An Analysis of the Teacher Question Levels in Teaching Reading of the Twelfth Grade Students at SMAN 1 Pakusari in the 2007/ 2006 Academic Year

Abstract

Questioning is one of the effective techniques to help students improve their thinking skills. Sadker and Sadker in Cooper (1999: 111) state that the first step to be a good questioner is that a teacher should recognize that questions have different characteristics, serve various functions, and create different levels o f thinking. To recognize the different levels of questions, teachers can use a question classification method. Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is one of the classification systems that can be used for clarifying learning objective as well as questions. Pohl (2002) states that the emphases of revised Bloom Taxonomy are: its primary focus is on the taxonomy in use, this means that the revised taxonomy is a more authentic tool for curriculum planning, instructional delivery and assessment. Moreover the revised taxonomy is universal for any disciplines and easily applicable at elementary, secondary, and even tertiary levels. This study is a case study that is intended to investigate the teacher’s question levels in teaching reading using question classification method developed by Lorin Anderson which is called Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. The research was done at SMAN 1 Pakusari. The subject of the research was the twelfth grade teacher at SMAN 1 Pakusari. The data were collected by applying classroom observations, interview, and documentation. The collected data were analyzed by using descriptive quantitative and qualitative. The results of this study were the frequent question levels used by the teacher in teaching reading were remembering and understanding. Other levels such as applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating were also used but the frequency was low. Finally, this led to the conclusion that in teaching reading, the teacher used more lower questions (remembering and understanding) rather that the higher ones. The objective of teaching reading for the twelfth grade students is students comprehend meaning of the functional written text and simple essay in the form of narrative, explanation, discussion, and review in the context of daily life and to access knowledge. This means that the twelfth grade students are expected to be able to extract all information and achieve some abilities through reading activities. From this point of view, therefore; the twelfth grade teacher is suggested to increase the use of higher-level questions (analyzing, evaluating, creating)