Reading Comprehension Question Levels in Grade X English Students’ Book in Light of the Issues of Curriculum Policy in Indonesia

This article aims at finding out the reading comprehension-question levels as constructed for some chapters of English Students’ Book for Grade X published in 2017 by The Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia. The data were taken purposively and analyzed using Barrett’s taxonomy of reading comprehension to examine the levels of comprehension questions provided in the book. While higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) in Bloom’s taxonomy involve students to analyze, to evaluate, and to create, Barrett’s reading comprehension levels exhibit corresponding features, namely inferential comprehension, evaluation, and appreciation. The analysis is to show the corresponse the reading comprehension questions in the book to the current issues of HOTS in the curriculum policy of Indonesia. The results demonstrate that while some of the comprehension questions (21%) comply with the higher level of reading comprehension, the rest (nearly 80%) show lower level of reading comprehension. In response to the implementation of the curriculum policy in Indonesia, teachers need to practice constructing higher levels of comprehension questions that considerably make students get used to think critically

Can the Discreditable be an Advantage? Mental Illnesses as Metaphors on Rhetorical Usages for Language Teaching

Mental illnesses often inspire artists and writers and are omnipresent in various works, yet the moral adequacy of portraying their images remained controversial: Erving Goffman (2010) had described the challenges the “discreditables” might have faced and the privileges they might get once being uncovered in his essay. However, Susan Sontag believed that wrapping disease in metaphors discouraged, silenced, and shamed patients in her Illness as Metaphor. This paper aims to center the discussion on what the diseases and the patients will represent and the privileges be demonstrated in these texts from a rhetorical aspect? By applying principally the theories of uncanny, abjection, and stigma, this paper has built a theory on presuming Meursault in Camus’s The Stranger has Asperger, then analyze the power of stigma in two recent works: the episode “ADHD Is Necessary” in Taiwanese TV drama: On Children, and a French novel: Nothing Holds Back the Night. The results showed that the mental illness can be an advantageous and necessary metaphor, just as an endowing “Mark of Cain”, threatening yet defensive. Meanwhile

Innovation Drama Teaching of “New Pinocchio” in Chinese Language Learning: Action Research

The prevalence of learning Chinese in the United States is very popular with the learning Chinese language throughout the world. This atmosphere is very encouraging for children in Chinese schools and improves their learning motivation. This research is action research and the purpose of this study is (1) to explore the current situation of teaching Chinese in the United States and to answer the research questions based on the reaction and self-reflection of young children, (2) to revise teaching materials and teaching methods during the research, (3) to utilize the innovation story theater model into the Chinese curriculum of the bilingual school in USA, and (4) to find out the suggestions and feasible solutions to the various problems. The research found that if learning activities are intrinsically attractive there is no need to arrange any games to motivate children's learning. Moreover, the findings show that the innovative story theater is very practical and can effectively enhance children's interest in learning Chinese

USA Public School Educators’ Perceptions of Electronically Delivered Professional Development Modules

School meetings, which today are often called teacher workshops are to conduct teacher professional development which may still be desired by today’s teachers. This study was to discover if technological alternatives might be desired by one public school system in the USA. Choices included delivery of professional development via web-based learning material, CD-ROM, and PDF documents as downloadable files for print from the Internet. A questionnaire was designed to find out which media was selected most often for delivery of their own professional development. The study material for this investigation served as professional development modules. Data from surveys were collected to discover why they select them, and whether or not they prefer those modes of professional development to the more traditional modes previously experienced such as teacher meetings/workshops. There were 28 participants in this study. To assess the role of the media for delivery of professional development via learning modules. Descriptive statistics were used to identify demographics and patterns in the educators’ preferences and perceptions. A major conclusion of the study included the medium selected most often was online (82% of respondents)

Teaching English Polysemy through Semantic Fields

The paper aims to explore the effectiveness of Semantic Field Theory in polysemy teaching by conducting action research. The objective is to cultivate students’ concept of metaphor and semantic fields in order to achieve systematic vocabulary retention on the one hand, and to prove that teaching vocabulary through Semantic Field Theory is more effective than traditional methods on the other hand. An experiment is given to sophomores in Asia University, with a pretest, in-class lesson, and posttest. The result shows that the students in the experimental group perform better in the posttest even though their performance in the pretest is worse, which furtherly proves that learning English polysemy through semantic fields is much more effective than traditional teaching methods.

The Relationship between the Interest in Poetry and the Degree of Sensivity: A Primary Study of Sample of Khorasan-Iran Students

This study attempts to find a relation between the amount of interest in poetry and the degree of sensitivity, especially among the college students. If a positive correlation can be found, scholars and teachers may be able to offer students with weak perception of the environment, poetry reading. Dr. Elaine N. Aron’s questionnaire, Highly Sensitive Person Scale 2007, was the tool of this paper to evaluate the hypersensitivity of students, the results of which were tested correlation with a number of five questions that was added to the original questionnaire. The added questions were to demonstrate the students’ interest or disinterest toward poetry, and through Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient and independent Samples T-Test it became possible to calculate the correlation of sensitivity tests and the interest in poetry. The results answered research questions, and it was found that except the question number five, there was no significant relationship between sensitivity and the other variables. However, the question number five which showed a positive relationship between sensitivity and the amount of empathetic understanding of those who are interested in poetry, could indicate a meaningful correlation by reminding that empathy is an equivalence of unconscious admittance

EFL Prospective Teacher Educators’ Beliefs towards the Use of WhatsApp in English Learning and Teaching

This study was aimed to investigate the beliefs of EFL prospective teacher educators towards the use of WhatsApp in English learning and teaching. This study used survey research design and the samples were 44 master students of Applied Linguistics Department who had academic degree of B.Ed in TEFL in one of state universities in Yogyakarta. This study found that EFL prospective teacher educators had favorable beliefs towards WhatsApp integration in English learning and teaching. They perceived true that the use of WhatsApp was sine qua non of increasing the learners’ English learning proficiency, motivation, autonomy, and language attitude and creating fun and enjoyable English learning atmosphere. Consequently, present English teachers should integrate WhatsApp smartphone application in English learning and teaching.

Problematics of Technical Preparation and Constraints in the Spelling System of Madurese Language

Madura language faces an ironical condition where, as a widely-spoken local language at present, it does not have any standardized spelling which is hardly accepted by linguists of Madurese language. In addition, the spelling problem is a basic way to develop and construct a language. Literally, the spelling of Madura language in 2012 is a revision from the spelling of BM (Bahasa Madura) in 2003 by the users of the language who thought that the language is hard to use. Due to this reason, many observers of Madura language such as writers, men of letters and cultural observers suggested to simplify the use ofMadura language’s symbols. The method that is used in this research is a descriptive qualitative. The data collection is done by in depth interview circumtantially with the observers of Madura language who are specifically experts in three dialects (Sumenep, Pamekasan, and Bangkalan)

Narrative Writing on New Immigrant Women: Perspective on Cultural Identity and Mother-Daughter Relationship

Three different types of narrative writings from women who have recently immigrated to Taiwan are discussed here: oral/confessional narrative, textual narrative, and documentary films. The first is the primary kind of narrative writing produced while immigrant women are still struggling with the acquirement of a new language, and relies on help from local people to deliver the new immigrants’ voice. The textual narrative illustrates the mother figures in terms of madness or absence from home; emphasizing the conflict of mother-daughter relationships. The last type of narrative writing produced by newly immigrating women are the documentary films, which are shot by themselves and attempt to demonstrate the bravery of these new immigrant spouses in defending their rights. The results of this paper show that, through the narrative writings, female immigrants from Southeast Asia in Taiwan have produced a variety of issues and topics which create a link of dialogue with Taiwanese society, and which need to be understood. What is more, the process of constructing their new identity is worth discussing as it provides a new perspective on Asian ethnic and women’s writing, and uncovers the need for more research into diasporic women―studied from the approach of displacement.