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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD Research Design This is an experimental research because it tests the hypothesis of the cause and effect relationship. Gay (1987) adds that the researcher can only use the experimental method in order to test hypothesis concerning the cause and effect relationship. The design of this research is the post-test only design because the aim is to know whether the questions skills will give a better effect on Senior High School students writing ability in developing ideas than the students who are not given the questioning skills. It will be based on the post-test that will be done after giving the treatment. The post-test is conducted to the two groups in the final meeting of the research. There are two variables involved in this research: the independent variable and the dependent variable. The independent variable is the treatment that the used by the teacher in teaching-learning activity both of the two groups. The dependent variable is the students scores in a post-test held at the end of research. To see the effect of the treatment, the students scores of control and experimental group in post-test are compared. The design of the research can be schematized as follows: Group Treatment (Independent Variable) E C Where: X Y E = Experimental group C = Control group X = Treatment of experimental group by given questioning skills Y = Treatment of control group without questioning skills Z = Post-test of experimental and control group Post-test (Dependent Variable) Z Z

Population and Sample Population The population of this research is the second year students of SMA Negeri 1 Sungai Lasi who are registered in academic year 2010/2011. They are chosen because of their English ability, especially their writing skill, is assumed to be adequate. There are 138 students classified into 5 classes. Class XI IPA 1 XI IPA 2 XI IPA 3 XI IPS 1 XI IPS 2 The Number of Students 23 students 25 students 23 students 33 students 34 students

Sample The sampling method of this research is the cluster sampling in which group, not individual, is randomly selected. Gay (1987) states that cluster sampling is sampling in which group, not individual are randomly selected. The researcher will choose two classes from science classes (XI IPA) based on their mean scores which are almost equal in a midterm test. The science (XI IPA) classes are chosen because they have quite good ability in English rather than social classes (XI IPS). In order to determine which groups as the experimental and control groups, the researcher will flap a coin. The side of coin which has picture will refer to the experimental group and the other side will refer to the control group. Instrumentation The instrument of this research is Grammar test. It will be a teacher-made test. The test will be administered on final meeting of the research. The students will be assigned to make a text based on certain topics. The topics are chosen

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based on the theme in curriculum for Senior High School and considering whether the topics are appropriate and interesting for Senior High School students. This test is used to find out the effect of online grammar to the students grammar ability, especially in developing their ideas. To get the validity, the test will be based on the expert judgment. Hughes (2003) adds that the judgments ideally should be made by people who are wellknown with language teaching and testing but who are not directly concerned with the construction of the test. It means the test is going to be consulted with the advisors and an English teacher for their judgment about the test. The reliability of the instrument will be analyzed by inter-rater reliability. Brown (2004) states that inter-rater reliability occurs when two or more scorers yield inconsistent scores of the same test, possibly for lack of attention to scoring criteria, inexperience, inattention, or even preconceived biases. There will be three scorers that will score the tests; a writing lecturer, an English teacher of class XI and the researcher herself. The post-tests are believed to have content validity as they aimed at assessing the students' achievement in grammar. The tasks required in the post-test were comparable to those covered in the book and practiced in class. In addition, the test instructions were phrased clearly and the examinee's task was defined. Because of the scoring will be focused on the ideas, it will be based on guidelines that are derived from Jacobs et al. (in Hughes, 2003): 3: fluent expression, ideas clearly stated/supported, succinct, wellorganized, logical sequencing 2: somewhat copy, loosely organized but main ideas stand out, limited support, logical but incomplete sequencing 1: non-fluent, ideas confused and disconnected, lacks logical sequencing and development 0: does not communicate, not organization, not enough to evaluate

Data Gathering As mentioned above, the data will be taken from writing test. The students will be given some topics. One of the topics will be chosen by the students, and write into a text. The students will be asked to write their name and title of the topic that they are interested in. The text will consist of minimum paragraph at least four paragraphs. The test will be done in 60 minutes. Both of groups (experimental and control group) will get the same topics. After the students have finished, the answer sheets will be collected and analyzed. The scores will be analyzed based on guidelines that are derived from Jacobs et al. (in Hughes, 2003) which has been stated before. Data Analysis The data will be analyzed by using t-test to test the hypothesis of significance as it is often used as a standard in educational study derives from Gay (1987).

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t=

x1 x 2 ss1 + ss2 1 1 n + n 2 n + n 2 2 1 1

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Where:

= the value of t-calculated

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x1

= mean of the experimental group

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x2

= mean of the control group

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ss1

= sum of squares of experimental group

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ss 2

= sum of squares of control group

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n1

= number of experimental group

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n2

= number of control group

In analyzing the data by using the t-test formula, the consideration is if the value of t-observed is same or less than the value of t-table, the research hypothesis would be rejected. If the value of t-observed is bigger than the value of t-table, the research hypothesis would be accepted. The pre- and post-test raw scores were converted into percentages. The mean median, standard deviation, standard error and range were computed for the pre- and post-test scores of the experimental and control groups. To find out whether there was a significant difference in ability between the experimental and control groups prior to instruction, an independent sample T-test was run using the pre-test scores. Since experimental and control groups are unequal in size, significant differences existed between the experimental and control groups in their pre-test means scores before at the beginning of the semester. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was run using the post-test scores as the response variable and the pre-test scores as the covariate to correct for chance differences that existed when the subjects were assigned to the treatment groups. This correction resulted in the adjustment of group means for pre-existing differences caused by sampling error and reduction of the size of the error variance of the analysis. To find out whether each group had made any progress as a result of instruction, a within group paired T-test was computed for each groups using the pre- and post-test mean scores of each group. To find out whether there is a relationship between the students' posttest scores and frequency of using the online course, the student' post-test score was correlated with the number of responses she posted in the "Conferencing" area using the Pearson correlation formula. Post-test scores could not be correlated with the frequency of using the hyperlinks posted in the Link Sharing, as such statistics are not provided by the Nicenet system. Procedures Before instruction, the experimental and control groups were pre-tested. They

took the same grammar pretest that consisted of questions covering the grammatical topics to be studied. At the end of the semester, both groups took the same post-test that covered all of the grammatical topics studied throughout the semester: These included the following: (1) Fill in the blanks in the text with an article where necessary; (2) Write if each noun is Count or Non-count as it is used in the text. Use C or NC; (3) Write the part of speech of each word as it is used in the text. Use abbreviations; (4) Write the plural of each word as it is used in the text; (5) Write the plural form of the noun where necessary; (6) Write the singular form of the noun where necessary; (7) Use the correct tense of the verbs in parentheses or add a modal where necessary; (8) Read the following paragraph, then make questions as indicated; (9) How is -ed or -es pronounced in the following words; (10) Write the past participle of each verb; (11) Fill in the blanks with a pronoun; (12) Complete the following sentences; (13) Change nouns and pronouns to plural where necessary and make any necessary changes; (14) Underline the correct word; (15) Fill in the blanks with an expression of quantity or an indefinite pronoun. Most of the questions required production. The pre- and post-tests of both groups were blindly graded by the author. The students wrote their ID numbers instead of their names. An answer key was used. Questions were graded one at a time for all the students. Marks were deducted for spelling mistakes. At the end of the course, all of the students answered an openended questionnaire, which consisted of the following questions: (1) Why did you register and use the online course? (2) What did you like about it? What did you not like? (3) Did your English improve as a result of using the online course? In what ways? (4) Did it make any difference in learning English grammar? (5) If you did not post any responses or paragraphs in the online course? Why? (6) What problems or difficulties did you face in using the online course? How were those problems solved? (7) How often did you use the online course? (8) How much time did you spend using and browsing the online course? (9) Would you register again in a similar course in the future? Why? (10) Which links did you find most useful?