Four Ebooks about Educational Research

    Four Ebooks about Educational Research

                           Written by Ari Julianto


Within the realm of educational planning, many things are always changing: the structure of the education system, curriculum and textbook s, modes of teaching , methods of teacher training, the amount and type of provisions to schools such as science laboratories, textbooks, furniture, classroom supplies, and so on. These changes may lead to an improvement, a worsening even sometimes they may result in no impact upon the quality of an educational system.Thus, we need educational research or research in education.

In writing a skripsi or thesis in educational research, you need some educational reseacrh books as your guide or reference. Today, I would like to share four of my ebook collections in educational research in the hope that these ebooks will help you in finishing your skripsi or thesis.

1. Doing Educational Research by Geoffrey Walford

This book collects together semi-autobiographical accounts of the research of thirteen major educationists, all of whom have been involved in prominent and influential projects. In recounting the ways in which their work was conducted, the authors focus on the practical and personal aspects of the research process, which are so often overlooked in conventional accounts. Coping with the complicated and the unpredictable emerges as a keynote in these descriptions of the reality of educational research.



If you are interested in it, you can download it (size 826 KB) HERE.
If you find the link error, you may contact me personally via email: mr.ari69@gmail.com
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2.Educational Research Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research by John W. Creswell

Both the research process and design chapters offer the researcher step-by-step guidance in the basic aspects of planning, conducting, and evaluating research. A number of features guide readers through the steps and procedures of research. For example, a fictional beginning researcher, Maria, who is also a high school teacher and new graduate student,
is followed throughout part II and part III to illustrate one researcher’s efforts and to provide students with a realistic perspective of the process of research and the selection of specific research designs.

If you are interested in it, you can download it (size 8.7 MB) HERE. 
If you find the link error, you may contact me personally via email: mr.ari69@gmail.com
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3. Research Methods in Education by Cohen et al

This book continues to be received very favourably worldwide and is the standard text for many courses in research methods. It contains much new material, including a completely new part on data analysis. This means that the book now covers all stages of educational research, from planning and design, through data collection to data analysis and reporting. While retaining the best features of the former edition, the reshaping, updating and new additions undertaken for this new volume now mean that the book covers a greater spread of issues than the previous editions.


If you are interested in it, you can download it (size 5 MB) HERE.
If you find the link error, you may contact me personally via email: mr.ari69@gmail.com
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4.Research In Education by John W. Best and James V. Kahn

This book is meant to be used as a research reference or as a text in an introductory course in research methods. It is appropriate for graduate students enrolled in a research seminar, for those writing a thesis or dissertation, or for those who carry on research as a professional activity. All professional workers should be familiar with the methods of research and the analysis of data. If only as consumers, professionals should understand some of the techniques used in identifying problems, forming hypotheses, constructing and using data-gathering instruments, designing research studies, and employing statistical procedures to analyze data. They should also be able to use this information to interpret and critically analyze research reports that appear in professional journals and other publications.

If you are interested in it, you can download it (size 2.8MB) HERE.
If you find the link error, you may contact me personally via email: mr.ari69@gmail.com
(Jika link ini tidak berlaku, silakan hubungi saya via email: mr.ari69@gmail.com)

I hope today's posting will be useful for all of us. Amien.

RELATED POSTINGS
http://skripsi-fkip-inggris.blogspot.com/2013/10/three-ebooks-about-research-methods.html

http://skripsi-fkip-inggris.blogspot.com/2013/09/two-ebooks-about-statistics-for-research.html

http://skripsi-fkip-inggris.blogspot.com/2013/08/four-ebooks-for-academic-writing-guide.html

http://skripsi-fkip-inggris.blogspot.com/2013/07/four-ebooks-about-writing-thesis-guide.html

Kata 'Skripsi' atau 'Thesis'

Kata 'Skripsi' atau 'Thesis'
(Tinjauan pada Sampul Skripsi FKIP Bahasa Inggris)


Written by Ari Julianto

Ketika melihat sejumlah sampul (cover) skripsi FKIP Bahasa Inggris di berbagai perguruan tinggi, mata saya tertuju pada kata THESIS untuk menyatakan karya tulis sarjana strata 1. Namun, di lain cover saya menemukan kata SKRIPSI pada sampul skripsi para mahasiswa.

Mengingat FKIP Bahasa Inggris harus menggunakan Bahasa Inggris untuk setiap karya tulisnya, maka kebingungan muncul apakah kata SKRIPSI harus diterjemahkan menjadi THESIS atau tidak. Jika tugas akhir S1 menggunakan istilah THESIS, lalu bagaimana dengan S2 ? Jika S1 dan S2 sama-sama menggunakan istilah THESIS, maka akan ada kerancuan ketika seorang mahasiswa S1 menyatakan kalimat seperti "I am preparing my Thesis". Asumsi orang yang mendengarnya si mahasiswa tersebut sedang di akhir perkuliahan S2 padahal sebenarnya tidak.

Umumnya, ketika kata THESIS digunakan oleh mahasiswa pada cover skripsinya, diperjelas dengan kalimat seperti "Submitted in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan (S.Pd.) in English Education Program".

Menurut padangannya saya, hanya Indonesia saja yang menggunakan kata SKRIPSI untuk merujuk karya tulis ilmiah berupa tugas akhir S1. Kata SKRIPSI didefinisikan KBBI sebagai "Karangan ilmiah yang wajib ditulis oleh mahasiswa sebagai bagian dari persyaratan akhir pendidikan akademisnya untuk meraih gelar sarjana".

Sedangkan KBBI mendefinisikan TESIS (Ing. THESIS) sebagai "1. pernyataan atau teori yang didukung oleh argumen yg dikemukakan dalam karangan; untuk mendapatkan gelar kesarjanaan pada perguruan tinggi; 2. karangan ilmiah yang ditulis untuk mendapatkan gelar kesarjanaan pd suatu universitas (perguruan tinggi)".

Sistim pendidikan di Indonesia mengenal istilah SARJANA. Sarjana (dari bahasa Sanskerta, dalam bahasa Inggris: Undergraduate) adalah gelar akademik yang diberikan kepada lulusan program pendidikan sarjana (S-1). Untuk mendapatkan gelar sarjana. Secara normatif dibutuhkan waktu selama 4 (empat) sampai 6 (enam) tahun, tapi ada juga yang menyelesaikannya dalam 3,5 (tiga setengah) tahun ataupun lebih dari 6 (enam) tahun. Hal tersebut tergantung dari kebijakan dari perguruan tinggi yang ditetapkan.

Gelar akademik atau gelar akademis adalah gelar yang diberikan kepada lulusan pendidikan akademik bidang studi tertentu dari suatu perguruan tinggi. Gelar akademik kadangkala disebut dengan istilahnya dalam bahasa Belanda yaitu titel (dari bahasa Latin titulus). Gelar akademik terdiri dari sarjana (bachelor), magister (master), dan doktor (doctor).

Sebelum tahun 1993, gelar sarjana yang ada di Indonesia antara lain Doktorandus (Drs.), Doktoranda (Dra.), dan Insinyur (Ir.). Di beberapa negara lain, lulusan beberapa program pendidikan magister (S-2) dan doktor (S-3) juga masih dianugerahi dengan gelar sarjana. Contohnya di Universitas Oxford yang memberikan gelar Sarjana Hukum Sipil, Sarjana Filsafat, Sarjana Seni Musik.

Kembali pada penggunaan SKRIPSI dan THESIS untuk FKIP Bahasa Inggris. Sebenarnya, permasalahan utama adalah "What is the English word for SKRIPSI?" Ada beberapa jawaban dari para profesor dan pakar yang diberikan kepada saya dan akhirnya saya mengambil kesimpulan sebagai berikut.

1. Kata SKRIPSI tetap diterjemahkan menjadi SKRIPSI guna menghindari salah penafsiran untuk karya S2 THESIS,

2. Boleh diterjemahkan menjadi THESIS asalkan dengan syarat diberi penegasan "Submitted in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan (S.Pd.) in English Education Program".

3. Untuk yang ketiga ini, saya mendapatkan masukan dari sejumlah rekan yang mengusulkan agar kata SKRIPSI diterjemahkan ke Bahasa Inggris menjadi RESEARCH PAPER. Sejauh ini, saya belum mengaminkan penggunaan istilah tersebut mengingat kata RESEARCH PAPER cukup luas dan sudah mencakup tugas akhir penulisan S1 serta S2.


Demikianlah pembahasan kali ini. Semoga bermanfaat. Amin.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Experimental Research in Education

                                    Advantages and Disadvantages 
                            of Experimental Research in Education

 
Written by Daniel Muijs in Doing Quantitative Research in Education with SPSS. 2004. London. SAGE Publications Ltd. pp 22-26.


I. Advantages
One of the things we are often trying to do in quantitative research is determine what causes what – what is cause and what is effect. Often when talking about the results of research, the term ‘cause’ is used both frequently and loosely, e.g. ‘an overly academic curriculum is a cause of pupil disaffection’.Many studies want to determine causes, and policy frequently wants to address causes of perceived problems (e.g. ‘the causes of crime’).

In experimental studies the researcher is manipulating the treatment so we can be certain of the time sequence. Likewise, the problem of extraneous variables causing a relationship is less strong in experimental research than in any other type of research because the experimenter can control the environment and ensure that as few extraneous factors are involved as possible, as we saw in the section on how to design experiments.

Does this mean that when we do an experiment and find a significant result, we can be certain of cause and effect? This is clearly not the case, for the following reasons:

1. Results from a single experiment may be due to chance. Only if research is replicated, i.e. the findings are repeated in different studies using different participants, preferably in slightly different settings, can we be certain of this.
2. It is always possible that findings are caused by an extraneous factor that we haven’t thought of when setting up our experiment.
3. We are creating an artificial situation. Therefore the question remains: do these effects occur in real-life
situations?

II. Disadvantages
 This leads us to some of the weaknesses of the experimental approach. The laboratory set-up is always an artificial one, and the correspondence to real-life situations can be questionable. How applicable are the results of experiments to real-life educational situations? Here, the control that is an advantage of the experimental method becomes a disadvantage.

In everyday settings, any causal effect found in an experimental setting is likely to be influenced by a whole load of contextual factors and influences which will tend to make the relationship far less predictable than in a laboratory setting.

Remember, for example, the study on the effect of violent video games  While in an experimental study we may find an effect of watching these videos on children’s behaviour, it is rare that children will be in a situation in which the video will be the only influence on their behaviour. When they are actually playing at school, for example, interactions with peers, school rules, weather, etc. will all influence their behaviour as well.

If we look at the other example about presentation of material in animated form, we would have to question whether this effect really matters in practice, or if it is so small that it makes no real difference to learning in classroom situations compared to other factors (such as teacher interactions).

Transferability is clearly an issue in educational experimental research.Another problem with experimental research is that it can be difficult to put into practice in educational settings. Consider, for example, the issue of evaluating educational programmes and initiatives. We might want to do this using an experimental design because we want to see whether he intervention has caused an improvement in the school. We might want to develop an intervention to improve the reading performance of pupils and would involve randomly assigning pupils to the treatment and control groups in the school in which the experiment is taking place.

This is often problematic in practice. Teachers and parents will be unlikely to be overly keen on this type of design, and there are obvious ethical issues in allowing one group of pupils to receive an intervention that we think/hope is effective while other pupils do not receive this intervention.

In practical terms, realigning timetables etc. to facilitate the experimental design is also difficult. The difficulties are even larger when one is doing an experiment in a number of schools.A further problem occurs when we are implementing an intervention that is specifically designed to take place in a classroom, such as a new teaching method. Obviously, there would

be problems in trying to randomly allocate pupils to teachers who did and did not implement the intervention. As in the example above, this would be disruptive to the school, and lead to possible ethical issues as well as potentially to complaints from parents. Another major problem would be the lack of control over the environment.

In a classroom situation, there is a whole variety of other influences that may affect outcomes, making it difficult to ascribe effects to the intervention. The teachers may be differentially effective, peers may influence each other, and so on. However, taking the intervention out of the classroom and putting it in the laboratory might make the results suspect with regards to transferability. If an intervention is supposed to work in the classroom, testing it in an artificial laboratory environment often would not seem sensible. Because of these problems, educational interventions in schools are typically evaluated using quasi-experimental designs.

Kepekaan Terhadap Masalah, Modal Membuat Skripsi

Kepekaan Terhadap Masalah, Modal Membuat Skripsi
 

Written by Ari Julianto
 
Pada postingan kali ini saya ingin mengangkat tema 'kepekaan terhadap suatu masalah'. Masalah yang dimaksudkan disini adalah segala bentuk fenomena yang muncul dalam kehidupan sekitar kita baik perseorangan pada khususnya maupun masyarakat pada umumnya.  
Masalah bisa ditemukan dimana-mana dalam segala bentuk kehidupan kita. Sebenarnya kejelian dan kepekaan Anda terhadap masalah yang muncul bisa Anda angkat untuk menjadi topik skripsi Anda. Apa yang kini tengah menjadi 'fenomena' dan 'trend' dalam masyarakat kita, bisa diusulkan untuk menjadi topik sebuah penelitian atau skripsi.

Peka terhadap masalah yang tengah terjadi bisa menghindari judul skripsi Anda disebut kedaluarsa (outdated). Hal tersebut disebabkan masalah yang Anda ajukan sudah pernah diteliti dan hasilnya sudah diketahui banyak orang.Oleh karena itu, memilih judul skripsi yang updated memerlukan kejelian dan kepekaan terhadap masalah yang sedang berkembang.

Masalah yang harus Anda perhatikan sudah tentu disesuaikan dengan latar belakang pendidikan Anda. Jika Anda di bidang pendidikan sudah tentu masalah pendidikanlah yang menjadi sorotan Anda dan sebagainya. Di bawah ini saya mencoba "mencubit" pemikiran Anda untuk mempertimbangkan masalah-masalah yang muncul di kehidupan kita. Saya hanya menyajikan beberapa contoh di bidang kejurusan saja secara umum dan bukan ke spesifik. Tapi ingat, permasalahan ini untuk beberapa tahun ke depan mungkin statusnya sudah outdated.

1. Ekonomi
- Belakangan ini banyak mini market franchaise seperti Indomaret, Alfamart dan sebagainya menjamur dimana-mana bahkan di satu jalan bisa muncul mini market franchaise. Anda bisa mengangkat 'dampaknya', 'hubungannya', 'studi kasus'dan lain sebagainya.

-Kebijakan sebuah perusahaan untuk mengenakan 'batik nasional' di setiap perkantoran dan instansi. Anda bisa mengangkat 'dampaknya terhadap penjual toko batik, penjahit pakaian dan sebagainya', 'apakah ada hubungannya dengan kinerja atau kenyamanan bekerja para karyawan?" dan masih banyak lagi masalah lainnya.

2. Pendidikan
- Penerapan kurikulum 2013 sudah mulai diberlakukan. Anda bisa mengangkat masalah 'efektifitas', 'komparatif studi kurikulum kini dan sekarang' dan lain sebagainya.

- Seringnya berganti nama untuk 'Ujian Akhir' setiap jenjang pendidikan membuat sejumlah masyarakat kewalahan. Berawal dari UJIAN NEGARA, UJIAN SEKOLAH, EBTANAS, UAN, dan UN bahkan sejumlah orang tua kini masih menyebutnya sebagai EBTANAS. Belum lagi pro dan kontra soal keberadaan sistim tersebut. Banyak masalah yang bisa Anda angkat dalam topik ini.

3. Agama Islam
- Belakangan ini banyak para dai atau ustadj muda dan baru yang bermunculan di media televisi. Ketenaran mereka bahkan mengimbangi para selebriti. Anda bisa menganalisis sepak terjang mereka apakah mereka benar-benar menyampaikan dakwah syiar Islam atau mencari popularitas.

- Fenomena atau trend para muallaf baik dari lokal maupun mancanegara belakangan ini sering terjadi. Anda bisa menganailisa apa yang menjadi 'motivasi' mereka untuk memilih Islam sebagai agama mereka. Dan masih banyak masalah lain yang bisa diangkat untuk dijadikan topik.

4. Sastra
- Karya-karya sastra dalam bentuk novel sudah banyak diangkat ke layar lebar baik novel hasil karya penulis Indonesia maupun dari luar negeri. Anda bisa menganalisis studi komparatif karya di novel dan di film.

- Para remaja kini digandrungi dengan K-POP asal Korea. Mereka bahkan mampu menghapal lirik-lirik lagu berbahasa Korea tanpa mengetahui arti lirik yang mereka nyanyikan. Anda bisa menganalisis apa kandungan lirik-lirik lagu K-POP yang terpopuler. Atau Anda bisa 'study komparatif' tema lirik lagu K-POP denan POP Indonesia.

Untuk sementara hanya bahasan ini saja yang bisa saya kemukakan mengingat keterbatasan waktu dan tempat dalam postingan saya. Sebagai kesimpulan, kepekaan Anda terhadap masalah yang muncul di kehidupan kita memang bisa menjadi modal sebagai penentuan judul skripsi Anda.

Namun ingat, ada beberapa faktor yang bisa mempengaruhi kepekaan Anda terhadap suatu masalah, antara lain:
1.Program Akademik, yakni pendalaman terhadap bidang yang dikajinya.
2. Spesialisasi, yakni keahlian khusus pada suatu bidang menentukan kepekaan terhadap suatu masalah yang dikuasainya.
3. Analisis, yakni usaha untuk mencari informasi sebanyak-banyaknya dan menganalisa persoalan dengan baik dan mengamati dengan cermat.
4. Bahan Bacaan, yakni dengan banyak membaca maka akan meningkatkan pengetahuan seseorang dan akan menangkap informasi teoritis, konsep dan generalisasi yang bisa meningkatkan wawasan.

Demikianlah pembahasan kali ini. Semoga bermanfaat. Amin.

Four Ebooks for Academic Writing Guide

   Four Ebooks for Academic Writing Guide
                                       Written by Ari Julianto

We are both experienced in the process of academic writing within our own disciplines and have worked with academic writers for many years. During this time, we have identified a range of common fears and problems that people bring to the academic writing process.

Today's posting (my 123rd posting) I would like to share four of my ebook collections to you in the hope that these books will be used as your research writing reference and also as your input materials in understanding academic writing.

1. Academic Writing, A Handbook for International Students by Stephen Bailey

This handbook has been fully revised to help students reach this goal. This book is Clearly organised and the course explains the writing process from start to finish. Each stage is demonstrated and practised, from selecting suitable sources, reading, notemaking and planning through to re-writing and proof-reading.The four main parts of this handbook allow teachers and students to easily find the help they need. Each part is divided into short sections,which contain examples, explanations and exercises, for use in the classroom or self-study. Cross-references allow easy access to relevant sections, and a full answer key is featured on the companion website.The book includes sections on crucial areas such as argument, cause and effect, comparison, definitions and academic style. Working in groups,dealing with graphs, charts and numbers and giving examples are explained in detail.

If you are interested you can download it (size 2.4MB) HERE
If you find the link error, you may contact me personally via email: mr.ari69@gmail.com
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2. The Handbook of Academic Writing, A Fresh Approach by Rowena Murray and Sarah Moore

This 191 pages book engages in that analysis in order to provide an empowering framework for academic writers. It aims to help you to develop effective approaches to your own writing challenges. It offers insights and lessons that we think will be Particularly useful for those who are new to the academic environment, but will also help with the re-conceptualization of writing-related issues for those who have been operating in academic environments for some time.

If you are interested you can download it (size 875KB) HERE
If you find the link error, you may contact me personally via email: mr.ari69@gmail.com
(Jika link ini tidak berlaku, silakan hubungi saya via email: mr.ari69@gmail.com)



3. English Academic Writing for Students and Researchers by Yakhontova T.V

Although this handbook is intended to Ukrainian students, this handbook is written in English and useful for those who need writing research guide. There are 12 units in this book that discuss about English as the World Language of Research and Education, Thinking about Writing, English Academic Style and Language, Important Features and Elements of Academic Texts, Summaries, Research Papers, Research Paper abstracts, Conference Abstracts, Reviews, Research Projects, CVs and Bio-data and Letters.

If you are interested you can download it (size 1.1MB) HERE 
If you find the link error, you may contact me personally via email: mr.ari69@gmail.com
(Jika link ini tidak berlaku, silakan hubungi saya via email: mr.ari69@gmail.com)



4. Teaching and Researching Writing by Ken Hyland

This book seeks to identify and survey the frameworks, setting out the dominant paradigms, exploring their key concepts, elaborating some applications of writing research, raising some important researchable issues, and providing a compendium of resources on writing.The intention behind the book also remains the same: to introduce readers to current thinking about writing: what we know of it,how we study it and how we teach it.
The aim of the author is to provide a clear and critical introduction to the field of writing research and teaching.

If you are interested you can download it (size 2.4MB) HERE
If you find the link error, you may contact me personally via email: mr.ari69@gmail.com
(Jika link ini tidak berlaku, silakan hubungi saya via email: mr.ari69@gmail.com)

I hope today's posting will be useful for all of us. Amien.

RELATED POSTINGS 
http://skripsi-fkip-inggris.blogspot.com/2013/10/three-ebooks-about-research-methods.html

http://skripsi-fkip-inggris.blogspot.com/2013/09/two-ebooks-about-statistics-for-research.html

http://skripsi-fkip-inggris.blogspot.com/2013/09/four-ebooks-about-educational-research.html

http://skripsi-fkip-inggris.blogspot.com/2013/07/four-ebooks-about-writing-thesis-guide.html

Testing Language Skills for Educational Research

Testing Language Skills for Educational Research

Written by Ari Julianto



In conducting educational research, one of the instruments mostly used by researchers is a test. The test in educational research usually is an achievement test. It means that a test where the individual's grade is a measure of how  well he or she did on comparison with a large group of test takers.

In educational research based on the problem of the research, the researcher commonly use a test as the instrument of the research. Creswell (2012: 151) states that instrument is a tool for measuring, observing, or documenting quantitative data.

I. Definition of Test
According to Richards and Scmidt (2002: 546) a test is defines as any procedure for measuring ability, knowledge, or performance. They add that test item is a question or element in a test that requires an answer or response.

Meanwhile OOsterhof (2003: 7) defines a test as any vehicle used to obser that attribute, and includes writtemn tests, performance assessment, portfolio systems, and casual observations and questions. A test score is an indication of what is observed through the test and can be quantitative or qualitative i nature.

II. Four Language Skills
In many situations where English is taught for general purposes, the four skills should be carefully integrated and used to perform as many genuinely  communicative tasks as possible. Where this is the case, it is important for the test writer to concentrate on those types of test items which appear directly relevant to the ability to use language for real-life communication, especially in oral interaction.

Thus, questions which test the ability to understand and respond appropriately to polite requests, advice, instructions, etc. would be preferred to tests of reading aloud or telling stories.
In the written section of a test, questions requiring students to write letters, memos, reports and messages would be used in place of many of the more traditional compositions used in the past.

The Four major skills in communicating through language are often broadly defined as listening, speaking, reading and writing. In listening and reading test, questions in which students show their ability to extract specific information of a practical nature would be preferred to questions testing the comprehension of unimportant and irrelevant details. A test of reading now being used to provide the basis for a related test of writing or speaking.

Heaton (1990: 8) describes that ways of assessing performance in the four major skills may take the form of tests of:

1. Listening
Listening (auditory) comprehension, in which short utterances, dialogues, talks and lectures are given to the testees. Listening comprehension is the receptive skill in the oral mode. When we speak of listening what we really mean is listening and understanding what we hear. In our first language, we have all the skills and background knowledge we need to understand what we hear, so we probably aren't even aware of how complex a process it is. Here we will briefly describe some of what is involved in learning to understand what we hear in a second language.

Richards (1983, cited in Omaggio, 1986, p. 126) proposes that the following are the micro-skills involved in understanding what someone says to us. The listener has to:
- retain chunks of language in short-term memory
- discriminate among the distinctive sounds in the new language
- recognize stress and rhythm patterns, tone patterns,intonational contours.
- recognize reduced forms of words
- distinguish word boundaries
- recognize typical word-order patterns
- recognize vocabulary
- detect key words, such as those identifying topics and ideas
- guess meaning from context
- recognize grammatical word classes
- recognize basic syntactic patterns
- recognize cohesive devices
- detect sentence constituents, such as subject, verb, object, -prepositions, and the like.

2. Speaking
Speaking ability,usually in the form of an interview, a picture description, role play- and a problem-solving task involving pair work or group work. Speaking is the productive skill in the oral mode. It, like the other skills, is more complicated than it seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing words.
Here are some of the micro-skills involved in speaking. The speaker has to:
     
- pronounce the distinctive sounds of a language clearly enough so that people can distinguish them. This includes making tonal distinctions.
- use stress and rhythmic patterns, and intonation patterns of the language clearly enough so that people can understand what is said.
- use the correct forms of words. This may mean, for example, changes in the tense, case, or gender.
- put words together in correct word order.
- use vocabulary appropriately.
- use the register or language variety that is appropriate to the situation and the relationship to the conversation partner.
- make clear to the listener the main sentence constituents, such as subject, verb, object, by whatever means the language uses.
- make the main ideas stand out from supporting ideas or information.
- make the discourse hang together so that people can follow what you are saying.

3. Reading
Reading comprehension, in which questions are set to test the students' ability to understand the gist of a text and to extract key information on specific points in the text. Reading is the receptive skill in the written mode. It can develop independently of listening and speaking skills, but often develops along with them, especially in societies with a highly-developed literary tradition. Reading can help build vocabulary that helps listening comprehension at the later stages, particularly.
Here are some of the micro-skills involved in reading. The reader has to:
     
- decipher the script. In an alphabetic system or a syllabary, this means establishing a relationship between sounds and symbols. In a pictograph system, it means associating the meaning of the words with written symbols.
- recognize vocabulary.
- pick out key words, such as those identifying topics and main ideas.
- figure out the meaning of the words, including unfamiliar vocabulary, from the (written) context.
- recognize grammatical word classes: noun, adjective, etc.
- detect sentence constituents, such as subject, verb, object, prepositions, etc.
- recognize basic syntactic patterns.
- reconstruct and infer situations, goals and participants.
- use both knowledge of the world and lexical and grammatical cohesive devices to make the foregoing inferences, predict outcomes, and infer links and connections among the parts of the text.
- get the main point or the most important information.
- distinguish the main idea from supporting details.
- adjust reading strategies to different reading purposes, such as skimming for main ideas or studying in-depth.

4. Writing
Writing ability, usually in the form of letters, reports, memos, messages, instructions, and accounts of past events, etc. It is the test constructor's task to assess the relative importance of these skills at the various levels and to devise an accurate means of measuring the student's success in developing these skills. Writing is the productive skill in the written mode. It, too, is more complicated than it seems at first, and often seems to be the hardest of the skills, even for native speakers of a language, since it involves not just a graphic representation of speech, but the development and presentation of thoughts in a structured way.

Here are some of the micro-skills involved in writing. The writer needs to:
 - use the orthography correctly, including the script, and spelling and punctuation conventions.
- use the correct forms of words. This may mean using forms that express the right tense, or case or gender.
- put words together in correct word order.
- use vocabulary correctly.
- use the style appropriate to the genre and audience.
- make the main sentence constituents, such as subject, verb, and object, clear to the reader.
- make the main ideas distinct from supporting ideas or information.
- make the text coherent, so that other people can follow the development of the ideas.
- judge how much background knowledge the audience has on the subject and make clear what it is assumed they don't know.

Tests often play a significant role in the overall assessment of students’ learning. Therefore, as instructors, it essential that we pay particular attention to the manner in which we construct these instruments. Remember to always keep our course goals and learning objectives at the forefront of our mind as we begin to determine what kind of test is the best measure of our students’ learning as the object of the research.

I hope today's posting will be useful for all of us. Amien.

Reference
Richards, Jack C. and Richard Schmidt. 2002. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. London. Pearson Education Limited.

OOsterhof, Albert. 2003. Developing and Using Classroom Assessments. New Jersey:Pearson Education Limited.

Creswell, John W. 2012. Educational Research Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Boston: Pearson Education Limited.

Omaggio, A. C. 1986. Teaching Language in Context. Proficiency-oriented Instruction.Boston: Heinle and Heinle.

Heaton, JB. 1990.  Classroom Testing. New York: Longman.

Some other related sources

Useful Phrases in Writing A Skripsi/Thesis

Useful Phrases in Writing A Skripsi/Thesis

Collected by Ari Julianto


We are supposed to use technical and professional language in writing our skripsi/thesis, but there are certain words and phrases that can add up to the overall positive effect of our paper and make it look like a uniform piece of writing rather than just a pile of fancy words and technical phrases. Below I have collected some useful phrases that will help you to unify your paper.

1. The Purpose
- Part of the aim of this research is to develop software that is compatible with X operating system.
- The main purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of ....
- There are two primary aims of this study: 1. To investigate .... 2. To ascertain ....
- The aim of this research has therefore been to try and establish what ....
- The aim of this study is to investigate the differences between .....
- The main aim of this investigation is to assess the doses and risks associated with ....
- This thesis intends to determine the extent to which .... and whether ....
- This thesis will examine the way in which the ....
- This research examines the emerging role of X in the context of....
- This research seeks to explain the development of ....
- This case study seeks to examine the changing nature of .....
- Drawing upon two stands of research into X, this study attempts to ....
- The aim of this study is to shine new light on these debates through an examination of ....
- The major objective of this study was to investigate .....
- One purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which these factors were ....
- The objectives of this research are to determine ....
- This study therefore set out to assess the effect of management by ...., and the effect of ....
- This study systematically reviews the data for...., aiming to provide clarity surrounding the role of …..

2. The Issue
- This study is an attempt to address the issue of ....
- In the present study, the issue under scrutiny is ....
- The issue of whether ....is clouded by the fact that ....
- To portray the issue in (X)‘s terms, ....
- Given the centrality of this issue to (my claim), I will now ....
- This research is concerned with the issue of (how/whether/what) ....

3.The Evidence
- The available evidence seems to suggest that ..../point to ....
- On the basis of the evidence currently available, it seems fair to suggest that ....
- There is overwhelming evidence corroborating the notion that ....
- Further evidence supporting/against (X) may lie in the findings of (Y), who ....
- These results provide confirmatory evidence that ....

4. Problem of Study
- However, these rapid changes are having a serious effect ....
- However, a major problem with this kind of application is ....
- Lack of X has existed as a health problem for many years.
- Despite its safety and efficacy, X suffers from several major drawbacks:
- However, research has consistently shown that first year students have not attained an adequate understanding of ....
- There is increasing concern that some Xs are being disadvantaged ....
- Despite its long clinical success, X has a number of problems in use.
- Questions have been raised about the safety of prolonged use of....
- However, the main issue with this solution is....
- Despite the positive aspects, it has some major issues.
- There are some grave concerns that....

5. Scope and Limitations
- Due to practical constraints, this paper cannot provide a comprehensive review of ....
- It is beyond the scope of this study to examine the ....
- The reader should bear in mind that the study is based on ....
- Another potential problem is that the scope of my thesis may be too broad.
- A full discussion of X lies beyond the scope of this study.

6. Significance of the Study
- We develop theory to explain how...
- Our most important contribution is...
- This study advances our understanding of...
- To date, no systematic investigation has considered...
- We examine how organizations use [insert text] to overcome...
- Recent developments in X have heightened the need for ....
- In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in ....
- In the arena of X , there has been a recent surge in interest and research.
- Recent developments in the field of X have led to a renewed interest in ....
- Recently, researchers have shown an increased interest in ....
- Since 1949 the submarine area off X has undergone intensive investigation ....
- The past decade has seen the rapid development and diffusion of X in many ....
- The past thirty years have seen increasingly rapid advances in the field of.....
- Over the past century there has been a dramatic increase in ....
- In the past two decades a number of researchers have sought to determine .....
- X proved an important literary genre in the early Y community.
- One of the most important events of the 1970s was ....
- Traditionally, Xs have subscribed to the belief that ....

7. Research Questions (Hypotheses)
- The central question in this dissertation asks how ....
- In particular, this dissertation will examine six main research questions:
- The hypothesis that will be tested is that ....
- The key research question of this study was thus whether or not....
- This study aimed to address the following research questions:Another question is whether ....

 8. Review of Literature
- Recently investigators have examined the effects of X on Y.
- In the past two decades a number of researchers have sought to determine ....
- Previous studies have reported ....
- A considerable amount of literature has been published on X. - These studies ....
- Smith (1984: 217) shows how, in the past, research into X was mainly concerned with ....
- Surveys such as that conducted by Smith (1988) showed that ....
- The first serious discussions and analyses of X emerged during the 1970s with ....
- Recent evidence suggests that ....
- Several attempts have been made to ....
- A number of researchers have reported ....
- Xs were reported in the first models of Y (e.g., Smith, 1977; Smith, & Patel, 1977).
- What we know about X is largely based upon empirical studies that investigate how ....
- Studies of X show the importance of ....

9. Previous (Related) Studies
- Most studies in the field of X have only focused on ....
- Most studies in X have only been carried out in a small number of areas.
- The generalisability of much published research on this issue is problematic.
- The experimental data are rather controversial, and there is no general agreement about ....
- Such expositions are unsatisfactory because they ....
- However, few writers have been able to draw on any structured research into the opinions of .....
- The research to date has tended to focus on X rather than Y.
- The existing accounts fail to resolve the contradiction between X and Y.
- Researchers have not treated X in much detail.
- Previous studies of X have not dealt with ....
- Half of the studies evaluated failed to specify whether ....
- However, much of the research up to now has been descriptive in nature ….
- Although extensive research has been carried out on X, no single  study exists which adequately covers ....
- However, these results were based upon data from over 30 years ago and it is unclear if these differences still persist.
- X's analysis does not take account of .... nor does he examine ....

10. Method of Research/Sources of Data
- This study follows a case-study design, with in-depth analysis of ....
- This study was exploratory and interpretative in nature.
- The approach to empirical research adopted for this study was one of a qualitative, semi-structured interview methodology.
- By employing qualitative modes of inquiry, I attempt to illuminate the ....
- This work takes the form of a case-study of the ....
- Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this investigation.
- Qualitative and quantitative research designs were adopted to provide both descriptive, interpretive and  empirical data.
- A holistic approach is utilized, integrating literary, humanistic and archaeological material to establish ....
- The research data in this thesis is drawn from four main sources: ....
- The study was conducted in the form of a survey, with data being  gathered via ....

(Taken from any sources)

I hope today's posting will be useful for all of us. Amien.

Penelitian Komparatif Ex Post Facto

Penelitian Komparatif Ex Post Facto

Written by Ari Julianto






I. Pengertian
 Penelitian penelitian kausal komparatif bersifat ex post facto menurut Suryabrata (2006) adalah data yang dikumpulkan setelah semua kejadian yang dipersoalkan berlangsung (terjadi). Peneliti mengambil satu atau lebih akibat (sebagai dependent variables) dan menguji data itu dengan menelusuri kembali ke masa lalu untuk mencari sebab-sebab, saling hubungan dan maknanya.

Sementara menurut Sukmadinata (2010), penelitian ex post facto adalah penelitian yang meneliti hubungan sebab akibat yang tidak dimanipulasi atau diberi perlakuan (dirancang dan dilaksanakan) oleh peneliti. Penelitian hubungan sebab akibat dilakukan terhadap program, kegiatan atau kejadian yang telah berlangsung atau telah terjadi. Adanya hubungan sebab akibat didasarkan atas kajian teoretis, bahwa sesuatu variabel disebabkan atau dilatar-belakangi oleh variabel tertentu atau mengakibatkan variabel tertentu.

Penelitian ex post facto mirip dengan penelitian eksperimen, tetapi tidak ada pengontrolan variabel, dan biasanya juga tidak ada pre-test. Penelitian ini dapat dilakukan dengan baik melalui penggunaan kelompok pembanding.

2. Tujuan
Tujuan dari penelitian kausal-komparatif adalah untuk menyelidiki kemungkinan hubungan sebab-akibat dengan cara berdasar atas pengamatan terhadap akibat yang ada dan mencari kembali faktor yang mungkin menjadi penyebab melalui data tertentu. Hal ini berlainan dengan metode eksperimental yang mengumpulkan datanya pada waktu kini dalam kondisi yang dikontrol.

3. Langkah-langkah
Menurut Suryabrata (2006) langkah-langkah penelitian ini dapat dilakukan antara lain
(1)Mendefinisikan masalah,
(2) Melakukan kajian kepustakaan,
(3) Merumuskan hipotesis-hipotesis,
4. Merumuskan asumsi-asumsi yang mendasari hipotesis-hipotesis itu serta prosedur-prosedur yang akan digunakan

4. Rancangan pendekatan
(1) Memilih subjek-subjek yang akan digunakan serta sumber-sumber yang relevan,
(2) Memiilih atau menyusun teknik yang akan digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data,
(3) Menentukan kategori-kategori untuk mengklasifikasikan data yang jelas, sesuai dengan tujuan studi, dan dapat menunjukkan kesamaan atau saling hubunga,
(4) Memvalidasi teknik untuk mengumpulkan data itu, dan menginterpretasikan hasilnya dalam cara yang jelas dan cermat
(5) Mengumpulkan dan analisis data
(6) Menyusun laporannya

5. Populasi atau sampel
(1) Populasi
Populasi menurut Arikunto (2010) adalah keseluruhan subjek penelitian. Apabila seseorang ingin meneliti semua elemen yang ada dalam wilayah penelitian, maka penelitiannya merupakan penelitian populasi. Studi atau penelitiannya juga disebut studi populasi atau studi sensus.

(2) Sampel
Menurut (Tuwu:2006) pengambilan sampel secara acak adalah suatu metode pemilihan ukuran sampel dari suatu populasi dimana setiap anggota populasi mempunyai peluang yang sama dan semua kemungkinan penggabungannya yang diseleksi sebagai sampel mempunyai peluang yang sama. Penarikan sample menggunakan teknik Random Sampling yaitu dipilih secara acak. Dan yang terpilih dalam penelitian ini ialah siswa/I angkatan 2009.

6. Instrumen
Instrumen yang cocok digunakan dalam penelitian ini ialah dengan menggunakan teknik dokumentasi.Menurut Arikunto (2010), dokumentasi berasal dari kata dokumen, yang artinya barang-barang tertulis. Di dalam melaksanakan metode okumentasi, peneliti menyelidiki benda-benda tertulis seperti buku-buku, majalah, dokumen, peraturan-peraturan, notulen rapat, catatan harian dan sebagainya.

Teknik studi documenter/bibliographis adalah cara mengumpulkan data yang dilakukan dengan katagorisasi dan klasifikasi bahan-bahan tertulis yang berhubungan dengan masalah penelitian, baik dari sumber dokumen maupun buku-buku, Koran, majalah dan lain-lain.

Menurut (Sukmadinata, 2010), studi documenter (documentary study) merupakan suatu teknik pengumpulan data dengan menghimpun dan menganalisis dokumen-dokumen, baik dokumen tertulis, gambar maupun elektronik. Dokumen-dokumen yang dihimpun dipilih yang sesuai dengan tujuan dan fokus masalah.

7. Hipotesis
Hipotesis menurut arti katanya adalah hypo berarti kurang/sementara, dan thesis yang berarti pendapat atau kesimpulan. Jadi yang dimaksud hipotesis adalah:
(1) Suatu kesimpulan atau pendapat yang masih kurang sempurna.
(2) Suatu pendapat yang belum final (proto conclution), karena

masih perlu dibuktikan kebenarannya. Hipotesis dalam penelitian ini adalah “Bahwa menggunakan metode kausal komparatif ini dapat diketahui akibat dari perbedaan umur pada waktu masuk sekolah terhadap tingkah laku dan prestasi belajar siswa.”

8. Contoh permasalahan
     Mencari pola tingkah laku dan prestasi belajar yang berkaitan dengan perbedaan umur pada waktu masuk sekolah, dengan cara menggunakan data deskriptif mengenai tingkah laku dan skor test prestasi belajar yang terkumpul sampai anak-anak yang bersangkutan berada di kelas akhir jenjang SD.
    Penelitian untuk menentukan ciri-ciri guru yang efektif dengan mempergunakan data yang berupa catatan mengenai sejarah pekerjaan selengkap mungkin.

Reference
Suryabrata, sumandi. 2006. Metodologi Penelitian. PT Raja Grafindo Persada, Jakarta.
Sukmadinata, Syaodih Nana. 2010. Metode Penelitian Pendidikan. PT Remaja Rosdakarya, Bandung.
Tuwu, Alimuddin. 2006. Pengantar Metode Penelitian. UI-Press, Jakarta.
Arikunto, Suharsimi. 2010. Prosedur Penelitian. PT Rineka Cipta, Jakarta.

Topics to Avoid In Writing the Research Paper

Topics to Avoid In Writing the Research Paper

Written by
Anthony C. Winkler and Jo Ray McCuen-Metherell in Writing the Research Paper A Handbook. 2008. Wadsworth.

Some topics present unusual diffi culties; others are simply a waste of time. What follows is a summary of topics to avoid.
 



1. Topics that are too big
Check the OPAC or card catalog at your library. If you find that lots of books have been written about your topic, then it is probably too big. Reference sources that multiply like flies; a bibliography that grows like a weed; opinions, data, and information that come pouring in from hundreds of sources—all indicate a topic that is too big. The solution is to narrow the topic without making it trivial. Examples:

India in the Age of the Moguls could be narrowed to
Royal Monuments of India during the Age of the Moguls

2. Topics based on a single source
The research paper is intended to expose you to the opinions of different authorities,to a variety of books, articles, and other references. If a topic is so skimpy that all the data on it come from a single source, you’re defeating the purpose of the paper.Choose only topics that are broad enough to be researched from multiple sources. A paper on the life of a person is one example of a topic that can lead to relying too heavily on a single source.

If the person is famous enough, the danger is not a lack of information; rather, you may become so charmed by a  compelling biography of your subject that you overquote from it. Or, if your chosen person is a marginal figure whose fame barely fills the fifteen minute span in the spotlight said to be awaiting all of us, you might rely too heavily on a single biographical source. As a general rule, if you choose to write about a person, it is better to come up with an approach that naturally allows the use of a variety of sources.

For instance, if you were writing about James Monroe, you might narrow your focus to the Monroe Doctrine, a topic that would require research into multiple sources.

3. Topics that are too technical
Writing about things that are technical often requires technical jargon that your instructor might not understand and might even dismiss as a “snow job.” Also, the skills that a research paper should teach are better learned in a paper on a general topic. Naturally, whether your paper is too technical depends on the class for which it is written. Ask your instructor. A topic like Heisenberg’s Principle of Indeterminacy as It Applies to Subparticle Research is fine for a physics class but a dubious choice for an English class. Stick to topics that don’t demand special knowledge of a particular subject and that are broad enough to be understood by any educated reader.

4. Topics that are trivial
Your judgment must steer you away from trivial topics. The safest bet is also the most sensible one: Again, ask your instructor. Here are some topics that might strike some instructors as too trivial. For exampleFictional Detectives on Foreign Postage Stamps might strike some instructors, including us, as an insignifi cant topic.Sometimes a topic is trivial because it is obvious. For instance, everyone agrees that walking is good aerobic exercise, but the subject is so tame that unless you’re a really good writer, a whole paper on the subject will likely fall flat.Likewise a paper on growing carrots in your backyard as a hedge against the possibility of a worldwide carrot shortage is not likely to inspire you to do your best writing.

5. Topics that are overused
Opinions on topics that have been the subject of heated public debate tend to harden into familiar postures, making them difficult to write about in a temperate tone. Numbered among those topics are abortion, teenage marriage, the legalization of drugs, euthanasia, capital punishment, substance abuse, global warming, and cruelty to animals. We do not mean to say that these topics are unimportant; indeed their overuse is partly a measure of their importance in the public consciousness.But writers who tackle overused topics often parrot well-known prejudices as if they were unique.

If you cannot help yourself and must write about an overused topic, at least try to approach it from a new angle. For instance, if you intend to write about abortion, comparing the effects of the RU-486 pill with that of surgical abortions would be different enough to save you from a whirlpool of clichés. Or if you feel compelled to write your paper on euthanasia, you might avoid the emotional hot spots by dispassionately analyzing the laws of your state that govern medically assisted suicide.

6. Topics that are contemporary
Students often are tempted to choose a contemporary topic, one that is being hotly debated at the moment. The topic may be loaded with scandal, making it fascinating to the press and the general public. But contemporary topics are best avoided fortwo reasons: First, it often is diffi cult to fi nd unbiased sources; second, the information that is available usually comes from newspapers and magazines whose speculative reporting can make your documentation seem flimsy. Intellectually solid
papers should refl ect opinions taken from a variety of sources—books, periodicals, reference volumes, specialized indexes, and various electronic sources—which requires a topic that has weathered both time and scholarly commentary.

If you find yourself drawn to a too-contemporary topic, our advice is that you try to locate an equivalent in the past and write about that instead. So, for example, instead of writing about a revolutionary war that broke out yesterday in some Baltic state, in the Middle East, or in Africa, you might turn your attention to a well-documented equivalent, say the Castro revolution in Cuba, or the revolution for independence under Bernardo O’Higgins in Chile.


I hope this article in today's posting will be useful for all ofus. Amien.