A STUDY ON THE COMPATIBILITY OF “FUN AND HAPPY WITH ENGLISH” TEXTBOOK FOR THE FIFTH YEAR STUDENTS WITH SCHOOL-BASED CURRICULUM

Anggriani, Mahfudh (2009)
Abstract
This research paper is mainly intended to find out whether or not the English textbook used for the fifth year students of Elementary School entitled “Fun and Happy with English, Grade 5” compatible with indicators of the language skills suggested by School-based Curriculum. This research applies descriptive qualitative research. In collecting the data, the writer used documentary analysis especially in content analysis as the instrument. The data were analyzed by these steps; (1) presenting the materials (2) comparing the materials (3) judging whether the English textbook is appropriate with the School-based Curriculum (4) drawing conclusions. The result of the analysis shows that the percentage of the compatibility of the language skills developed in the textbook is 63,16%. It means that the textbook is good in developing language skills suggested by School-based Curriculum. The language skills which are developed in the textbook involve: the compatibility of the listening material is 41,67% or fair with the indicators of School-based Curriculum, the compatibility of the speaking material is 81,81% or very good with the speaking indicators suggested by School-based Curriculum, 60% or good for the compatibility of the reading skill with indicators of School-based Curriculum and 61,11% or good for the writing material means that the writing material is appropriate with the writing skill indicators of School-based Curriculum. This research implies that the textbook entitled “Fun and Happy with English, Grade 5” is good materials to support the learning process especially in speaking, reading, and writing. The materials of listening skill in this textbook are not adequate, so the listening teaching-learning process needs the other material to support the listening lesson.

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Teaching material is a key component in most language programs. One of
the materials in an education institution is created material. Created material
refers to textbook and others specially developed instructional resources. In
the teaching-learning process, textbook is very important because textbook is
used to help the learners and also the teachers. It is important to write and
compile textbooks, which properly reflect the purpose of the national
curriculum standards reform i.e. deliberate selection of educational content
and cultivation of the ability to learn how to learn and to solve problems.
Textbook is the important thing as the media of the learning process and
also as the media of the curriculum material in the education system. In
curriculum standard, the meaning of the English textbook is the handbook for
the learners which arranged based on national curriculum standard and
appropriate with the education system in Indonesia. Its purpose is to improve
the knowledge and skill for communication using English.
Textbook for elementary school is the textbook which covers pictures and
dialogue to attract the student’s interest. Every theme is divided in two
learning steps, these are; spoken activity and written activity. These steps
include; listening, speaking, reading, and writing arranged orderly to make the
learners easier to learn the materials.
A book may be ideal in one situation because it matches the needs of that
situation perfectly. It has just the right amount of material for the program, it
is easy to teach, it can be used with little preparation by inexperienced
teachers, and it has an equal coverage of grammar and the four skills. There
are many kinds of textbook evaluations theory, such as; (1) the textbook
evaluation is one aspect of a good language teaching materials by Tomlinson
(1998: 7) which has the sixteen characteristics (2) the criteria of analysis by
Hutchinson (1994: 96) based on the current curriculum with four criteria, and
etc.
The current English curriculum is School-based curriculum. The material
such as textbook should be appropriate with the current curriculum.
According to Bolstad (2004: 4), School-based Curriculum is a process in
which some or all of the members of a school community plan implement
and/or evaluate an aspect or aspects of the curriculum offering of the school.
In this study the writer wants to know what the English textbook should be
designed based on the School-based Curriculum or not.
School-based Curriculum is the curriculum arranged and realized in each
education institution, it consists of the purpose of education organization of
the curriculum in each institution, education calendar, and syllabus. Syllabus
is the lesson plan of the certain lesson or certain topic/theme which consists of
standard of competence, basic competence, main material, teaching-learning
activity, indicator, time allocation, source material and the media (Khaerudin,
2007: 80-81)
The English textbook for the learners of the elementary school are various
and the writer wants to know how far the compatibility of the English
textbook “Fun and Happy with English, Grade 5” with the School-based
Curriculum implemented in some elementary schools in Indonesia.
The English textbook “Fun and Happy with English” is one of the
English textbooks used in some elementary schools in Surakarta area. This
book is not only using contextual approach based on everyday life but also
introducing students to the importance of environmental preservation
(environmental awareness program). The material in this book is difficult to
understand. In this study the writer is interested in conducting a research about
A STUDY ON THE COMPATIBILITY OF “FUN AND HAPPY WITH
ENGLISH” TEXTBOOK FOR THE FIFTH YEAR STUDENTS WITH
SCHOOL- BASED CURRICULUM.

B. Problem of the Study
The problem, which the writer is going to investigate, is “What are the
materials of English textbook entitled “Fun and Happy with English Grade 5”
compatible with the guidelines of School-based Curriculum?” The writer
raises several subsidiary research questions as follows;
1. Are the listening materials of English textbook entitled “Fun and
Happy with English Grade 5” compatible with listening skill indicators
of School-based Curriculum?
2. Are the speaking materials of English textbook entitled “Fun and
Happy with English Grade 5” compatible with speaking skill
indicators of School-based Curriculum?
3. Are the reading materials of English textbook entitled “Fun and Happy
with English Grade 5” compatible with reading skill indicators of
School-based Curriculum?
4. Are the writing materials of English textbook entitled “Fun and Happy
with English Grade 5” compatible with writing skill indicators of
School-based Curriculum?
C. Objective of the Study
Based on the research problem, the objectives of the research are;
1. Investigating whether or not the listening materials in “Fun and Happy
with English Grade 5” textbook is compatible with indicators in
listening skill of School-based Curriculum.
2. Investigating whether or not the speaking materials in “Fun and Happy
with English Grade 5” textbook is compatible with indicators in
speaking skill of School-based Curriculum.
3. Investigating whether or not the reading materials in “Fun and Happy
with English Grade 5” textbook is compatible with indicators in
reading skill of School-based Curriculum.
4. Investigating whether or not the writing materials in “Fun and Happy
with English Grade 5” textbook is compatible with indicators in
writing skill of School-based Curriculum.
D. Benefit of the Study
1. Theoretical Advantage
The writer hopes that the result of the study might be used as a
reference for analyzing the English textbook.
2. Practical Advantage
a. The writer hopes that the teachers will know the compatibility of the
textbook with the curriculum.
b. The teachers know how far the textbook follows the curriculum
demand.
E. Research Paper Organization
Research paper organization is given in order to that the readers could
easily understand intend of the research paper. In this case, the writer
organizes her research paper into five chapters.
Chapter I is introduction. This chapter concerns with the background of
the study, problem statement, objective of the study, benefit of the study, and
research paper organization.
Chapter II is review related literature. This chapter consists of previous
study, notion of textbook, function of textbook, the English textbook “Fun
and Happy with English Grade 5”, textbook analysis (Cunningsworth’s
evaluation, School-based Curriculum, Standard of Material Competence, and
Syllabus).
Chapter III is research method. It consists of type of research, object the
research, data and source of the data, method of collecting data, and technique
for analyzing data.
Chapter IV is research finding and discussion. It consists of material of
listening skill, speaking skill, reading skill, and writing skill found in the
content of “Fun and Happy with English” textbook, analysis and compatibility
of skills indicator in textbook with the School-based Curriculum indicators,
and discussion.
Chapter V is conclusion and suggestion. It consists of the research and
then it proposes some suggestions.