.3 Data Collection Instrument
Questionnaire and interview were the instruments used in this research.
Questionnaire was the primary tool to collect the data and interview was an instrument
used to validate the data collection. A questionnaire is a very convenient way of getting
data, as well as can guarantee confidentiality that elicit more truthful responses than
would be obtained with a personal interview (Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh, 1990 cited in
Sanjan, 2006). The questions in questionnaires were designed to answer research
questions. There were five sections of questionnaire that have been distributed to the
respondents. The first was about respondents’ profiles; the second was about types of
reading material read by the respondents; the third was about the frequency of reading by
the respondents; the fourth was the factors that influence respondents to read and the fifth
was the strategy used by the respondents in reading (Refer to Appendix 1). Interview was
the second instrument to collect the data in this research. It was used to validate the data
and the result was used to investigate reading habits of the respondents (Refer to
appendix 2). According to Walsh (1968) an interview is one of a good way to collect data
from respondents because of its flexibility. In using this instrument, the researcher was
able to observe responses from the respondents immediately. In this part, the researcher
as the interviewer also could repeat the questions given if the respondents did not
understand. Another advantage of doing an interview was the researcher might control
21
the questions during the interview session. The respondents in interview section were 2
from total of 20 English teachers from six senior high schools. There were 5 questions
given to the respondents during the interview session. The first was please tell the types
of reading materials that you read whether academic or non-academic; the second was
when do you normally read and where; the third how many hours do you read in a week
usually; the fourth was what are the factors that influence your reading habits; and the
fifth was what reading strategies are you used in reading. The researcher also conducted
think aloud procedure at three respondents by giving them a text titled Traditional
Political Culture to investigate their strategies used in reading the text. In this research,
the respondents were instructed to use think aloud procedure in reading the text. It was to
investigate thoroughly what strategies they used in their reading (Refer to Appendix 3).
3.4 Research Procedure
After getting permission from Head of Education Office to carry out the research
in the public senior high schools, the researcher went to each school to distribute the
questionnaires and the researcher gave a day to the respondents to answer the
questionnaire. One of teachers in each school was asked to help researcher to collect the
questionnaire from participants. In order to validate the data the researcher interviewed
two respondents based on the questionnaire and do think aloud procedure with three
respondents to investigate strategies used by the English lecturers in reading. They were
chosen randomly from each school. After that, the researcher implemented the interview
section. The interview was carried out the day after implementing. The researcher
interviewed two respondents the day after and did think aloud procedure to the three
respondents the following day. The interview took place in a room prepared by the
schools’ administration. It is from 15 to 30 minutes. During the interview, the researcher
recorded the responses from each respondent. After the interview, the data were
transcribed. The data from think aloud procedure also transcribed.
22
3.5 Data Analysis
The data obtained from the questionnaire, interviews and think aloud procedures
were analyzed based on the research questions. The triangulation technique process was
used in comparing information found. The data were analyzed separately to get the
general findings of the research in part of findings and discussions. The researcher
formulated three research questions in this study first is what types of reading materials
read by senior high schools English teachers and how frequent they read the materials,
what are the factors that influence reading habits of English teachers, and what are the
reading strategies used by senior high schools English teachers. The researcher received
respondents answer by distributing questionnaires, it related to research questions and the
data was transcribed and analyzed after interviewing two respondents. Thinking aloud
procedure was analyzed by identifying three respondents’ strategies in reading. The
respondents were given a text then asked to read it then they asked to tell what ever
comes to their mind while reading the text. Furthermore, their understanding was
transcribed and it was analyzed to investigate strategies they used in reading.
23
CHAPTER IV
FINDING AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction
This chapter presents and discusses the findings from the data obtained from the
six public senior schools. The findings were based on the research questions formulated
previously. The findings identified types of reading materials read by English teachers in
six public senior high schools, investigate English teachers’ frequency of reading
academic and non-academic materials, investigate factors that influence reading habits of
English teachers and investigate the reading strategies used by the English teachers.
.
4.2 Findings of the questionnaires
The findings of the questionnaires show the data on the respondents’ profile,
types of materials read, frequency of reading, factors that influence reading and strategies
used in reading. The findings were formulated in figures and percentage of the total
number of respondents.
24
4.3 Respondents’ Profile
The respondents’ profiles show their gender, age, race, marital status, academic
qualification and working experience.
4.3.1 Gender
Based on the Table 4.1 below, from a total of 20 respondents who answered the
questionnaires 35 % of them were male and 65 % of other respondents were female.
Table 4.1 Gender of the Respondents
Gender
(G)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
Male
Female
7
13
35 %
65 %
Total 20 100%
4.3.2 Age
Based on Table 4.2 the age of respondents in range 30 – 39 (50 %) was the
highest of the respondents, while in range 40 – 49 (25 %) was in the second amount of
25
the respondents, the age of 20 – 29 (15 %) was the lowest amount of the respondents that
while 50 years and above consisted of 2 (10 %) respondents.
Table 4.2 Ages of the Respondents
Age
(A)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- 20 – 29 years
- 30 – 39 years
- 40 – 49 years
- > 50 years
3
10
5
2
15 %
50 %
25 %
10 %
Total 20 100 %
4.3.3 Race
Table 4.3 shows that race with Malay 12 (60 %) respondents who dominated the
number of the respondents in this study. Minangist and Batakist are in the same number
with 3 (15 %) respondents, while Javanese is the lowest amount of the respondents with 2
(10 %).
26
Table 4.3 Races of the Respondents
Race
(T)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- Malay
- Javanese
- Minangist
- Batakist
12
2
3
3
60 %
10 %
15 %
15 %
Total 20 100
4.3.4 Marital Status
Table 4.4 shows the marital statuses of the respondents out of 20 respondents are
married 19 (95%) and only 1 (5 %) respondents are single.
Table 4.4 Marital Status of the Respondents
Marital Status
(MS)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- Single
- Married
- Widow/widower
- Divorce
1
19
-
-
5 %
95 %
0 %
0 %
Total 20 100
27
4.3.5 Academic Qualification
Table 4.5 the academic qualification of the respondents 19 (95 %) of the
respondents had Degree (S1) qualification to teach the students at senior high school and
only 1 (5 %) of respondents had Master (S2) qualification. No one had a qualification of
Dr (S3) and Diploma (D3).
Table 4.5 Academic Qualification of the Respondents
Academic Qualification
(AQ)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- Dr (S3)
- Master (S2)
- Degree (S1)
- Diploma 3 (D3)
-
1
19
-
0 %
5 %
95 %
0 %
Total 20 100 %
4.3.6 Working Experience
Table 4.6 the working experience of respondents 7 (35 %) of respondents have
working experience in range 3 - 6 years, 4 (20%) of respondents in range 11 – 15 years, 4
(20%) of respondents in range 16 – 20 years, 2 (10%) of respondents in range 7 – 10
years, 2 (10%) of respondents is more than 21 years and only 1 (5%) of respondents have
working experience less than 3 years.
28
Table 4.6 Working Experience of the Respondents
Working Experience
(WE)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- Less than 3 years
- 3 – 6 years
- 7 -10 years
- 11 – 15 years
- 16 – 20 years
- > 21 years
1
7
2
4
4
2
5 %
35 %
10 %
20 %
20 %
10 %
Total 20 100 %
4.4 Types of Reading Materials Read by Respondents
Types of reading materials read by respondents were books, magazines, news
papers, and other publications for instance Journals and brochures.
4.4.1 Types of Books read by the respondents
Based on the finding, it is found types of books read by the respondents in Table
4.7, most of the respondents 18 (90%) read reference books for teaching, The second
materials chosen for reading was examination reference books for UAN
(Final semester examination) with 15 (75%), encyclopedia and biography were chosen as
third types of materials read with 4 ((20%) respondents and the least types of books read
by the respondents were novel (fiction/non fiction) with 3 (15%) of respondents.
29
Table 4.7 Types of Books Materials Read by Respondents
Reading Materials
(RM)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- Reference books for teachin
- Examination reference boo
UAN
- Novel (fiction/non fiction)
- Others (please specify):
1. Encyclopedia
2. Biography
18
15
3
4
90 %
75 %
15 %
20%
4.4.2 Types of Magazines Read by Respondents
Based on the finding, it is found the types of magazines read by respondents in
Table 4.8, most of respondents read magazines as hobbies and general were in the same
percentage 9 (49%), there were 6 (30%) respondents read magazines to their personal
growth and only 1 (5%) respondent read magazines as home improvement.
Table 4.8 Types of Magazines Read by Respondents
Reading Materials
(RM)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- Hobbies
- Home improvement
- Personal growth
- General
9
1
6
9
40 %
5 %
30 %
40%
30
4.4.3 Types of Newspaper Read by Respondents
Table 4.9, shows the types of newspaper read from the findings, most of the
respondents 11 (55%) read the newspaper as general purposes, while 9 (45%)
respondents read for their hobbies, 4 (20%) respondents read for home improvement and
about 3 (15%) respondents read for personal growth.
Table 4.9 Types of Newspaper Read by Respondents
Reading Materials
(RM)
Number of Respondent
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- Hobbies
- Home improvement
- Personal growth
- General
9
4
3
11
45 %
20 %
15 %
55 %
4.4.4 Types of Other Publications Read by Respondents
Table 4.10 shows that the number of the respondents who read journals was the
highest with 12 (60%) respondents, while the respondents who read types of brochure
was 7 (35%) respondents and only 1 (5%) respondent read unique article from internet.
31
Table 4.10 Types of Other Publications by Respondents
Reading Materials
(RM)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- Journals
- Brochures
- Others (please specify):
1. Unique article from internet
12
7
1
60%
35%
5%
4.5 Reading Frequency of Respondents
Reading frequency of respondents were seen from their reading activities,
materials that they read whether academic or non academic materials, reading time and
reading hours in a week.
4.5.1 Respondents’ Activity in Reading
Based on data analyzed in Table 4.11, it shows that all respondents’ 20 (100%)
were reading in their daily life.
Table 4.11 Respondents’ activity in reading
Activity in Reading
(AR)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
Yes
No
20
-
100 %
0 %
Total 20 100
32
4.5.2 Reading Materials of Respondents “Academic or Non Academic”
Table 4.12, shows reading materials read by respondents 15 (75%) respondents
read the academic materials and 5 (25%) respondents read non academic materials.
Table 4.12 Reading materials of respondents “Academic or Non Academic”
Academic or Non Academic
Materials
(A/NAM)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- Academic materials
- Non academic materials
15
5
75 %
25 %
Total 20 100
4.5.3 Reading Frequency of Respondents
Table 4.13 shows reading frequency of respondents. There were 6 (30%)
respondents normally reading during the day, in the morning, at night and in the
weekend, while 5 (25%) respondents normally read in spare time, 4 (20%) respondents
read at night, 3 (15%) respondents read in the weekend and 2 (10%) respondents
normally read during the day. No one of respondents read in the morning.
33
Table 4.13 Reading Frequency of Respondents
Reading Frequency
(RT)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- During the day
- In the morning
- At night
- In the weekend
- All of the above
- Others (please specify)
1. In my spare time
2
-
4
3
6
5
10 %
0 %
20 %
15 %
30 %
25 %
Total 20 100
4.5.4 Reading Hours of Respondents in a week
From Table 4.14, it shows the reading hours of respondents in a week. The
findings show 5 (25%) of respondents read between 7 – 9 hours, 5 (25%) respondents
read between 1 – 3 hours, 4 (20%) read more than 10 hours, 4 (20%) respondents read
between 4 – 6 hours and only 2 (10%) respondents read less than 1 hour.
Table 4.14 Reading Hours of Respondents in a week
Reading Hours in a Week
(RHIW)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- No time spent
- Less than 1 hour
- Between 1 – 3 hours
- Between 4 – 6 hours
- Between 7 – 9 hours
- More than 10 hours
-
2
5
4
5
4
0 %
10 %
25 %
20 %
25 %
20 %
Total 20 100
34
4.6 Factors that Influence Reading
There were some factors that influenced the respondents to read and it could be
seen from their reading places and reading factors.
4.6.1 Reading places of the Respondents
Table 4.15 shows the places where reading took place. The findings show 19
(95%) of respondents read at home and only 1 (5%) of them read in school library. No
one of them read at public library, university library or other place.
Table 4.15 Reading Places of Respondents
Reading Places
(RP)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- At home
- School library
- Public library
- University library
- Others (plea
specify):
19
1
-
-
-
95 %
5 %
0 %
0 %
0 %
Total 20 100
35
4.6.2 Factors that influence respondents in reading
Table 4.16 shows factors that influence respondents in reading. The findings show
10 (50%) respondents read to acquire their knowledge and information, 6 (30%) of the
respondents read for their pleasure and 4 (20%) of them read for their personal growth.
Table 4.16 Factors that influence respondents in reading
Reading Factors
(RF)
Number of Respondents
(NR)
Percentage
(P)
- I read for pleasure
- I read for personal growth
- I read to prepare myself f
public examination
- I read to acquire knowled
and information
- Others (please specify):
6
4
-
10
-
30 %
20 %
0 %
50 %
0 %
Total 20 100
4.7 Respondents’ Strategies in reading
Respondents were asked about their strategies used in reading in the
questionnaire. They reported using strategies that they aware of while reading. At the
same time, they also reported the objective to reading.
36
4.7.1 Respondents’ Reported Strategies used in reading
Table 4.17 shows the strategies used by respondents in reading. The findings
show 6 (30%) respondents used skimming and scanning strategies, 5 (25%) of
respondents used difficult words as the strategies in reading , 3 (15%) respondents used
key words, 2 (10%) respondents by summarizing the text, 2 (10%) used questions and
answer, 1 (5%) respondent by choosing the materials need and 1 (5%) respondent used
topic sentence and supporting idea.
Table 4.17 Respondents’ Reported Strategies used in reading
Respondents
(R)
Respondents‘ Reported Strategies
used in Reading
(RRSUR)
Number of Strategies used
by Respondents and the
Percentage
(NSRP)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
- Understand the difficult words
- Skimming and scanning
* Choose the materials that really I ne
first
- Get the topic sentences, supportin
idea
* Skimming first after that scanning
- Reading comprehension
* Comprehension
- Comprehension
* Scanning and skimming
- Key words
* Question and answer based o
reading text
- Question and answer strategy
* Key words of the text
- Scanning and skimming
6 (30%) respondents
- Skimming and scanning
- Skimming and scanning
- Skimming and scanning
- Skimming and scanning
- Skimming and scanning
- Skimming and scanning
5 (25%) respondents
- Difficult words
- Difficult words
- Difficult words
- Difficult words
- Difficult words
3 (15%) respondents
- Key words
- Key words
- Key words
37
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
- Find the difficult words
* Find difficult words
* I make summary to make it ea
reread
- Find the key words
* Find difficult words
* Scanning and skimming
- Question and answer
* difficult words
- Summarizing the text
* Skimming and scanning the text
2 (10%) respondents
- Summarizing the text
- Summarizing the text
2 (10%) respondents
- Question and answer
- Question and answer
1 (5%) respondents
- Chose the materials th
really I need
1 (5%) respondents
-Get the topic sentence an
supporting idea
4.7.2 Respondents’ Objectives in reading
Table 4.18 shows the objectives reported by the respondents in reading. The
highly objectives of the respondents in reading were 11 getting information with 11
(55%) of respondents, 9 (45%) of respondents acquiring knowledge, 2 (10%) of
respondents in pronunciation, fluency and understanding, 1 (5%) of respondent in kinds
of text, story, sports, news, 1 (5%) respondent in finding the best materials for his or her
students and 1 (5%) respondent objective to get the main idea.
38
Table 4.18 Respondents’ Objectives in reading
Respondents
(R)
Respondents’ Objectives in reading
(ROR)
Number of Respondents’
objectives in reading and th
Percentage
(NROP)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
- Getting the information
* Anything
- Kinds of the text, story, sports, new
* To find the new information
* To get my knowledge update
* To find the best material for m
students
- To get information
* To add knowledge
* To get more information
- To add knowledge
- To get more information
* To add knowledge
- To acquire knowledge
- To acquire information
* Pronunciation, fluency an
understanding
- To get the main idea
* To acquire knowledge
* To acquire information
- Add my knowledge
* To acquire some information
- To get information
* To get information
- Pronunciation, fluency an
understanding
* To increase my knowledge
- Improve my knowledge
11 (55%) respondents
- Getting information
- Getting information
- Getting information
- Getting information
- Getting information
- Getting information
- Getting information
- Getting information
- Getting information
- Getting information
- Getting information
9 (45%) respondents
- Acquiring knowledge
- Acquiring knowledge
- Acquiring knowledge
- Acquiring knowledge
- Acquiring knowledge
- Acquiring knowledge
- Acquiring knowledge
- Acquiring knowledge
- Acquiring knowledge
2 (10%) respondents
- Pronunciation, fluency an
understanding
- Pronunciation, fluency an
understanding
1 (5%) respondents
39
19.
20.
* Acquire information
- Kinds of text, story, spor
news
1 (5%) respondents
- Find the best materials for m
students
1 (5%) respondents
- To get the main idea
4.8 Findings of the Interviews
The interviews provided information to validate the questionnaires answered by
the respondents. The scope of interview questions focus to the research questions
formulated in this research.
4.8.1 Respondents’ Profile
From 2 of respondents interviewed, both of them were female who had answered
the questionnaires. The age of respondents were in range 30 - 39 years and more than 50
years. The findings show, the younger respondent read non academic materials and the
older respondent read the academic materials. Reading places of the respondents were at
home and school library. No one of them read at public library, university library or other
places. Both of reading hours of respondents in a week were more than 10 hours. The
factors influenced both respondents in reading were read for pleasure and read to acquire
the knowledge. The findings also show the respondents strategies used in reading. The
younger respondent used skimming and scanning and the older respondent used key
words, clue and dictionary in their reading.
40
4.9 Strategies Used While Reading
Think aloud techniques were performed on 3 respondents. There were some
strategies used by the respondents while reading as could be seen from the table below.
4.9.1 Strategies used in reading by Mr. A
Table 4.19 shows strategies used in reading. Mr. A used 10 strategies while
reading Traditional Political Culture. The most strategies were repeat word with 6, and 1
for each other strategies there were clarify mind, predict, question and summarize.
Table 4.19 Strategies used in Reading by Mr. A
Respondents
(R)
Words
(W)
Strategies Used i
Reading
(SIR)
Total
(T)
The most
strategies used
in reading
(TSR)
Mr. A - Our topic this time
- I think ethnic group
- The very very kingshi
- Is very many many
- Come form from t
ABRI
- Is have very ve
dominant
- Is era is
- Culture many man
culture
- Clarify Mind
- Predict
- Repeat word
- Repeat word
- Repeat word
- Repeat word
- Repeat word
- Repeat word
- Question
- Summarize
1
1
6
1
1
6 Repeat words
41
- Why so in
- Based on the
Total 10 6 Repeat words
4.9.2 Strategies Used in Reading by Mrs. Y
Table 4.20 shows strategies used in reading by Mrs. Y. 15 strategies were used
while reading Traditional Political Culture. The most strategies were clarifying mind with
6, 3 for repeat word, 3 for predict, 2 for question and 1 for the summarizing.
Table 4.20 Strategies used in Reading by Mrs. Y
Respondents
(R)
Words
(W)
Strategies
Used in
Reading
(SIR)
Total
(T)
The most
strategies used
in reading
(TSR)
Mrs. Y - Which is titled
- There are fi
paragraphs
- Here I see
- Tells about t
government
- Tells about Javane
culture
- Tells us about
- Which is a..which is
- Become the dominat
become the fr
dominant
- Clarify Mind
- Clarify Mind
- Clarify Mind
- Clarify Mind
- Clarify Mind
- Clarify Mind
- Repeat word
- Repeat word
- Repeat word
- Predict
- Predict
6
3
3
6 Clarify Mind
42
- I think who are not
political I think
- May be it is
- Patrinial I think
- May be because of
- We don’t know why
- Why there are so many
- I think that’s t
analysis
- Predict
- Question
- Question
- Summarize
2
1
Total
15
6 Clary Mind
4.9.3 Strategies Used in Reading by Mr. R
Table 4.21 shows strategies used in reading by Mr. R. 10 strategies were used in
reading Traditional Political Culture. The most strategies were clarifying mind with 5, 2
for predict word, 1 for question, repeat word and summarize.
Table 4.21 Strategies used in Reading by Mr. R
Respondents
(R)
Words
(W)
Strategies Used i
Reading
(SIR)
Total
(T)
The most strategies
used
in reading
(TSR)
Mr. R - Which is titled
- The text tells me
- There are many
political culture
- That’s why
- Clarify Mind
- Clarify Mind
- Clarify Mind
- Clarify Mind
5
5 Clarify mind
43
everything
- This texts tell us
- May be
- May be populatio
- you see
- The most..the
most..the most
- Only one thing
that
- Clarify Mind
- Predict
- Predict
- Question
-Repeat Word
- Summarize
2
1
1
1
TOTAL 10 5 Clarify mind
4.10 Discussions of the Findings
The findings from both data questionnaires and interviews were analyzed to come
up with the general findings of the research. The findings obtained from the overall data
answer all research questions formulated in previous chapter.
4.11 Respondents’ Profile
Sixty five percents of the respondents in this research were female as majority of
English teachers in six public senior high schools and the minority were male with thirty
five percents of English teachers. Fifty percents of respondents were within the age range
30 – 39. Sixty percents of the respondents were Malay race and ninety five percents of
respondents were in married status. All of the respondents had good qualifications to
teach the students in senior high schools level. The race of respondents did not effect to
their reading habits.
44
4.12 Types of Reading Materials Read by the Respondents
The respondents’ profile has some relations to the types of reading materials read
by the respondents. There were majority of respondents read reference books for
teaching, small number of the respondents read examination reference books for UAN to
prepare the students facing the final examination and minority of the respondents within
age range in 20 -29 read novel fictions or non fiction. The finding is integrating; it could
be influenced by the respondents’ age because in range of the age, the respondents were
not mature enough to handle their students and still like to read materials for their
pleasure. The types of reading materials chosen by the respondents were also influenced
by the respondents’ profile whereas majority of the respondents were married. In this
matter, the respondents’ only used time for reading in spare time because besides being
English teachers they also had to care for their children; therefore, the respondents must
be able to divide the time they. This is different with respondents within age range of 40
– 49 and > than 50. They read to acquire and getting information about the discipline
knowledge they are teaching. It may be influenced by the working experience more than
sixteen years as English lecturers so they know what to do and they tried not to be left by
the respondents or new English teachers who were still fresh in teaching. Eighty percents
of the respondents also read magazines and news paper for their hobbies and general
purpose. From all respondents in this research only one who had qualified in master.
4.13 Reading frequency of the Respondents
All of the respondents read in this research. Majority of the respondents read
academic materials and minority of the respondents read non academic materials. This
part of discussion focuses on the reading frequency of the respondents. The data from the
questionnaires show that there were two respondents who read less than one hour per-
week. Majority of the respondents 5 read frequently in 1 – 3 hours. Majority of the
respondents also read during the day, in the morning, at night, and in the weekend. The
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respondents’ factors that affected to their reading habits were influenced by their gender
and marital status. The data obtained from questionnaires showed the numbers of
majority respondents in gender were female and the minorities of the respondents were
male. In this part, the researcher found that the male respondents read more than the
female. The respondents’ experiences in working also influenced their habits in reading.
They spent more time for reading because they know that to be knowledgeable they must
read more and used themselves to read.
4.14 Factors that Influence Reading Habits of Respondents
A place for reading and the reason of respondents to read were two factors
influenced the reading habits of respondents. From the data obtained the majority of the
respondents read at home and only one of the respondents read in the school library. The
reason in reading at home was that they feel more relax and could do another activity
including reading with their children. They also felt comfortable because they were able
to divide their times for reading and their family. Only one respondent read the materials
at schools library. This person was different from other respondents because the library
was a quit place to read and it gave her a good situation.
The respondents did not choose pubic library and university library as places to
read. The respondents felt satisfied and enjoyed the time reading at home and school
library because as majority the most factors that influence to their reading habits were
because they read to acquire knowledge and information and some of them even read for
pleasure.
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4.15 Comparison between Reported Reading Strategies and Actual Reading
Strategies Used
Skimming and scanning become the highest strategies used by the respondents
while reading. Based on the data obtained from reported questionnaires it shows majority
of respondents used skimming and scanning in reading the text. A small number of the
respondents used difficult words and the less of the respondents used the topic sentence
as the strategies in their reading. It is different with think aloud procedure in actual
reading, majority of respondents used clarify mind in their reading strategies, small
number of students used repeat word and less of them used prediction, question and
summarizing as the strategies in reading.
4.16 Respondents’ Objective in Reading
The data from questionnaires defined that the highest majority of the respondents’
objective in reading were getting information and the minority of the respondents’
objectives in reading were getting main idea, less of respondents’ objectives to find kinds
of text such as sports and finding the materials for students.
Based on the data obtained from questionnaires it can be concluded that reading
habits of respondents as English teachers were still in low habits. They still did not have
good habits in reading it can be proved from the time spent by the respondents in
discussion of the findings.
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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Introduction
This chapter provides the summary of the findings, the recommendations and the
limitations of the research. This research is about reading habits and strategies of English
teachers in six public senior high schools.
5.2 Summary of the Research
This research describes the types of reading materials read by English teachers,
frequency of reading academic and non academic materials by respondents, factors that
influence reading habits of English teachers and reading strategies used by English
teachers. The respondents were English teachers in public senior high schools in
Tanjungpinang, Bintan Island. There were 20 respondents involved in this research. The
respondents were selected by convenience sampling method. Questionnaires, interview
and think aloud procedure were used as the instruments in this research. The
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questionnaires were distributed to 20 English teachers in six public senior high schools
and only two respondents were conducted in interview. While three respondents others
were conducted through think aloud procedure to obtain reading strategies data of
respondents. Questionnaires data, interviews and think aloud procedures were used to
triangulate the data collection methods to arrive at credible findings of this research.
5.3 Conclusion of the Research
This part of conclusion research was related to the three questions in this research.
The whole discussion concludes the general summary of this research. A brief summary
is stated at the end of each discussion.
Based on the findings and discussion in previously chapter, respondents read for
both academic and non academic materials in this research. But respondents read more in
academic materials because they need to acquire knowledge and getting information
related with the process of teaching and learning at schools. The respondents more read
reference books for teaching.
Based on the finding of the research in previously chapter, respondents read in
very short frequent. Only twenty percent respondents read more than 10 hours, minority of
the respondents read between 1 - 3 hours, while small number of respondents read under
than 6 hours per week. The materials read were references books for teaching and
reference books for UAN examination. The respondents who read more than 10 hours
were the respondents who experience in working more than sixteen years. They read more
because they need more information to acquire their knowledge and they also have to
make sure that they were not left by the younger teachers who just started teaching for few
years and still fresh with their knowledge. In a reason, the respondents read in very short
frequently because they were very busy to do activity at schools and after leaving the
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schools. It is because most of respondents were female and married. So, they must take
care to all activities at school and at home. It is different with some old respondents
because they had much time to read at home.
The atmosphere and situational factors influenced respondents’ habits in reading.
In this research, majority of respondents read at home than other place. Only small
number of respondent read at school library. It is because respondents felt comfortable,
relax to read at home compared to another places. Respondents could do more activities
besides reading such as take care their children. Situational also supported them to read
because if they were not familiar with the places, they felt something lost. Therefore in
this research, atmosphere and situational chosen affected to the respondents’ habits in
reading.
Based on the findings in previous chapter from interview, it is found majority
respondents used skimming and scanning in reported reading strategies, small number of
respondents used difficult words and less of the respondents used the topic sentence in
their reading strategies. While based on think aloud procedure from three respondents, it is
found that respondents used more clarify mind strategies in reading, minority of the
respondents used repeat word and less of respondents used question, predict and
summarize strategies.
Based on the findings of the research, it is concluded that the English teachers
from public senior high schools are poor in their reading habits. Even though they read
both of academic and non academic materials but majority of them read reference books
for teaching. Most of them read magazines, newspaper and novel as their hobbies for
their pleasure time. They did not spend much time for reading because they have to care
for their children and family at home. It is also found in reported reading strategies that
Majority of English teachers used skimming and scanning as their reading strategies
while from think aloud procedure from three respondents, it is found that respondents
used more clarify mind strategies.
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5.4 Limitation of the Study
Time constraint is one of the main factors in this study. Therefore, this study is
only limited to reading habits and strategies of public senior high schools English
teachers. The findings of this research are not in the real situation in all schools but only
related to respondents in public schools. The study also describes the reading habits and
strategies of public English teachers in public schools and there is no comparison of
reading habits and strategies of English teachers from SMA N 1, SMA N 2, SMA N 3,
SMA N 4, SMA N 5 and SMA N 6. The findings of this small sample may not be
generalized all population of English teachers in Tanjungpinang district.
5.6 Recommendations for Future Research
This study highlighted on the reading habits and strategies of English teachers in
public senior high schools in Tanjungpinang. It is recommended in the future to cnduct a
study that covers more samples of English teachers in more studies related to reading
habits for instance doing a research how to increase reading habits of people through
teachers training.