Developing Supplementary Materials of Genre-based Reading for the Eighth Graders at SMP Negeri 4 Malang

ABSTRACT Anwar, Muhammad Khoirul. 2013. Developing Supplementary Materials of Genre-Based Reading for the Eighth Graders at SMP Negeri 4 Malang. Thesis, English Language Education, English Department, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang. Advisor: Dr. Johannes A Prayogo, M.Pd, M.Ed. Keywords: development, supplementary materials, genre-based reading The intended objective of this research and development is to produce supplementary materials of genre-based reading, specifically for the students in the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Malang. The present study is primarily focused on the development of three types of texts, namely descriptive, recount and narrative. Based on the preliminary study carried out by the researcher, it was found out that the students do not use a particular coursebook for learning English in the classroom. In addition, the teacher also finds difficulties in providing the students with intriguing reading materials that certainly make the students become more interested to read. Accordingly, the product of this study is expected to solve the problems mentioned beforehand by providing various kinds of reading materials which suit the needs of learners. In order to feasibly accomplish the goal of this study, the researcher adapted the model of R&D proposed by Borg & Gall (1983). The originally-made model has been modified as follows: (1) needs analysis; (2) developing materials; (3) expert validation; (4) revision I; (5) try out; (6) revision II; and (7) final product. The overall steps in R&D needed approximately three months to be fully accomplished. To start with, needs analysis was meant to help the researcher identify the initial conditions in the targeted field to be further used as the underlying foundation of the product development. The duration to collect the data from needs analysis was about two weeks. Next, materials were developed based on the existing English curriculum and in line with what has been obtained from needs analysis. This particular phase of R&D was performed in one month. After that, expert validation was carried out to evaluate the product immaculately by judging and giving feedbacks about it. This phase took about a month for the expert to scrutinize the product. Then, the results of the expert validation were subsequently used as the basis to better improve the product before the try-out was conducted. In this case, the researcher needed two weeks to try out the product. The outcome of this study is in the form of supplementary reading materials consisting of three text types: descriptive, recount and narrative. The reason to select these texts is because the texts are the major monologue texts learned by the students in the eighth grade. In addition, those three texts are clearly stipulated on standards of content of Junior High School Grade VIII. Each text is presented in three separate chapters, namely Chapter 1 for descriptive texts, Chapter 2 for recount texts, and Chapter 3 for narrative texts. Then, each chapter contains reading practices, including True/False Questions, WH-Questions, Completion, Arranging Paragraphs and Multiple Choice Items. In addition, the material also includes vocabulary practice in which the students are to determine the meaning of some vocabulary items taken from the text. Besides, a discussion of a particular grammatical item is presented along with its exercise in every chapter. The product of this study has been validated by an expert and revised on the basis of the feedbacks given by the expert. After the revision was finally achieved, the product was tried out in a small scale. Following Borg & Gall’s model of R&D, the product was tried out to ten students of Class VIII-G at SMP Negeri 4 Malang. To select the students, the researcher employed a simple random sampling technique in which ten students were chosen randomly among the forty four classroom participants. In administering the try-out, the researcher distributed the materials to be read by the students at home. The students were given two weeks to complete all the reading tasks. Afterwards, the students were provided with a questionnaire in order that they give comments and suggestions about the materials. The results of the try-out showed that the students mostly like and enjoy reading the materials because they obtain lots of new information from the variety of topics presented in the materials. They also confirm that the materials can help them develop their reading skills. However, the revision of the product is also performed based on the suggestions recommended by the students during the try-out process. Therefore, the supplementary reading materials of the study are expected to deliver a positive impact towards the teaching and learning of reading. In addition, the supplementary reading materials are beneficial to encourage the students for independent learning. Nevertheless, due to the limited focus of the study, it is expected that more advanced studies are carried out, covering both monologue texts and short functional texts for different grades