Pub Date : 2020-10-04DOI: 10.18326/RGT.V13I2.315-332
Nur Najibah Sukmawati
Teaching writing to Informatics Engineering students has its uniqueness when it comes to what specific issue(s) the students are facing and how to cope with them. This study aims at finding out some feedback for the author’s previous teaching practices in writing a descriptive text which becomes the basis to give an exact intervention as well as to find out whether the intervention is able to improve the students’ skills in writing a descriptive text. This is exploratory action research to the 30 students of the third semester in the Informatics Engineering study program of a private university in Indonesia. To gain feedback on the previous instructional practices, a senior colleague is invited as a consultant and an open-ended questionnaire was distributed to the students. Some issues were found. After a deep discussion with the senior colleague, it is concluded that project-based activities could cope with the issues. To prove it, a writing test and open-ended interview were conducted. During the instructional practices, a collaborator was invited to observe using an observation sheet. The result revealed that project-based activities engaged the students and directed them in accomplishing the task. The test also showed improvement in students’ average scores. These findings proved that implementing project-based activities can improve the students’ skills in writing a descriptive text. Keywords : Exploratory Action Research, Reflective Feedbacks, Project-Based Activities
{"title":"Reflective Feedbacks and Project-Based Activities to Improve the Students’ Writing Skill: An Exploratory Action Research","authors":"Nur Najibah Sukmawati","doi":"10.18326/RGT.V13I2.315-332","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18326/RGT.V13I2.315-332","url":null,"abstract":"Teaching writing to Informatics Engineering students has its uniqueness when it comes to what specific issue(s) the students are facing and how to cope with them. This study aims at finding out some feedback for the author’s previous teaching practices in writing a descriptive text which becomes the basis to give an exact intervention as well as to find out whether the intervention is able to improve the students’ skills in writing a descriptive text. This is exploratory action research to the 30 students of the third semester in the Informatics Engineering study program of a private university in Indonesia. To gain feedback on the previous instructional practices, a senior colleague is invited as a consultant and an open-ended questionnaire was distributed to the students. Some issues were found. After a deep discussion with the senior colleague, it is concluded that project-based activities could cope with the issues. To prove it, a writing test and open-ended interview were conducted. During the instructional practices, a collaborator was invited to observe using an observation sheet. The result revealed that project-based activities engaged the students and directed them in accomplishing the task. The test also showed improvement in students’ average scores. These findings proved that implementing project-based activities can improve the students’ skills in writing a descriptive text. Keywords : Exploratory Action Research, Reflective Feedbacks, Project-Based Activities","PeriodicalId":40585,"journal":{"name":"REGISTER Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2020-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42540110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-03DOI: 10.18326/rgt.v13i2.277-292
R. Khan, Muhammad Shahbaz, Tribhuwan Kumar, I. Khan
It is hard to ignore the importance of reading skills for desired proficiency in foreign languages. Reading can be beneficial for learners to immerse themselves in the target language and learn it efficiently. In EFL contexts like Saudi Arabia, learners face many challenges in reading skills. The main purpose of this research was to explore reading problems of elementary level students and causes of the readings skills inabilities. Following random and convenience sampling techniques; this mixed-method research obtained quantitative data from 290 elementary level students and qualitative data from nine teachers and supervisors. The analysis of quantitative data from the reading test and checklist and qualitative data retrieved from interviews suggests that students considerably perform relatively low in reading skills, and the main reasons are poor vocabulary, incorrect pronunciation, wrong spellings, slow reading pace, and flawed grammar. These five areas account for more than 90% of the challenges faced by learners in reading skills. Based on evidence from this research, we suggest that policymakers, teachers, and students should focus on these five areas for solving the issues related to reading skills. Although other avenues are essential, these items demand special attention to develop the reading skills of EFL learners in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the world. Keywords : Reading skill, Elementary level, Reading Pace, EFL
{"title":"Investigating Reading Challenges Faced by EFL Learners at Elementary Level","authors":"R. Khan, Muhammad Shahbaz, Tribhuwan Kumar, I. Khan","doi":"10.18326/rgt.v13i2.277-292","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18326/rgt.v13i2.277-292","url":null,"abstract":"It is hard to ignore the importance of reading skills for desired proficiency in foreign languages. Reading can be beneficial for learners to immerse themselves in the target language and learn it efficiently. In EFL contexts like Saudi Arabia, learners face many challenges in reading skills. The main purpose of this research was to explore reading problems of elementary level students and causes of the readings skills inabilities. Following random and convenience sampling techniques; this mixed-method research obtained quantitative data from 290 elementary level students and qualitative data from nine teachers and supervisors. The analysis of quantitative data from the reading test and checklist and qualitative data retrieved from interviews suggests that students considerably perform relatively low in reading skills, and the main reasons are poor vocabulary, incorrect pronunciation, wrong spellings, slow reading pace, and flawed grammar. These five areas account for more than 90% of the challenges faced by learners in reading skills. Based on evidence from this research, we suggest that policymakers, teachers, and students should focus on these five areas for solving the issues related to reading skills. Although other avenues are essential, these items demand special attention to develop the reading skills of EFL learners in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the world. Keywords : Reading skill, Elementary level, Reading Pace, EFL","PeriodicalId":40585,"journal":{"name":"REGISTER Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2020-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44710780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-01DOI: 10.18326/RGT.V13I2.293-314
N. Drajati, A. F. Wisudawati, Anis Handayani
Academic writing for publication in higher education is cognitively and linguistically complex. University students grapple with academic writing for publication because of academic genre/convention, linguistic competence, and academic literacy among others. For this reason, a learning environment does matter. The Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is a learner-controlled environment for language learning. To examine this issue, a qualitative study with an action research design conducted with 28 graduate students as participants. The three main findings: (1) ways of encouraging students to write academic writing for publication through the personal learning environment as a learning platform; (2) implementing PLE's in the academic writing for publication course: content knowledge consideration; and (3) implementing PLE's in the academic writing for publication course: pedagogical consideration. In general, the findings indicate that PLE gives positive impacts on emerging students' academic writing for publication in the context of higher education. The educational organization needs to consider this issue. Keywords : Action research, academic writing for publication, learning autonomy, personal learning environment
{"title":"Promoting Personal Learning Environment for Emerging Academic Writing for Publication for Higher Education Students","authors":"N. Drajati, A. F. Wisudawati, Anis Handayani","doi":"10.18326/RGT.V13I2.293-314","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18326/RGT.V13I2.293-314","url":null,"abstract":"Academic writing for publication in higher education is cognitively and linguistically complex. University students grapple with academic writing for publication because of academic genre/convention, linguistic competence, and academic literacy among others. For this reason, a learning environment does matter. The Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is a learner-controlled environment for language learning. To examine this issue, a qualitative study with an action research design conducted with 28 graduate students as participants. The three main findings: (1) ways of encouraging students to write academic writing for publication through the personal learning environment as a learning platform; (2) implementing PLE's in the academic writing for publication course: content knowledge consideration; and (3) implementing PLE's in the academic writing for publication course: pedagogical consideration. In general, the findings indicate that PLE gives positive impacts on emerging students' academic writing for publication in the context of higher education. The educational organization needs to consider this issue. Keywords : Action research, academic writing for publication, learning autonomy, personal learning environment","PeriodicalId":40585,"journal":{"name":"REGISTER Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45665065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-01DOI: 10.18326/rgt.v13i2.231-256
A. Rianto
This study investigated the use of language learning strategies among 329 Indonesian undergraduate students in their English as foreign language learning. The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) Version 7.0 for ESL/EFL learners developed by Oxford was employed to measure the students’ EFL learning strategies based on gender, study program, and English proficiency differences. A descriptive analysis and an independent t-test were used to analyze the collected data. The findings showed that the female, the social science, and the higher English proficiency students used overall language learning strategies more frequently in their EFL learning. Metacognitive was the strategy category most used by the students and compensation was the least used one . The memory, cognitive, metacognitive, affective, and social strategy categories were used at a high level and the compensation strategy category , at a moderate level . Although there were significant differences in the use of overall strategy and strategy categories between males and females and between social science and science students, no significant differences were found in use between students with lower and higher English proficiency. The findings had several practical implications in the process of EFL learning, especially in the higher education context. Keywords : Language Learning Strategy, English Proficiency, Gender, SILL, Study Programs
{"title":"A Study of Language Learning Strategy Use among Indonesian EFL University Students","authors":"A. Rianto","doi":"10.18326/rgt.v13i2.231-256","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18326/rgt.v13i2.231-256","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigated the use of language learning strategies among 329 Indonesian undergraduate students in their English as foreign language learning. The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) Version 7.0 for ESL/EFL learners developed by Oxford was employed to measure the students’ EFL learning strategies based on gender, study program, and English proficiency differences. A descriptive analysis and an independent t-test were used to analyze the collected data. The findings showed that the female, the social science, and the higher English proficiency students used overall language learning strategies more frequently in their EFL learning. Metacognitive was the strategy category most used by the students and compensation was the least used one . The memory, cognitive, metacognitive, affective, and social strategy categories were used at a high level and the compensation strategy category , at a moderate level . Although there were significant differences in the use of overall strategy and strategy categories between males and females and between social science and science students, no significant differences were found in use between students with lower and higher English proficiency. The findings had several practical implications in the process of EFL learning, especially in the higher education context. Keywords : Language Learning Strategy, English Proficiency, Gender, SILL, Study Programs","PeriodicalId":40585,"journal":{"name":"REGISTER Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49379809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-29DOI: 10.18326/rgt.v13i1.208-230
Z. Iqbal, Muhammad Zammad Aslam, Talha Aslam, Rehan Ashraf, Muhammad Kashif, Hafiz Nasir
The researchers investigate Pakistani Premier Imran Khan’s (IK) addresses to the nation concerning awareness about the causes, effects, precautions, and solutions of the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19). Till the date, experts are not sure whether the vaccine will get developed or would we have to live with this as we did with HIV or Dengue. Consequently, leaders would need to address their nations, focusing specifically on precautions. The present research employs Aristotle’s persuasive and rhetorical devices, integrating them with Socio-Political Discourse Analysis (SPDA), to understand the social and political convincing style employed by the premiere. The researchers analyzed the data employing a qualitative approach. There are reliable findings to suggest that IK has used stable linguistic features to persuade the minds of the people, convincing them to follow the precautionary measures as ‘the only cure.’ The defending arguments about semi-lockdown or smart-lockdown were well-defined persuading the individuals; for instance, he suggested the smart-lockdown during his first address and faced criticism from the opposition. Later, the opposition and the world appreciated the policy of IK, the Premier of Pakistan, even being a developing country in the sight of the world. After one month of the first patient of the corona case reported in China, the policy of smart-lockdown was followed by most of the states fighting against COVID-19. Moreover, The Premier successfully persuaded the international financial organizations – IMF, World Bank, Development Banks, convincing them to waive off the pending payments of developing countries for the upcoming year.Keywords: COVID19, Persuasion, Socio-Political Discourse Analysis, Speeches, Linguistic Features
{"title":"Persuasive power concerning COVID-19 employed by Premier Imran Khan: A socio-political discourse analysis","authors":"Z. Iqbal, Muhammad Zammad Aslam, Talha Aslam, Rehan Ashraf, Muhammad Kashif, Hafiz Nasir","doi":"10.18326/rgt.v13i1.208-230","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18326/rgt.v13i1.208-230","url":null,"abstract":"The researchers investigate Pakistani Premier Imran Khan’s (IK) addresses to the nation concerning awareness about the causes, effects, precautions, and solutions of the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19). Till the date, experts are not sure whether the vaccine will get developed or would we have to live with this as we did with HIV or Dengue. Consequently, leaders would need to address their nations, focusing specifically on precautions. The present research employs Aristotle’s persuasive and rhetorical devices, integrating them with Socio-Political Discourse Analysis (SPDA), to understand the social and political convincing style employed by the premiere. The researchers analyzed the data employing a qualitative approach. There are reliable findings to suggest that IK has used stable linguistic features to persuade the minds of the people, convincing them to follow the precautionary measures as ‘the only cure.’ The defending arguments about semi-lockdown or smart-lockdown were well-defined persuading the individuals; for instance, he suggested the smart-lockdown during his first address and faced criticism from the opposition. Later, the opposition and the world appreciated the policy of IK, the Premier of Pakistan, even being a developing country in the sight of the world. After one month of the first patient of the corona case reported in China, the policy of smart-lockdown was followed by most of the states fighting against COVID-19. Moreover, The Premier successfully persuaded the international financial organizations – IMF, World Bank, Development Banks, convincing them to waive off the pending payments of developing countries for the upcoming year.Keywords: COVID19, Persuasion, Socio-Political Discourse Analysis, Speeches, Linguistic Features","PeriodicalId":40585,"journal":{"name":"REGISTER Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2020-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46510988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-28DOI: 10.18326/rgt.v13i1.99-122
M. N. Santoso
In this changing era, which is characterized by the interconnected world, and the increasing mobility of people, the need to be able to communicate inter-culturally is evident. To be successful in intercultural communication, one does not only need to be linguistically competent but also culturally knowledgeable and sensitive. Bearing in mind these cultural needs, this paper details the scavenger hunt technique as a tool for enhancing culture learning and intercultural communication practice. Although this technique applies to students of any major, this study was specifically implemented to a group of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students in Indonesia. Participants of this study were nine (9) male and twenty (20) female students of The English Language Education Program at a private university in Central Java, Indonesia. The students did the scavenger hunt in a group of four or five during their three-day trip to a multicultural setting in Indonesia: Bali island, and documented the activities in vlogs. The students’ vlogs which were data of this study were analyzed by using a qualitative content analysis approach. The findings showed that the scavenger hunt task resulted in the students' learning on cultural knowledge, intercultural communication, intercultural adaptation, information technology, and soft skills. During the three-day program, the students could also use English in a meaningful way. The study presented the strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations of this study, as well as some ideas for further research. Keywords : culture learning, intercultural communication, EFL,scavenger hunt.
{"title":"The Scavenger Hunt: A Technique for Enhancing Culture Learning and Intercultural Communication Practice","authors":"M. N. Santoso","doi":"10.18326/rgt.v13i1.99-122","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18326/rgt.v13i1.99-122","url":null,"abstract":"In this changing era, which is characterized by the interconnected world, and the increasing mobility of people, the need to be able to communicate inter-culturally is evident. To be successful in intercultural communication, one does not only need to be linguistically competent but also culturally knowledgeable and sensitive. Bearing in mind these cultural needs, this paper details the scavenger hunt technique as a tool for enhancing culture learning and intercultural communication practice. Although this technique applies to students of any major, this study was specifically implemented to a group of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students in Indonesia. Participants of this study were nine (9) male and twenty (20) female students of The English Language Education Program at a private university in Central Java, Indonesia. The students did the scavenger hunt in a group of four or five during their three-day trip to a multicultural setting in Indonesia: Bali island, and documented the activities in vlogs. The students’ vlogs which were data of this study were analyzed by using a qualitative content analysis approach. The findings showed that the scavenger hunt task resulted in the students' learning on cultural knowledge, intercultural communication, intercultural adaptation, information technology, and soft skills. During the three-day program, the students could also use English in a meaningful way. The study presented the strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations of this study, as well as some ideas for further research. Keywords : culture learning, intercultural communication, EFL,scavenger hunt.","PeriodicalId":40585,"journal":{"name":"REGISTER Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2020-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41667516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-28DOI: 10.18326/rgt.v13i1.153-182
K. Yusuf, Dewi Puspita
Indonesian lexicon comprises numerous loanwords which some of them already exist since the 7 th century. The large number of loanwords is the reason why many dictionaries of Indonesian etymology available today contain merely the origin of the words. Meanwhile, there are several aspects in a word etymology that can be studied and presented in a dictionary, such as the change in a word form and in its meaning. This article seeks to demonstrate the use of corpora in identifying the etymological information of Malay words from diachronic corpora and to figure out the semantic change of the Malay words undergo from time to time until they turn out to be Indonesian lexicon. More specifically, two selected Malay words were examined: bersiram and peraduan . By exploring data resources from the corpus of Malay Concordance Project and Leipzig Corpora, this study attempts to collect etymological information of Indonesian lexicon originated from Malay by employing a corpus based research. The findings show that the examined words have changed in meaning through generalization and metaphor. However, unlike the word bersiram , the change that the word peraduan happened only occurs in semantic level. This information, ultimately, can be used as informative data for a more comprehensive Indonesian etymology dictionary. Drawing on corpus analysis, this paper addresses the importance use of diachronic corpora in tracing words origin. Keywords : diachronic corpora, etymology, corpus analysis, semantic change, Malay-Indonesian
{"title":"Diachronic Corpora as a Tool for Tracing Etymological Information of Indonesian-Malay Lexicon","authors":"K. Yusuf, Dewi Puspita","doi":"10.18326/rgt.v13i1.153-182","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18326/rgt.v13i1.153-182","url":null,"abstract":"Indonesian lexicon comprises numerous loanwords which some of them already exist since the 7 th century. The large number of loanwords is the reason why many dictionaries of Indonesian etymology available today contain merely the origin of the words. Meanwhile, there are several aspects in a word etymology that can be studied and presented in a dictionary, such as the change in a word form and in its meaning. This article seeks to demonstrate the use of corpora in identifying the etymological information of Malay words from diachronic corpora and to figure out the semantic change of the Malay words undergo from time to time until they turn out to be Indonesian lexicon. More specifically, two selected Malay words were examined: bersiram and peraduan . By exploring data resources from the corpus of Malay Concordance Project and Leipzig Corpora, this study attempts to collect etymological information of Indonesian lexicon originated from Malay by employing a corpus based research. The findings show that the examined words have changed in meaning through generalization and metaphor. However, unlike the word bersiram , the change that the word peraduan happened only occurs in semantic level. This information, ultimately, can be used as informative data for a more comprehensive Indonesian etymology dictionary. Drawing on corpus analysis, this paper addresses the importance use of diachronic corpora in tracing words origin. Keywords : diachronic corpora, etymology, corpus analysis, semantic change, Malay-Indonesian","PeriodicalId":40585,"journal":{"name":"REGISTER Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2020-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44969421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In today’s world, writing is no longer a natural activity, especially for the younger generation. They look upon this activity as too complex, overwhelming and sometimes irrelevant. These attitudes are amplified when having to write in a second language. In EFL tertiary education, the expectations of academic achievement have become far greater than actual student capabilities. This study examined the possibility of using journal writing, both with and without an audience, as a way to address this issue. It is believed that by engaging students in the act of writing without the burden of an academic topic, it will indirectly impact students’ academic performance. Seventy-six undergraduate students in three groups (one control and two experimental) were involved. Data was collected in the form of pre-test and post-test writing, student focus group meetings and an interview with the instructor. From the study, it was found that dialogue journal writing with an audience contributed to an increase in the proficiency level of students, especially in terms of their organizational skills. In addition, students who undertook journal writing expressed gains in self-confidence, and were aware of the role of journal writing in this. Finally, journal writing was found to offer insight to the instructor with regard to what is happening under the surface of a class, and thus better address students’ needs. Keywords: EFL, academic writing, writing proficiency, journal writing
{"title":"Journal Writing: Effects on Students’ Writing Proficiency and Student and Teacher Attitudes","authors":"Aynur Yurekli, Anita Afacan","doi":"10.18326/rgt.v13i1.1-48","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18326/rgt.v13i1.1-48","url":null,"abstract":"In today’s world, writing is no longer a natural activity, especially for the younger generation. They look upon this activity as too complex, overwhelming and sometimes irrelevant. These attitudes are amplified when having to write in a second language. In EFL tertiary education, the expectations of academic achievement have become far greater than actual student capabilities. This study examined the possibility of using journal writing, both with and without an audience, as a way to address this issue. It is believed that by engaging students in the act of writing without the burden of an academic topic, it will indirectly impact students’ academic performance. Seventy-six undergraduate students in three groups (one control and two experimental) were involved. Data was collected in the form of pre-test and post-test writing, student focus group meetings and an interview with the instructor. From the study, it was found that dialogue journal writing with an audience contributed to an increase in the proficiency level of students, especially in terms of their organizational skills. In addition, students who undertook journal writing expressed gains in self-confidence, and were aware of the role of journal writing in this. Finally, journal writing was found to offer insight to the instructor with regard to what is happening under the surface of a class, and thus better address students’ needs. Keywords: EFL, academic writing, writing proficiency, journal writing","PeriodicalId":40585,"journal":{"name":"REGISTER Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2020-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46998612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-28DOI: 10.18326/rgt.v13i1.123-152
S. Ariawan
The present study is a content analysis that aims to investigate cultural dimension in an English textbook prescribed for senior high school in Indonesia which is officially published by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2017. The data include 11 conversations, 17 reading texts, and 83 visual elements that are analysed qualitatively by employing Byram’s checklist. The findings show that stereotypes and national identity dominate the cultural dimensions with 28.05% and followed by social interaction and socialisation and life cycle with 15.9%. The occurrence of national geography is significant with 12.2%. However, social identity and social group, belief and behaviour, national history and social and political institutions are prescribed with less than 10%. The inclusion of various cultural dimensions has certain purposes. The inclusion of national identity, for instance, is pivotal for learners since the textbook is prescribed for senior high school students who are tremendously curious to determine their characters. This idea is aligned with the aim of the curriculum to facilitate the development of students with good character, good behaviour and strong nationality. It is concluded that the English textbook in Indonesia is on the way to its perfection in terms of proportionally represented cultural dimensions. However, the presence of various cultural aspects of the target culture and international target culture is also important to help students develop cultural competence and a certain level of respect as well as tolerance for others. Keywords : Textbook, cultural dimensions, cultural competence, national identity
{"title":"Investigating Cultural Dimensions in EFL Textbook by Using Byram Checklist","authors":"S. Ariawan","doi":"10.18326/rgt.v13i1.123-152","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18326/rgt.v13i1.123-152","url":null,"abstract":"The present study is a content analysis that aims to investigate cultural dimension in an English textbook prescribed for senior high school in Indonesia which is officially published by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2017. The data include 11 conversations, 17 reading texts, and 83 visual elements that are analysed qualitatively by employing Byram’s checklist. The findings show that stereotypes and national identity dominate the cultural dimensions with 28.05% and followed by social interaction and socialisation and life cycle with 15.9%. The occurrence of national geography is significant with 12.2%. However, social identity and social group, belief and behaviour, national history and social and political institutions are prescribed with less than 10%. The inclusion of various cultural dimensions has certain purposes. The inclusion of national identity, for instance, is pivotal for learners since the textbook is prescribed for senior high school students who are tremendously curious to determine their characters. This idea is aligned with the aim of the curriculum to facilitate the development of students with good character, good behaviour and strong nationality. It is concluded that the English textbook in Indonesia is on the way to its perfection in terms of proportionally represented cultural dimensions. However, the presence of various cultural aspects of the target culture and international target culture is also important to help students develop cultural competence and a certain level of respect as well as tolerance for others. Keywords : Textbook, cultural dimensions, cultural competence, national identity","PeriodicalId":40585,"journal":{"name":"REGISTER Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2020-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46749605","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Considering its influential role in students’ behavior and attitudes , a t extbook has to reflect balanced images and information about males and females. It also has to support broad choices and many roles for both sexes to avoid unjust or bias gender issues . This study aimed at examining whether an EFL textbook published by the Indonesian government p romotes gender equity by (1) mapping the proportion of textual and visual representation of males and females in the textbook; (2) describing how males and females are treated in the textbook. Through content analysis, the study revealed that the book is gender-biased as indicated from unbalanced (1) textual and visual representation (2) variety of activity, role, and occupation, (3) order of mention, and (4) adjectival portrayal. In all indicators, the female is underrepresented, hidden, and framed within traditional gender stereotyping. Reflecting on these findings, revision by the government and/ or careful treatment by teachers when using the book are ushered. Keywords : bias , content analysis, gender representation, gender stereotype, textbook .
{"title":"Examining Gender Representation in an Indonesian EFL Textbook","authors":"Zango Anisa Agni, Endang Setyaningsih, Teguh Sarosa","doi":"10.18326/rgt.v13i1.183-207","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18326/rgt.v13i1.183-207","url":null,"abstract":"Considering its influential role in students’ behavior and attitudes , a t extbook has to reflect balanced images and information about males and females. It also has to support broad choices and many roles for both sexes to avoid unjust or bias gender issues . This study aimed at examining whether an EFL textbook published by the Indonesian government p romotes gender equity by (1) mapping the proportion of textual and visual representation of males and females in the textbook; (2) describing how males and females are treated in the textbook. Through content analysis, the study revealed that the book is gender-biased as indicated from unbalanced (1) textual and visual representation (2) variety of activity, role, and occupation, (3) order of mention, and (4) adjectival portrayal. In all indicators, the female is underrepresented, hidden, and framed within traditional gender stereotyping. Reflecting on these findings, revision by the government and/ or careful treatment by teachers when using the book are ushered. Keywords : bias , content analysis, gender representation, gender stereotype, textbook .","PeriodicalId":40585,"journal":{"name":"REGISTER Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2020-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43641327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}