The Realization of Written Model Texts in the Junior High School English Textbook

Toni Hartono Politeknik Negeri Semarang Abstract: The new curricula for high schools (Competence-based Curriculum 2004 and School-based Curriculum 2006) brought about changes in English teaching from focusing on grammar to focusing on discourse. The changes cover both content and organization of learning. The content influences materials in the textbook, and the organization takes effect on the classroom programming. The study investigates realization of English model texts for Junior High School especially in a textbook for year VIII. It includes their genres, cohesion and coherence. The method employed is discourse analysis and the approach is qualitative. The data are 16 reading texts used as models for writing in the English on the Sky (EOS) textbook. The result shows that most of the texts (87.5%) display appropriate aspects of the genres. Two texts (12.5%) are problematic and not suitable for use as models. All of the texts are cohesive and most of them are coherent. The textbook writers are suggested to be more selective in providing written materials especially on genres and proportional use of cohesive ties. The result is expected to give English teachers an insight into genres, cohesion and coherence. Keywords: genre, generic structure, linguistic features, cohesion, coherence

INTRODUCTION
The implementation of the new curricula, Competence-based Curriculum 2004 (CBC 2004) and School-based Curriculum 2006 (SBC 2006) shifted the paradigm of English teaching for high schools in Indonesia from focusing on grammar to concerning with discourse and also moves away from the goal of language analysis to the goal of teaching language for communication. This has brought about changes in terms of teaching materials reflected in the textbook and organization of classroom programming. The implementation of SBC 2006 gives opportunity for the schools to develop a curriculum and other supporting documents like textbooks which are best-suited with their need. However, time and capability of their teachers have become so serious obstacles that they still rely on the textbooks written and published by professionals. The SBC 2006 contains Standardized Content (SC) for all subjects which should be achieved by each level from elementary to high schools. The SC, in turn, must be reflected in both the textbook content and classroom activities which adopts the cycles of teaching and learning namely spoken cycles and written cycles. Each of these cycles consists four stages i.e. Building Knowledge of the Field (BkoF), Modelling of Text (MoT), Joint Construction of Text (JcoT), and Independent Construction of Text (IcoT) (Hammond et al. 1992). As discourse competence becomes central in learning and literacy is also the target of implementation, the achievement of the purpose of communication will depend on how much the students are exposed to different kinds of texts. Consequently the teacher must equip himself with comprehensive knowledge on how texts are organized and aspects of texts well-formedness. During Modelling of Text (MoT) the teacher should provide models for the students. This study examines the written model texts provided in the English On Sky 2 textbook. The area being focused on is the realization of text aspects like the generic structure, linguistic features, cohesion and coherence. Genres as new materials Ragam Jurnal Pengembangan Humaniora Vol. 11 No. 1, April 2011

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have not been quite well-understood by English teachers (Djuharie 2007) and thus study on them are still relevant for the present time. Based on the above background, I propose to answer the following research questions: (i) How are generic structures displayed in the model texts of EOS 2 textbook?, (ii) What significant linguistic features are used in the model texts?, (iii) How is cohesion manifested in the model texts?, and (iv) How is coherence manifested in the model texts? Therefore, by considering the research problems, the objectives of this study are: (a) to describe the generic structures in the model texts of EOS 2 textbook, (b) to identify significant linguistic features of the model texts, (c) to identify cohesive relations in the model texts, and (d) to describe coherence of the model texts.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The model of communicative competence adopted by CBC 2004 (English Curriculum 2004) is the one proposed by Celce-Murcia, Dornyei and Thurrel (CelceMurcia et al. 1995). The model (as illustrated in figure 1) is selected because it elaborates details of suggested components that should be covered in teaching English so that it is easy for teachers to understand (Depdiknas 2005a: 50). Communicative competence is primarily discourse competence (Celce-Murcia et al. 1995). It is shown in the scheme that discourse competence is central as it refers to ability to select, sequence and arrange words, structures, and sentences or utterances to achieve a unified spoken or written whole with reference to a particular message and context (Celce-Murcia and Olshtain 2000: 16).

SOCIO CULTURAL COMPETENCE

DISCOURSE COMPETENCE

LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE

ACTIONAL COMPETENCE

STRATEGIC COMPETENCE

Figure 1. Schematic Representation of Communicative Competence (Celce-Murcia et al. 1995) Another framework underlying English Curriculum 2004 (EC 2004) is proposed by Derewianka (1990) which places language in the context of culture and context of situation. The context of culture results in different types of texts or genres for different purposes. Language is also used in immediate social context called context of situation (Derewianka 1990: 19; Hammond et al. 1992: 1). A court room and a shop are examples of contexts of situation in which people employ different choices of language (Feez and Joyce 1998).

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The Realization of Written Model Texts in the Junior High School English Textbook (Toni Hartono)

CULTURE

GENRE (PURPOSE)

SITUATION Who is involved? (Tenor) The subjectmatter (Field)

REGISTER

The channel (Mode)

TEXT

Figure 2. The Relation of Text and Context (Derewianka 1990: 19) Nunan (1992: 160) argues that discourse analysis has developed within linguistics and its analysis is generally carried out in linguistic terms. The work of a discourse analyst is investigating what makes well-formed discourse. They have studied textual factors such as the use of reference and conjunction, which contribute to cohesive discourse. Cohesion and coherence, which have received particular attention here, have also become significant areas of investigation within discourse analysis. They are features of a text which help it achieve its effectiveness, i.e. how it can present information which is easily attained by the readers. Both cohesion and coherence imply unity and connectedness, but they work in different areas: the first operates in texts, and the second operates in discourse (Kern 2000: 79). Cohesion has something to do with syntactic and semantic relations within the text, while coherence relates the ideas or concepts in the text to the relevant discourse (Kern 2000: 80). Genre, one area in the discourse analysis, has been characterized either by Kress (1989) or Swales (1990) as being comprised of communi-cative events whose members share sets of communicative purposes that are recognized by parent discourse community. The purpose, then, shapes schematic structure and influences choice of content and style (Swales 1990: 58). The points from the two opinions about genre are: (1) cultural events; (2) socially recognized; (3) purposeful language activity, (4) using pattern or structure to realize meanings. Hammond et al. (1992: 2) clarifies that genres refer to culturally evolved ways of getting things done which involve use of language. Each is characterized by a distinctive schematic structure through which its social function is realized. Pointing to the same characteristics Gerot and Wignell (1994: 17) define genre as a culturally specific text-type which results from using language, in spoken as well as written forms, to accomplish something. Thus, a genre always has a purpose. It takes place through certain stages, and uses language in particular ways. In this study the genres under focus are the ones introduced in the EOS 2 textbook. According to the SC, genres which should be discussed are description, recount and narrative. Realization of these three genres in the model texts as well as cohesive relations and coherence are examined to find solution to the proposed questions.

METHOD OF INVESTIGATION
This research employs qualitative approach and the result of analysis is interpretive since it takes account of description and explanation of the phenomena discovered. The Ragam Jurnal Pengembangan Humaniora Vol. 11 No. 1, April 2011

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method applied is discourse analysis because the unit being investigated is text and clause. Creswell (1994: 145) and Bogdan and Biklen (1992: 30) stated that qualitative research is descriptive in the way that the data obtained are in the form of words or pictures rather than numbers, memos and other official records. Reading texts as the object of this study comprise words, thus, they belong to this category, and the researcher looks further into the object to gain better understanding about it. Hyland (2004:198-199) suggests that analysis related to language of genres generally involves looking at some of the following elements (1) Staging, (2) Clause structure, (3) Types of verbs, (4) Vocabulary, (5) Noun groups, (6) Circumstances, and (7) Cohesion. The data of this study were 16 (sixteen) texts from EOS 2 textbook which were analyzed through the following procedure: 1. Reading the texts and predicting their genres. 2. Segmenting the texts into elements and describing the function of each element. 3. Identifying the linguistic features of the texts. 4. Stating the genres and their social purposes. 5. Analyzing cohesion of the texts. 6. Describing coherence of the texts. 7. Presenting the finding and interpretation. 8. Drawing conclusion.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

After reading the model texts, it could be predicted that there are four kinds of genres, namely Description (2 texts), Recount (6 texts), Narrative (4 texts), and Spoof/recount (2 texts). The segmentation results in the generic structures for all model texts which generally fulfills obligatory elements of each type of texts. Variations are found on optional elements, such as coda (in recount texts) and repetition of complication^ resolution (in narrative texts). The linguistic features of the model texts have been displayed appropriately according to the types of the texts. An improper feature is found on the application of present continuous tense to express a single event taking place at some time in the past, such as a birthday party or class performance. Such texts do not make sense if related to the concept of time and, thus, they do not fit with the culture of English language. In terms of cohesion, most of cohesive ties found are of reference type, especially pronominal and demonstrative and definite article (43%), and lexical type, especially repetition of the same items (41%). These are the simplest and most general forms of the cohesive relation (Halliday and Hasan 1976:28) and they are commonly found in texts for beginners. The conjunction type contributes 15% to the total cohesive ties, and ellipsis (0.6%) and substitution (0.4%) are the smallest numbers. Fourteen model texts (87%) have manifested coherence quite well in a way that their purposes are set clearly and are realized through proper staging and appropriate linguistic features. When a genre is applied correctly in a text with all obligatory elements, it automatically provides the reader with a contextual coherence.

CONCLUSIONS
Most of the reading texts (87.5%) display schematic structures and linguistic features as requested by their corresponding genres, and, therefore, they are eligible to be used as models for the students. Only 12.5% of them are problematic in both features and are not appropriate to be used as models for grade VIII students. All the sixteen analyzed texts have manifested cohesive relations very well. It is proved from the analysis that all clauses carry elements to refer or to be referred by other elements in the preceding (anaphora) or following (cataphora) clauses. The cohesive devices discovered are mostly reference and lexical cohesive ties.

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The Realization of Written Model Texts in the Junior High School English Textbook (Toni Hartono)

Fourteen model texts or 87.5% are coherent with the context; it means that an average reasonable reader (students at grade VIII) may not have problems in relating them to their contextual reference so that they are easily understood. The schematic structure and linguistic features of established genres are conventionally consistent. Therefore textbook writers must be alert to these elements because they will be referred or used by teachers and students. By doing so, it will prevent inexperienced teachers and students to use inappropriate models. Texts, either self-composed or taken from other sources, must be carefully observed so as to include varieties of use of cohesive devices. Appropriate model texts will help students learn English as it is used by English speaking people.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. 1992. Qualitative Research for Education: An Introduction to Theory and Methods. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Celce-Murcia, Marianne, Zoltan Dornyei and Sarah Thurrell. 1995. Communicative Competence: A Pedagogically Motivated Model with Content Specifications. In Issues in Applied Linguistics. Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 5-35. Celce-Murcia, Marianne and Elite Olshtain. 2000. Discourse and Context in Language Teaching: A Guide for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Creswell, J. W. 1994. Reseach Designs: Qualitative & Quantitative Approaches. London: SAGE Publications. Depdiknas. 2005a. Landasan Filosofis Teoritis Pendidikan bahasa Inggris, Bahan Pelatihan Terintegrasi Berbasis Kompetensi Guru SMP. Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan Nasional. Depdiknas. 2005b. Sistematika Kurikulum Bahasa Inggris 2004 dan Pengembangan Silabus: Bahan Pelatihan Terintegrasi Berbasis Kompetensi Guru SMP. Jakarta: Dirjen PDM/PLP. Derewianka, B. 1990. Exploring How Texts Work. Newtown: Primary English Teaching Association. Feez, Susan and Helen Joyce. 1998. Text-based Syllabus Design. Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, Macquarie University. Gerot, Linda and Peter Wignell. 1994. Making Sense of Functional Grammar. Cammeray: Gerd Stabler. Halliday, M.A.K. and Ruqaiya Hasan. 1976. Cohesion in English. Essex: Longman Group Limited. Hammond, Jenny, Anne Burns, Helen Joyce, Daphne Brosnan and Linda Gerot. 1992. English for Social Purposes. Sydney: Macquarie University. Hyland, Ken. 2004. Genre and Second Language Writing. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Kern, R. 2000. Literacy and Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kress, G. 1989. Linguistic Processes in Sociocultural Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nunan, David. 1993. Introducing Discourse Analysis. London: Penguin Group. Swales, John M. 1990. Genre Analysis, English in Academic and Research Settings. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

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