Teaching Reading through E-learning Website

Transcription

1 554 Teaching Reading through E-learning Website I Ketut Trika Adi Ana, STKIP AH Singaraja, Indonesia Putu Kerti Nitiasih, Ganesha, University of Education, Indonesia Abstract Teaching English as a foreign language cannot be separated with the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). E-learning website is one of the ICT products that can be used by the English teachers to support their instruction. However, in order to get optimum result of integrating ICT in teaching English as a foreign language, a proper teaching strategy is urgently needed. For that reason, this article is aimed at introducing a strategy for teaching reading through e-learning website and providing theoretical and empirical proofs about the benefits and the problems in the application of e- learning website in reading class. Thus, this article covers about: (1) the definition of e- learning website; (2) the strategy for teaching reading through e-learning website; and (3) the benefits and problems of teaching reading through e-learning website. Key words: reading, e-learning, teaching strategy Introduction The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in teaching and learning process becomes a trend in today s education process. It is because the use of ICT is believed to bring benefits for both the students and the teachers. However, integrating ICT in teaching and learning process should be well planned and accompanied by a proper instructional strategy in order to achieve the best result (Clarck & Mayer, 2008). Therefore, before deciding to apply ICT during the instruction, teachers need to know about how to integrate ICT in the teaching and learning process. Since there are many ICT products that can be integrated during the instruction process, this article focuses on e-learning website only. This article will specifically discuss about the use of e-learning website for teaching reading to learners of English as a foreign language. This article is written based on theoretical review and field study that have been conducted by the writers. Through this article, the writers would like to share theoretical and empirical insight about the use of e-learning website to teach reading skill, as one of the language skills that should be mastered by foreign language learners. It is expected that this article could give new ideas for the English teachers, who are interested to teach reading skill through e- learning website, in conducting their instruction. Literature Review Reading Reading is one of the major skills that should be mastered by the learners of a foreign language. Reading can be defined as perceiving a written text in order to understand its contents (Richards, Schmidt, Kendricks, & Kim, 2002). Reading activity can be categorized based on how the reader sounds the text. If the reader sounds the text out loud, this reading

2 555 activity will be called as reading aloud. On the contrary, if the reader reads the text silently, it means that the reader is doing silent reading. Furthermore, reading activities can also be classified based on the speed and the purpose of the reader in reading the text. Those classifications are: skimming, scanning and intensive reading. Skimming is when the eyes of the reader run quickly over the text in order to find out what the text is about, the main idea(s), and the gist. This activity is usually done when a reader wants to look quickly at the contents page of the book, or at the chapter headings or subheadings. This activity may also be done when a reader intends to go through a particular passage as a newspaper article merely to get the gist. Scanning is a type of reading activity, when a reader is looking for particular information that he/she believes that it is in the text that he/she is reading. While, intensive reading is reading activity that involves close study to the text. As the need of comprehending the text is high, the speed of reading is relatively slower compared to the former types of reading activity (Greenwood, 1989). Principles in Teaching Reading In teaching reading, some principles need to be taken into account by the English teachers (Harmer, 2003). Those principles are: a. Reading is not a passive skill Reading is a very active activity. Reading means understanding what the words mean, see the picture and the words are painting, and understand the arguments. If readers do not do these things, they only come to the surface of the text that is very easy to be forgotten. b. Students need to be engaged with what they are reading If the students are not engaged with the reading text, it will make them uninterested in reading it. Therefore, reading material should be about the topic that they familiar with. c. Students should be encouraged to respond to the content of a reading text, not just to the language It is important to read the text in order to study the way to use the language, but it is also important to give a chance for the students to give their opinion towards the message that it contains. d. Prediction is major in reading Book s cover, the headline, the words processed page are the parts of the things that can bring the hint for the readers to predict what is the book will be about. In teaching reading, a teacher should be able to build that kind of hint in order to make them able to predict what is the text will be about. By doing this, it will help the learners become a better and more engaged readers. e. Match the task to the topic In selecting reading material, a teacher should think about the appropriate reading task. It should be in line with the purpose of the reading activity. This is important since an inappropriate task will lead the learners to be bored. f. Good teacher exploit reading text to the full Good teacher should integrate reading text into interesting class sequences, using the topic for discussion and further task, using the language for study and later activation. Other principles of teaching reading also come from Nation (2009). The principles that he proposes are: meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, language-focused learning, and fluency development. a. Meaning-focused Input

3 556 Practice and training in reading should be done for a range of reading purposes. A reading course should cover these purposes-reading to search for information (including skimming and scanning), reading to learn, reading for fun, reading to integrate information, reading to critique texts, and reading to write. b. Meaning-focused Output Reading should be related to other language skills. The course should involve listening, speaking and writing activities related to the reading. c. Language-focused Learning Learners should be assisted to develop the skills and knowledge needed for effective reading. The course should work on the sub skills of reading and the language features needed to read, including phonemic awareness activities, phonics, spelling practice, vocabulary learning using word cards, and grammar study. Some of this can be done through intensive reading. d. Fluency Development Learners should be helped and pushed to develop fluency in reading. They need to read material that is very familiar and contains no unknown language features. There should also be speed reading practice in word recognition and in reading for understanding. These can include activities like speed reading, repeated reading, paired reading, scanning, and skimming. Learners should enjoy reading and feel motivated to read. From those explanations of teaching reading principles it can be seen that those principles cover four essential components in teaching reading, they are: purpose of teaching reading, material, teaching strategy, and evaluation. The principles of teaching reading above imply that the purposes of teaching reading activity are: to make the students comprehend the reading text, to make the students become a fluent reader, and to link the reading skill to other language skills and elements. From the material point of view, those principles suggest that the materials should be within the topic that the students familiar with. While from the teaching strategy perspective, those principles recommend that the teachers should be able to apply a teaching strategy that: gives a chance for the students to predict the content of the reading text, integrates reading skills with other language skills, and makes reading activity becomes an interesting process by combining various activities. E-Learning Some definitions have been formulated by the experts to describe what e-learning or electric learning is. E-learning can be defined as the use of electronic media, including the internet, intranets, extranets, satellite broadcast, audio/video tape, interactive TV, and CD-ROM to deliver the teaching material, which involves a number of applications and processes, including computer-based learning, web-based learning, virtual classrooms, and digital collaboration (Urdan & Weggen, 2000; Clarck & Mayer, 2008). While, according to Fee (2009), E-learning is an approach to learning and development, a collection of learning methods using digital technologies, which enable, distribute and enhance learning. From those definitions, it can be understood that e-learning deals with the use of electronic media in transferring or supporting teaching and learning process. E-Learning Website Considering those definitions of e-learning, in this article e-learning website is defined as a certain website that is designed for supporting teaching and learning process. E-learning

4 557 website can be categorized into three categories, namely synchronous, asynchronous, and the combination of synchronous and asynchronous. Synchronous means that the e-learning website requires the teacher and all of the students are online at the same time during the instruction process. On the contrary, asynchronous is the opposite of synchronous, in which the e-learning website can be used by the teacher and the students without need to be online at the same time during the instruction process (Lee & Owens, 2004). In other words, synchronous e-learning web needs live interaction communication, while asynchronous does not need a live interaction, the students can leave a message to be replied by the teacher afterward (Roblyer & Doering, 2010). Furthermore, the combination synchronous and asynchronous is the integration of offline and online instruction. Thus, this combination is also called as integrated online and offline learning (Fee, 2009). To develop an e-learning website, a special application is needed. The application to develop an e-learning website is a called as Course Management System (CMS). There are some CMS that can be used to develop an e-learning website. However, in this article the writers only discuss about e-learning website that is developed using an open source CMS that is called as Moodle. The writers are interested in discussing about e-learning website that is developed using Moodle for some reasons. The first reason is because Moodle is an open source CMS. It means that this CMS is free of charge. Everyone can download, install and use it without need to buy it. The second reason is because there are many educators, who use it to develop their e-learning websites. It can be seen from the number of e-learning websites which are developed using Moodle that reaches 73,258 websites and it is used in 224 countries all around the world (Community, 2013). The third reason is because an e-learning website which is developed using Moodle has many effective tools that can help the teachers to support their instruction. The tools which are offered in every course that is developed using Moodle are classified into two major categories, namely: resource and activity. Resource provides tools that can be used by the teachers to upload materials. Those tools are: file, folder, IMS content, label, page, and URL. On the other hand, Activity consists of tools that can be used by the teachers to design teaching and learning activities, such as: assignment, chat, forum, wiki, glossary, lesson, and quiz (Cooch, 2010). a. Resource 1) File This tool enables the teachers to upload a single file (e.g..doc,.pdf, and.jpg). 2) Folder This tool will be very helpful if the teachers want to upload some files at once. Instead of uploading it one by one, they can do it just in one click. 3) IMS Content The teachers will need this tool if they want to upload simple learning content that is created using authorizing software. 4) Label Using this tool, teachers may upload picture, video, or audio. This tool will be very useful for breaking up long list of resources. 5) Page If the teachers want to upload a file in the form of a web page, they may use this tool. 6) URL This tool is used when the teachers want to display file(s) or material from other websites or displaying a large size file that is stored in another website.

5 558 b. Activity 1) Assignment As its name, this tool will help the teachers to create assignment. This tool offers some types of assignments, namely: advanced uploading of files, upload a single file, online text, and offline activity. Advance uploading files assignment will allow the students to upload one or more files in any format. While, upload a single file assignment only allow the students to upload a single file. Online text assignment allows the students to input text directly to the web. Offline activity is useful if the students are expected to conduct the assignment offline or outside the e-learning website. This tool only shows the description of the assignment and the students cannot upload any files through this tool. 2) Chat This tool will allow the students to chat with other online students and teacher(s). This tool will be very useful when the students have problems and need some helps from the teachers or the other students. 3) Forum This tool is a powerful tool that can be used by the teachers to conduct online discussion. The difference between forum and chat is that forum will be available anytime, while chat is only available in a certain time in a course as what is designed by the teachers or the administrator. 4) Wiki A wiki is a collection of collaboratively authored web pages (Cole & Foster, 2008). This tool is a powerful tool for conducting collaborative work, because every student can edit or add more pages to the wiki. 5) Glossary This tool can be used by the teachers to create glossary or list of terms and their explanation to help the students in understanding the terms that they will face when they are learning through the e-learning website. 6) Lesson This tool will help the teachers to create a web page that has a question on its bottom. 7) Quiz Using this tool, the teachers will be able to create various types of assessment, they are: multiple choice, short-answer, matching, essay, and embedded question. In addition, the teachers also may insert feedback for each question item. The Strategy for Teaching Reading through E-Learning Website Teaching reading process requires strategies before, during and after reading (Lems, Miller, & Soro, 2012). The activity before reading is aimed at achieving the affective goals, they are developing positive attitude toward reading and developing and taste in reading. During reading activity is done to achieve the cognitive goal or to comprehend the text, which includes: identify the main idea, find specific information, and infer explicit information. While, after reading activity is conducted to integrate reading skill to other language skills (Greenwood, 1989; Sadoski, 2004). Considering the things that should be taken into account in deciding the strategy for teaching reading through e-learning website (the tools offered by

6 559 the e-learning website, the purpose of reading activity, materials, and evaluation), during the field study, the writers designed the instruction as what is displayed on Table 1. Things to be Considered Teaching Strategy Purpose of Reading Materials Evaluation Table 1. A Sample of Teaching Strategies that Can be Applied to Teach Reading through E-Learning Website Teaching Reading Process Pre-Activity Whist-Activity Post-Activity (Before Reading) (During reading) (After Reading) a. Predicting a. Answering a. Synthesizing The students predict The students reread the The students what the text will text intensively. reread the text. be about from the pictures, audio, or video that is shown or played. b. Confirming After the students have made their prediction, they find out whether or not their predictions are correct through scanning the reading text. a. To activate or building prior knowledge b. To develop positive attitude toward reading and develop and taste in reading a. Picture b. Audio c. Video d. Questions e. Reading text f. Other web pages a. Short answer test b. Essay test While reading, they answer the available comprehension questions. The students and the teacher discuss the mistakes that are made by the students in answering the questions. a. To achieve the cognitive goal, that is to comprehend the reading text a. Reading text b. Comprehension Questions a. Short Answer b. Multiple Choice c. Essay test While reading, the students synthesize the reading text b. Telling The students tell the others about the result of the synthesis a. To integrate reading skill with other language skills (writing and speaking) a. Reading text a. Essay b. Performance E-Learning Web Tools a. Showing material: File, Label, Page URL a. Showing Materials: File, Page, URL b. Conducting c. Showing Materials: File, Page, URL

7 560 b. Conducting Evaluation: Assignment (Online text, Offline activity) Evaluation: Assignment (Online text, Offline activity) Lesson, Quiz, d. Conducting Evaluation: Assignment (Online text, Offline activity) Chat, Forum As what is shown on Table 1, it can be seen that during the pre-activity the writers guided the students to predict the content of the text that they were going to read by asking them to observe or pay attention to the pictures, audio or video that was available on the e-learning website. While observing or paying attention to the picture, audio, or video that was related to the text that they were going to read, the writers sometimes posed some questions to the students to make them concentrate on the picture, audio, or the video. To show the picture, the writer used page, file, and label tools. While for providing audio or video, since the size of audio and video are relatively large, the writer used URL tool. The writers took the audio and video from other websites. The students wrote their prediction through the online text tool, but sometime they were also asked to do it offline. When they have finished writing their prediction, the students were asked to read the text through scanning technique. Then, the students were asked to report whether or not their prediction was correct. These activities were done in order to build the students prior knowledge and to develop positive attitude toward reading and develop and taste in reading, so that they were ready to read the text intensively. After confirming their prediction about the content of the reading text, the students were entering the whilst activity. Throughout this activity, the students were asked to reread the text. However, this time, they had to read it intensively. The purpose of this reading activity was to make the students comprehend the content of the text. Therefore, while reading the text, the students answered the comprehension questions that were provided. The comprehension questions could be in the form of multiple choice, short answer, or essay test. To provide those kinds of test, the writers used assignment (Online text or offline activity), lesson, or quiz tool. While to show the reading text, the writers used file, page, or URL tool. For the post-activity, the activity that was aimed at integrating the reading skill to other language skills, the writers asked the students to synthesize the text that they have read. After they have synthesized the text, they were asked to tell the others about the result of their synthesis. To do this activity, the writers used assignment tool (Online text or offline activity). In addition, to assist the students who had problems, the writers also provided the students with chat and forum facilities. Since the writers designed a new strategy for teaching reading through e-learning website, the writers called that strategy as PCAST Strategy. This PCAST Strategy stands for Predicting, Confirming, Asking, Synthesizing and Applying. From the result of the field study, the writers believe that this strategy is appropriate to be applied when the English teachers want to teach reading through e-learning website.

8 561 The Benefits and the Problems of Teaching Reading through E-Learning Website To find out the benefits and the problems in applying e-learning website to teach reading, the writers conducted a field study. The writers implemented an e-learning website to teach reading for vocational senior high school students in Singaraja, Indonesia. Those students were the tenth year multimedia students of SMK N 3 Singaraja. There were 28 students in that class. The writers taught the students using an e-learning website and did an observation to collect data about the benefits and the problems in implementing the e-learning website during the reading class. Based on the result of the field study that has been conducted, the writers found that there are some benefits and problems in applying e-learning website for teaching reading. The benefits and the problems of implementing e-learning website in teaching reading are: a. Benefits 1) Building students prior knowledge can be done in various ways E-learning website provides some tools that can be used to help the students to build or activate their prior knowledge. Those tools can open picture, audio, and video. It means that building or activating prior knowledge can be done in more interesting ways. 2) The students may consult the online dictionaries when they found difficult words Difficult words no longer become a problem for the students since they can use online dictionaries to translate those words in their native language. 3) They can monitor the result of their study Since e-learning website can store the students score automatically, the students can monitor the result of their study. 4) The teachers are able to analyze the students problem Since the result of the students evaluation is stored by the system of the e-learning website the teacher may analyze the students problems efficiently and effectively. The teacher can find out in which aspect of reading comprehension do the students have problem by analyzing the records of the students learning activities. 5) Integrating reading skill with other skills Since the e-learning website has many tools that can be used by the teachers to design the instruction, integrating reading skill with other language skills can be done easily. 6) The material can be updated easily When there are some materials which are needed to be revised or updated, it can be done at once. b. Problems 1) The excessive use of the online dictionary The students sometimes use the online dictionary excessively. They translate the entire text into their native language, i.e. Indonesian language. 2) They open social media while reading Some students sometimes open their social media account and communicate through that social media, while ignoring the teaching and learning process. 3) Some students have problem in reading text on the computer screen Reading text on the computer screen is not easy for some students, especially if they have problem with their eyes. 4) The school should have sufficient facilities and human resources

9 562 Both the teacher and the students should know how to operate the web. When the teacher or the students do not know how to operate the e-learning web, it will be a serious problem, because it means that they cannot do the teaching and learning process effectively. Therefore, the school should have sufficient human resource who can train the students and the teachers to use the e-learning website. In addition, the school should also have sufficient number or computers and internet connection. 5) Time consuming To prepare the instruction that integrates e-learning website will require relatively longer time compared to teaching through traditional instruction, since the teacher have to link all of the teaching reading components with the tools offered by the e-learning website. Conclusion The use of e-learning website to support the teaching and learning process is now mushrooming all over the world. E-Learning website is a website that is specially designed for supporting teaching and learning process. To get the best result of integrating e-learning website during the teaching and learning activity, teachers should prepare themselves with a proper strategy. Based on the result of the field study that has been done by the writers, it is recommended that the teachers use PCAST Strategy when they want to teach reading through an e-learning website. It is because this strategy is able to activate or build the students prior knowledge, help the students to comprehend the reading text, and more importantly, this strategy is compatible with the tools offered by the e-learning website. Furthermore, before implementing e-learning website for teaching reading, there are some benefits and problems that should be understood by the teachers so that when they apply an e-learning website to teach reading, they can maximize the benefits and minimize or anticipate the possible problems. References Clarck, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2008). E-Learning and the Science of Instruction. San Francisco: Pfeiffer. Cole, J., & Foster, H. (2008). Using Moodle: Teaching with the Popular Open Source Course Management System. Sebastopol: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Community, M. (2013). Moodle Statistic. Retrieved January 3, 2013, from Moodle: Cooch, M. (2010). Moodle 2.0 First Look. Birmingham: Packt Publishing Ltd. Fee, K. (2009). Delivering E-Learning. Philadelphia: Kogan Page Limited. Greenwood, J. (1989). Comprehension and Reading. In G. Abbott, & P. Wingard, The Teaching of English as International Language: A Practical Guide (pp ). Great Britain: Biddles Ltd, Guildford, Surrey. Harmer, J. (2003). How to Teach English: An Introduction to the Practice of Language Teaching. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited. Lee, W. W., & Owens, D. L. (2004). Multimedia-based Instructional Design. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

10 563 Lems, K., Miller, L. D., & Soro, T. M. (2012). Teaching Reading to English Language Learners. New York: The Guilford Press. Nation, I. S. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL Reading and Writing. London: Routledge. Richards, J. C., Schmidt, R., Kendricks, H., & Kim, Y. (2002). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (3rd ed). London: Pearson Education Limited. Roblyer, m. D., & Doering, A. H. (2010). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (5th ed). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Sadoski, M. (2004). Conceptual Foundations of Teaching Reading. Ney York: The Guilford Press. Urdan, T. A., & Weggen, C. (2000). Corporate E-Learning: Exploring a New frontier. San Francisco : WR Hambrecht + Co.