THE DEVELOPMENT

OF MOODLE BASED ENGLISH READING MATERIAL

(A case at Multimedia Department Student to Year Tenth of Telekomunikasi Tunas
Harapan Vocational High School Semarang)

Dyah Nurhayati
Harapan Vocational High School Semarang

ABSTRACT
This study was a research and development (R&D), which aimed at developing types of
reading materials for the tenth year multimedia students of SMK Telekomunikasi Tunas
Harapan, finding out the contents validity of the developed material; the quality of the
developed material and, whether or not the developed material could improve the reading
comprehension of the students. The result of this study shows that: The existing syllabus and
material did not cover their needs since the syllabus and the material were designed to be
used for all departments , based on the expert validation, it was confirmed that the developed
material had a very high validity; from the result of the expert judgment based on the criteria of
good ESP material and good e- learning material, the developed material was categorized
into very good material; and the result of the field study shows that the developed material
could improve the students’ reading comprehension. The students’ mean score for those
tests, which reflect the students’ reading comprehension, increased from 40.9 in pre-test, to
66.3 in post- test I, and 79.1 in post-test II. Based on the result of the questionnaire, the
students had strongly positive attitude toward the developed material.

Key Words: moodle based reading, reading material

INTRODUCTION learning English, some of the above

Reading is one of the most important thing problems can be minimized. The
other than listening, speaking and writing. government provides “PUSTEKKOM” to
Many second learners do not like to read develop a learning resources website
because they feel it is a laborious and (http://e-dukasi.net) for any levels of
time-consuming process. The students do students in 2003. With the recent
not favour the whole process to joining development of software applied in the
many words together and creating internet, interaction among students and
meaning. In order to end these laborious between teacher and students can be
processes, reading program is introduced facilitated. In this media, students have the
as a solution. opportunities to practice communication
With the development of Computer using the language learned both online
Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and and offline.
Internet as media for teaching and

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/1 October 2013 35
 Considering the development of web- From the explanation above, it can be
based teaching and learning, this study concluded that reading is an active
attempts to design reading material process that needs an effort to understand
through Moodle based education web to something. Readers are actively paying
improve reading comprehension for the attention and working on understanding
vocational high school students especially and interpreting what they have read.
for multimedia department students. This Reading comprehension is the process
model uses a Learning Management of understanding and constructing
System platform called ‘Moodle’ which has meaning from a piece of text. It is most
appropriate features to optimize the use of likely to occur when students’ are reading
ICT in teaching and learning process. This what they want to read or at least what
study is also attempts to investigate how they want to see some good reasons to
this moodle web contributes to teaching read. Reading comprehension ability is
and learning process especially in teaching taught to be a set of generalized
reading. knowledge acquisition that permits people
Four skills that should be mastered in to acquire and exhibit information gained
language learning are listening, speaking, as a consequence of reading printed
reading, and writing. Mentioning those four language.
skills must be in order. According to Barr, From the definitions above, it can be
Sadow and Blachowicz the definition of concluded that reading comprehension is
reading is an active process in which only a term referring to reading skill
readers interact with text to reconstruct the through the important thing is not on the
message of the author. pronouncing or load reading, but it is the
Anderson et al. (2001) defines reading understanding taken into consideration.
as a fluent process of readers combining Comprehension includes recognizing and
information from a text and their own understanding a main idea and related
background knowledge to build meaning. details. A good recognized that many ideas
The goal of reading is comprehension. are implied and he must read between the
This means that the meaning does not only lines to get the full meaning.
depend on the reader or the text but There are several differences between
depends on the interaction of both. In other teaching English in vocational high schools
words, during reading a reader processes, and teaching English in senior high
in his/her mind, new information from the schools. Teaching English in vocational
text by integrating them with his high schools should refer to the program of
background knowledge. Detailed process study of students who are being taught.
of reading is presented in the following The English teachers of vocational schools
designed. have to teach about the language of

36 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/1 October 2013
English that is closely related to the based on students’ major. In teaching
students major of study, for example, the reading and writing, there is difference
teachers both explain and give information between vocational high schools and
about the English expressions of handling senior high schools. There is no teaching
guess to the hotel accommodation genre of text, like narrative, descriptive,
students. In addition, the teachers also report, news item, etc. The teaching and
give the information about the special learning English which is conducted in
terms that are used by mechanics to the vocational high school holds for 180
engineering students. The teachers of minutes per week.
vocational high schools have to consider There are three main activities in
the specific needs of the learners. The teaching English at vocational high
considerations are as follows. schools, namely opening activity, main
Curriculum that is recently applied in activity and closing activity. The English
vocational high schools is KTSP. It is one teachers of vocational high schools often
of kinds of curriculum that provides the conduct the drilling activity in speaking
freedom for schools to create their own class. The students are demanded to
curriculum. KTS develops appropriately in speak with their partners in front of class in
the unit of education, school/area potential, doing conversation. In addition, the
school/area characteristic, social-culture of teachers also provide some media, like
local society, and pupil characteristic. authentic materials and word game, to
KTSP is the operational curriculum which make students more interesting in joining
is compiled, developed, and implemented the teaching and learning process.
by every unit of education which is ready
and could develop. RESEARCH METHODS
Teaching English in vocational high This study was in the form of research and
schools also covers the four language development (R&D) that followed the R&D
skills, namely speaking, listening, reading design that is proposed by Gall and Borg
and writing. There is teaching grammar in (1983:775), which consists of six steps,
vocational high schools. In teaching namely need analysis, design,
speaking, there are various expressions in development, implementation, product
English language, like asking for and revision and evaluation. The subjects of
giving direction, thanking, and so forth. the study were the English teachers and
What should be more focused is the the tenth year students of Multimedia
expressions that are used based on department in SMK Telekomunikasi Tunas
students’ major. In teaching vocabulary, Harapan. The data of this study were
the teachers give information about the collected through questionnaire, expert
special terms that are often both used judgment sheet, observation sheet, scoring

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/1 October 2013 37
rubrics and tests. The data from the they will need English for learning
questionnaire and observation were computer programs. The second reason is
analyzed using interactive data analysis for their future job which requires them to
model by Miles and Hubberman (1987). develop their knowledge about computer
The data from the expert judgment sheet programs and how to serve the customer..
were analyzed using inter-rater agreement In addition, they may also need to be able
model by Gregory (2000). While the data to speak English if they work in a company
from the results of scoring rubrics were which is owned by a foreigner.
analyzed using ideal theoretic reference
method by Nurkencana and Sunartana (as The way in using the language
cited in Winasari, 2011). From the result of the questionnaire and
the interview, it was found that the
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION students will read text in English
The Result of Need Analysis (Target frequently, especially text about computer
Situation Analysis) program manual. Therefore, all of them
The need analysis in this study was believed that reading skill is very important
conducted based on the theory of target to be taught for the students.
situation analysis by Hutchinson and
Waters (2004). According to Hutchinson The Content Areas
and Waters, in doing target situation For the content areas or the topic that the
analysis, there are six types of information students will discuss in English, the result
should be collected, they are: (1) the of the questionnaire and the interview
reason for studying English, (2) the way in show that the topic will be about video
using the language, (3) the content areas, shooting and editing, photography, graphic
(4) the receiver, (5) the setting and context, design and website design.
and (6) the frequency in using the The Receiver
language. The results of the target The students will use English with the
situation analysis are presented below: native speakers of English and with foreign
The reason for studying English customers who are not the native speakers
Based on the result of the questionnaire of English. It means that, the students
and the interview that have been have to prepare themselves not only
conducted it was found that the students of communicating with the native speakers of
Multimedia Department of SMK English who are excellent in English, but
Telekomunikasi Tunas Harapan should they also have to anticipate the non native
study English for some reasons. The first English speakers who may have low ability
reason is for continuing their study to a in English.
higher level of education. It means that

38 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/1 October 2013
The Setting and Context There were two experts were involve in
Based on the result of the interview and evaluating the product. The experts were
the questionnaire, it was found that the Prof. Dr. Dwi Rukmini, M.Pd. and Farida
communication in English between the Fahmalatif, M.Pd. This validation was done
students and foreigners will take place at in order to find out whether or not the
their work place. In terms of its context, the developed product was relevant with the
students will use English for demonstrating blue print that has been developed
or presenting their product or service, and previously. The collected data from the
meeting. This result indicates that the experts were quantified and analyzed
developed English reading material should using the Inter-rater Agreement Model by
be able to guide them in to communicate Gregory (2000).
properly for those kinds of setting and
context. The Quality of the Product
The quality of the product was measured
The Frequency in Using the Target through expert judgment method which
Language involved two experts, namely content
The students will use English frequently in expert and media expert. The content
the future. This result confirms that English experts were Prof. Dr. Dwi Rukmini, M.Pd.
are needed by the students for their future and Farida Fahmalatif, M.Pd. The content
job or their study to a higher level of quality of the product was evaluated using
education. a scoring rubric based on the criteria of
The Content Validity of the Product good ESP material proposed by Widodo
The validity of the product was determined and Pusporini (2010). (see Table 1).
based on the result of the expert judgment.
Table 1.
Aspects of Reading Materials
No Aspect Score
1 Learning objective of the material is appropriate with the syllabus. 5
2 Learning objective of the material is mentioned clearly in each 4
section of the material.
3 Learning tasks are able to activate the students’ background 4
knowledge which relates to the topic being discussed.
4 Teaching materials contain learning tasks which are in line with 4
the material and the learning goal and objective.
5 Learning tasks allow students to explore their specialized needs 4
and interests based on the result of the target situation analysis.
6 Learning tasks in the materials enable students to develop their 4
reading skill for content competence.

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/1 October 2013 39
 7 Learning tasks integrate reading skill with other skills. 5
8 Learning tasks in the materials reflect real-life tasks that people 4
do in daily interpersonal interactions.
9 Teaching materials make learners acquire skill(s) or sub-skill(s) 4
through a set of learning tasks or activities.
10 Teaching materials inform what roles learners and teachers play 4
in and out the classroom.
Total score 42

Notes:

Interval Category
40 < x < 50 Very good material
33 < x < 40 Good material
27 < x < 33 Average material
20 < x < 27 Below average
10 < x < 20 Poor material
Material
In terms of the quality of the e-learning Bitter and Legacy (2009). The result of the
system, the expert was Nur Ikhsan, MI. expert judgment shows that the developed
Kom. The quality of the e-learning system product was categorized into very good e-
was evaluated using a scoring rubric learning (see Table 2).
based on criteria of good e-learning by

Table 2.
Results of Expert Judgment
No Aspect Score
1. 1a.Necessary technical documentation is included. 5
2. 1b. Objectives are clearly stated. 5
3. 1c. Material for enrichment and remedial activities are 4
provided.
4. 2a. Information is presented in a developmentally appropriate 5
and logical way.
5. 2b. Illustrations and examples are relevant. 5
6. 2c. There is appropriate variety in screen display. 5
7. 2d. Text is clear and printed in type suitable for target 5
audiences.
8. 3a. Students are able to recall/use information presented 4
following program use.

40 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/1 October 2013
 9. 3b. Program prepares students for future real-world 5
experiences.
10. 3c. This is an appropriate use of instructional software. 5
11. 4a. Program matches interest level of indicated audience. 5
12. 4b. Reading level is appropriate for indicated audience. 4
13. 5a. User can navigate through program without difficulty. 5
14. 5b. Title sequence is brief and can be bypassed. 4
15. 5c. User can control pace and sequence. 4
16. 5d. User can exit from any screen. 5
Total Score 75

Notes:
Interval Category
64 < x < 80 Very good
53 < x < 64 Good material
43 < x < 53 Material
Average material
32 < x < 42 Below average
16 < x < 32 Poor material
Material
The Result of Field Test developed product can improve the
A field test was conducted after the quality students’ reading comprehension.
of the product had been evaluated by the
expert. The aim of this field test was to find CONCLUSION
out whether or not the developed product This was a research and development
can improve the students’ reading (R&D) study which aimed at developing (1)
comprehension. The field test was types of reading materials that are needed
conducted in the form of classroom based by the tenth year multimedia students,
action research that consisted of two finding out (2) the validity of the developed
cycles. The students’ reading product, (3) the ability of the developed
comprehension was measured using product in improving the students’ reading
reading comprehension tests in the form of comprehension of the tenth year
objective tests, namely pre-test, post test I, multimedia students in SMK Teleko-
and post test II. The result of the tests munikasi Tunas Harapan. This study was
shows that the students’ reading conducted based on the research and
comprehension improved from 40.9 (Poor) development design of Borg and Gall. This
in pre-test, increased into 66.3 (Sufficient) design involves six steps namely; need
in post test I, and it increased again to 79.1 analysis, design and development,
(Good). Therefore, it can be said that the implementation, product revision and
evaluation. From those five steps, the
result of this study shows that the tenth

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/1 October 2013 41
year multimedia students of SMK proven to be usable for teaching reading
Telekomunikasi Tunas Harapan need because all students had done all the
specific English reading material that activities available in the website.
related to their future job or study. The Moreover, the application of the website
existing syllabus and material did not cover could improve the students’ reading
their needs since the syllabus and the competency in terms of content,
material were designed to be used for all organization, vocabulary, language use,
departments that available in SMK and mechanics and to increase their
Telekomunikasi Tunas Harapan, namely: motivation in using e-learning as the
Multimedia, Computer and Networking, alternative media for learning.
and Motor Cycle. Thus, this study From the result of the study, it can be
concerned with such development. recommended that Moodle-based
The study was able to confirm a educational web site is used as an
number of essentials factors in the alternative media to improve students’
developed materials. Based on the speaking ability because by using the
validation process that was conducted website teacher and students can still
during the development step through interact with each other outside the regular
expert judgment method and analyzed by teaching hours; and other researchers can
using agreement model it was confirmed develop Moodle-website for teaching other
that the developed material has a very high lessons or subjects to students.
content validity. From the result of the
expert judgments through questionnaires REFERENCES
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