Heri septiawan
06211210263
“One book, One student” the Best Arrangement to Teach English Through Literature
In one occasion, my friend and I exchanged reading one book. After the appointed day, we shared it based on own point of view. As a result, the ideas about it were not the same; my friend said it was a boring story, but I judged it a good story. The description above is real. It happens continuously; every time my friend and I read one book and shared it.
The reality shows that reading is a private activity. No one have the same idea about what they read. Even, students in basic level will show the phenomenon; let them to read one text and ask them to answer the questions given, certainly, they will answer with different ideas if they do not cheat!.
As English teachers who want to teach English through literature, understanding the nature of reading is a very important aspect of teaching plan. Reading is a passive activity, where through it students will get ideas or knowledge. As the passive activity, teachers should consider the needs and interests of the students, so that they will enjoy their reading and get more knowledge easily.
Reading interests and difficulty, developmental stages that young people face, and intellectual ability are all considered before suggesting a book to a particular student. Therefore, in my experience, ‘one book, one student’ best suits with me. This organizational reading shall meet the needs and interests of each student. As a result, they will easily judge the book and get ideas of the book, their own books.
In consideration, books are written in line with the level of their readers. One book will be easy to understand by one student but, will be difficult for other students. The understanding skill to read comprehensively one book is related to their intellectual ability, so if one book is given to whole class, students will have no full interaction with the book used. However, it does not mean that teachers will underestimate the lower students but, it is the way to engage the lower students to get their interests in reading. Hopefully, their senses of reading will be built and getting developed time by time they read their own lovely book.
One thing that it shall build classroom as reading laboratory is reading peers or sharing ideas from the read books. If every student reads their own books and they share it together with their friends, so how many books will be discussed in the classroom, there must be a lot of ideas, and experience to be shared. Automatically, it creates the increasing of knowledge and improvement their skills. One should be noted, in middle and high school, as their intellectual and developmental stages are getting better, so their reading will be encouraged as independence reading. They want to read what suits with their interests and needs, if not they will not have senses of reading. In context of teaching English through literature, it is effective way to increase their reading skills based on English.
In conclusion, this approach will have more advantages to build reading skills regarding the interests and needs of students’. The arrangement of this approach will create optimum classroom reading achievement since every student reads what the best for them and they share it. Doing restrictive reading for students just makes them bored to read. There is no sensitivity, interaction and sense to what they read and the predictable result is they will be non reading person just after they finish their study at school. Reading comprehensively means the students can respond the books based on their own point of view. In this way, students will have more responsibility for their reading/literature program. Beside that, teaching English through literature will be effective since students show their interests in reading, consequently, they enjoy reading and follow English program through literature.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Explanation of the Developmental Tasks by Havighurst and Their Importance to Middle and High school
Heri septiawan
06211210263
Semester 7
Curriculum and Material Development
Explanation of the Developmental Tasks by Havighurst and Their Importance to Middle and High school
Understanding the developmental tasks of adolescence is a such kind of very crucial thing for language teachers, especially for those who want to engage their students as the life long readers. If students are asked to read literature that is not consistent with their developmental tasks, they will not be able to interact fully with that literature. As a result, they just read in school since they are forced to do that, not as life long readers who read because they love it. Consequently, the result of the teaching is just like selling ice to the Eskimos.
Havighurst outlines lifetime developmental tasks for healthy individuals that include a series of tasks that confront adolescents. The first task is achieving new and more mature relations with age-mates of both sexes. Mature relationships are here viewed as adult relationships; girls are looked upon as women and boys as men. They are interested in relation to the opposite sex in social activities and social experimentation. In this case, school is the main place where the socialization takes place. Approved to be peer of the both sexes is a powerful influence on the behavior of adolescents. In addition, failing or delaying this developmental task will affect their social adjustment and other developmental tasks.
The second developmental task is achieving a proper masculine of feminine social role. In this task, the main point is to be accepted in adult social role. The task of achieving manhood or womanhood is complicated by the contemporary ferment over social roles, the erosion of traditional models, and lack of clarity for replacements.
Accepting one's physique and using body effectively is the third developmental task. Adolescence period is the time of change. As the adolescents grow up, their bodies will also change. In this period, they will learn what their bodies will be. But, not all bodies are shaped or function as what they desire. Havighurst define a task that will be pride or tolerance of one’s body and the ability to use and protect the body satisfactorily. There are at least two components to teenage anxiety regarding physical growth. First is the concern about developing into a satisfactory adult body. The second and more immediate adolescent crises regarding physical growth has to do with the timing of physical changes, particularly the development of adult sexual characteristics. They will have question in their time of change, am I normal? It is asked by the adolescents as they compare their bodies change with the peers,
The fourth developmental task is achieving emotional independence from parents and other adults. The parents want them to become mature adults, but they also want to protect their children. On the other hand, the children have achieved emotional independence form parents and other adults. They want to leave the security of childhood for the adulthood world. The result of the opposite condition is miscommunication, rebellion, authoritarian behaviors and irresponsibility; they may say “whatever!” “I don’t care with the rules, it’s me who determine myself!”. In this case, Teachers have to understand the conflicts so that they can avoid being drawn into misplaced hostility and confrontation.
The fifth task is preparation for marriage and family. The strong attraction with the opposite sex, in period of adolescence need developing, it comes from their willing to have relationship with the opposite sex and establishing independence from parents. They will have understanding that family and marriage is two important things for the adolescents.
The sixth developmental task is preparing for an economic career. One thing which is primary from childhood to adulthood is achieving economic independence and the ability to make a living, as well as choosing a satisfying occupation. They try to think how to earn money and sustain their lives since they are not longer as children.
Acquiring a set of values and an ethical system as a guide is the seventh task of Havighurst’s. This task reflects that adolescents start to have interesting in world views, religions, and ideas of life, political stances and philosophical problems. They are no longer a passive thinker but, one who can see universal truths. Therefore, they need to make choices that reflect their values and ideals. And it is later their principles to lead their lives.
The final developmental task is satisfactorily achieving social responsibility. This task involves discovering one’s role in social lives; to be citizen, members of community and so on. Adolescents discover that what they do will potentially affect the social groups where they live beyond their own families.
To consider the seventh developmental tasks outlined by Havighurst is a crucial point. Teachers should be aware of the tasks, especially, for middle and high school students. In the middle school, students have opportunity to relate their experience to and respond to what they read. The real experience is the basis to build their responses on what they read. They have tried to associate the real experience with their readings. They can share knowledge, discuss and do more with their readings.
In high school, adolescents are able to reason at the formal operational level. In general, these students have reached intellectual maturity, and most are able to think in a systematic manner. If then, teachers consider the all developmental tasks, so it will be more interesting for the students to study literature at school. Even more, they will be long life readers, because they think literature is consistent with their interests and needs as shown in developmental tasks by Havighurst.
06211210263
Semester 7
Curriculum and Material Development
Explanation of the Developmental Tasks by Havighurst and Their Importance to Middle and High school
Understanding the developmental tasks of adolescence is a such kind of very crucial thing for language teachers, especially for those who want to engage their students as the life long readers. If students are asked to read literature that is not consistent with their developmental tasks, they will not be able to interact fully with that literature. As a result, they just read in school since they are forced to do that, not as life long readers who read because they love it. Consequently, the result of the teaching is just like selling ice to the Eskimos.
Havighurst outlines lifetime developmental tasks for healthy individuals that include a series of tasks that confront adolescents. The first task is achieving new and more mature relations with age-mates of both sexes. Mature relationships are here viewed as adult relationships; girls are looked upon as women and boys as men. They are interested in relation to the opposite sex in social activities and social experimentation. In this case, school is the main place where the socialization takes place. Approved to be peer of the both sexes is a powerful influence on the behavior of adolescents. In addition, failing or delaying this developmental task will affect their social adjustment and other developmental tasks.
The second developmental task is achieving a proper masculine of feminine social role. In this task, the main point is to be accepted in adult social role. The task of achieving manhood or womanhood is complicated by the contemporary ferment over social roles, the erosion of traditional models, and lack of clarity for replacements.
Accepting one's physique and using body effectively is the third developmental task. Adolescence period is the time of change. As the adolescents grow up, their bodies will also change. In this period, they will learn what their bodies will be. But, not all bodies are shaped or function as what they desire. Havighurst define a task that will be pride or tolerance of one’s body and the ability to use and protect the body satisfactorily. There are at least two components to teenage anxiety regarding physical growth. First is the concern about developing into a satisfactory adult body. The second and more immediate adolescent crises regarding physical growth has to do with the timing of physical changes, particularly the development of adult sexual characteristics. They will have question in their time of change, am I normal? It is asked by the adolescents as they compare their bodies change with the peers,
The fourth developmental task is achieving emotional independence from parents and other adults. The parents want them to become mature adults, but they also want to protect their children. On the other hand, the children have achieved emotional independence form parents and other adults. They want to leave the security of childhood for the adulthood world. The result of the opposite condition is miscommunication, rebellion, authoritarian behaviors and irresponsibility; they may say “whatever!” “I don’t care with the rules, it’s me who determine myself!”. In this case, Teachers have to understand the conflicts so that they can avoid being drawn into misplaced hostility and confrontation.
The fifth task is preparation for marriage and family. The strong attraction with the opposite sex, in period of adolescence need developing, it comes from their willing to have relationship with the opposite sex and establishing independence from parents. They will have understanding that family and marriage is two important things for the adolescents.
The sixth developmental task is preparing for an economic career. One thing which is primary from childhood to adulthood is achieving economic independence and the ability to make a living, as well as choosing a satisfying occupation. They try to think how to earn money and sustain their lives since they are not longer as children.
Acquiring a set of values and an ethical system as a guide is the seventh task of Havighurst’s. This task reflects that adolescents start to have interesting in world views, religions, and ideas of life, political stances and philosophical problems. They are no longer a passive thinker but, one who can see universal truths. Therefore, they need to make choices that reflect their values and ideals. And it is later their principles to lead their lives.
The final developmental task is satisfactorily achieving social responsibility. This task involves discovering one’s role in social lives; to be citizen, members of community and so on. Adolescents discover that what they do will potentially affect the social groups where they live beyond their own families.
To consider the seventh developmental tasks outlined by Havighurst is a crucial point. Teachers should be aware of the tasks, especially, for middle and high school students. In the middle school, students have opportunity to relate their experience to and respond to what they read. The real experience is the basis to build their responses on what they read. They have tried to associate the real experience with their readings. They can share knowledge, discuss and do more with their readings.
In high school, adolescents are able to reason at the formal operational level. In general, these students have reached intellectual maturity, and most are able to think in a systematic manner. If then, teachers consider the all developmental tasks, so it will be more interesting for the students to study literature at school. Even more, they will be long life readers, because they think literature is consistent with their interests and needs as shown in developmental tasks by Havighurst.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Effects of TV Programs on Children Behavior
Effect of TV Programs on Children Behavior
In my experience, when I visit villages I will notice that many villagers now have own television set. Proudly, they place it in a living room. As villagers, they bought TV set for home entertainment, so it is normal if they mostly enjoy films, quiz, magic show, humor, sports and even advertisement. It is unusual for villagers to be newspaper subscriber, because they almost never think of politic, economy, social affairs, etc.
Since TV reaches villages, it becomes the only effective medium to transfer science and technology to all people whoever they are. It must be used in such a way that students, scientist, politicians, farmers and so on can get any information broadcasted.
The development of technology is useful to the development of science and vise versa. The development of science and technology is very much useful to the effectiveness of human activity. For instance, Television, by using television, people can see information from a distance. News reported from the London will reach Jakarta or even around the world. Now distance is not a problem any longer. That is why something happened in one place will soon spread without any interference. The world border lines have been wiped out.
Unfortunately, the success of Television brings negative effect to people. Children stay in front of TV for hours. Indubitably, if they are always busy with TV and its programs they will be lazy, introvert, not be able to communicate with brothers, and not be creative. Watching sadistic films, indirectly, their emotion and character will be badly driven. Physically, their eyes will be irritated, too.
Viewing TV shows where violent behavior is punished my inhibit feelings of aggression to a greater degree for human. Television has become a potent agency of socialization because like the family, school, and peers, it directly provides the child with experiences which shape their attitudes and influence their behaviors. In evaluating television's influence on children, it is important to view this medium as an element in a matrix of influences in a child's social environment.
Television seems to become a growing source of parental anxiety. Parents worry most of all about the amount and kinds of programs their children watch, and definitely these fears are legitimate. According to the American Psychological Association Task Force Report on Television and American Society, by the time the average American child (one who watches two to four hours of television daily), leaves elementary school, he or she will have witnessed at least 8,000 murders and more than 100,000 other assorted acts of violence on television.
Unlike books, television programs are easily accessible to children. In a book culture, parents exercise control over the flow of information by selecting the type of books according to the child's reading readiness. Television presents the same information to adults and to children of all ages; and so parents often find it difficult to censor their children's viewing without censoring their own.
Their difficulty stems from their inability to differentiate what is essential to the plot and what is peripheral. Character actions, especially those showing physical actions and confrontations, are remembered better than scenes offering explanations for their actions. Children find it hard to recall scenes recounting inner feelings that explain previous events.
Young children also have a hard time distinguishing make-believe from reality. A five-year-old child wondered why an actor who "died" in one TV programs "came back to life" in another show; and if Superman can fly, why can't he (the child) even if he wears a Superman cape. Children observe that cartoon characters manage to recover from severe violent acts almost immediately. This kind of exposure could lead them to interpret that in real life, people who are victims of violent acts do not really get hurt at all.
So what parents can do to stop it, Parents should watch at least one episode of Programs their child watches to know how violent they are. When viewing together, they can discuss how the conflict could have been solved without the violence. They should explain to the child how violence in entertainment is "faked" and not real. Such interventions, whether at the personal or family level can moderate the impact of scenes on children. Adult explanation improves children's understanding of plots, characters, and events. Co-viewing with children can provide occasions for parents to discuss values, beliefs, and moral issues. Parents should also set clear guidelines on the time and length of television viewing.
Parents can also encourage their children to find pleasure in other mass media, such as books and newspapers. They can select books that highlight the themes in programs that children have viewed on television and discuss with them what was the same and what was different, as well as their feelings and preferences about characters and scenes, and the way they are presented in both media forms. At the school level, the inclusion of media literacy courses in school systems can be very effective. Children can be taught to be more discriminating viewers and can be helped to understand the influence and the effects of television and other media. Teachers should point out that real violence actually hurts, has negative consequences, and that there are other ways than violence to solve real-life problems.
In my experience, when I visit villages I will notice that many villagers now have own television set. Proudly, they place it in a living room. As villagers, they bought TV set for home entertainment, so it is normal if they mostly enjoy films, quiz, magic show, humor, sports and even advertisement. It is unusual for villagers to be newspaper subscriber, because they almost never think of politic, economy, social affairs, etc.
Since TV reaches villages, it becomes the only effective medium to transfer science and technology to all people whoever they are. It must be used in such a way that students, scientist, politicians, farmers and so on can get any information broadcasted.
The development of technology is useful to the development of science and vise versa. The development of science and technology is very much useful to the effectiveness of human activity. For instance, Television, by using television, people can see information from a distance. News reported from the London will reach Jakarta or even around the world. Now distance is not a problem any longer. That is why something happened in one place will soon spread without any interference. The world border lines have been wiped out.
Unfortunately, the success of Television brings negative effect to people. Children stay in front of TV for hours. Indubitably, if they are always busy with TV and its programs they will be lazy, introvert, not be able to communicate with brothers, and not be creative. Watching sadistic films, indirectly, their emotion and character will be badly driven. Physically, their eyes will be irritated, too.
Viewing TV shows where violent behavior is punished my inhibit feelings of aggression to a greater degree for human. Television has become a potent agency of socialization because like the family, school, and peers, it directly provides the child with experiences which shape their attitudes and influence their behaviors. In evaluating television's influence on children, it is important to view this medium as an element in a matrix of influences in a child's social environment.
Television seems to become a growing source of parental anxiety. Parents worry most of all about the amount and kinds of programs their children watch, and definitely these fears are legitimate. According to the American Psychological Association Task Force Report on Television and American Society, by the time the average American child (one who watches two to four hours of television daily), leaves elementary school, he or she will have witnessed at least 8,000 murders and more than 100,000 other assorted acts of violence on television.
Unlike books, television programs are easily accessible to children. In a book culture, parents exercise control over the flow of information by selecting the type of books according to the child's reading readiness. Television presents the same information to adults and to children of all ages; and so parents often find it difficult to censor their children's viewing without censoring their own.
Their difficulty stems from their inability to differentiate what is essential to the plot and what is peripheral. Character actions, especially those showing physical actions and confrontations, are remembered better than scenes offering explanations for their actions. Children find it hard to recall scenes recounting inner feelings that explain previous events.
Young children also have a hard time distinguishing make-believe from reality. A five-year-old child wondered why an actor who "died" in one TV programs "came back to life" in another show; and if Superman can fly, why can't he (the child) even if he wears a Superman cape. Children observe that cartoon characters manage to recover from severe violent acts almost immediately. This kind of exposure could lead them to interpret that in real life, people who are victims of violent acts do not really get hurt at all.
So what parents can do to stop it, Parents should watch at least one episode of Programs their child watches to know how violent they are. When viewing together, they can discuss how the conflict could have been solved without the violence. They should explain to the child how violence in entertainment is "faked" and not real. Such interventions, whether at the personal or family level can moderate the impact of scenes on children. Adult explanation improves children's understanding of plots, characters, and events. Co-viewing with children can provide occasions for parents to discuss values, beliefs, and moral issues. Parents should also set clear guidelines on the time and length of television viewing.
Parents can also encourage their children to find pleasure in other mass media, such as books and newspapers. They can select books that highlight the themes in programs that children have viewed on television and discuss with them what was the same and what was different, as well as their feelings and preferences about characters and scenes, and the way they are presented in both media forms. At the school level, the inclusion of media literacy courses in school systems can be very effective. Children can be taught to be more discriminating viewers and can be helped to understand the influence and the effects of television and other media. Teachers should point out that real violence actually hurts, has negative consequences, and that there are other ways than violence to solve real-life problems.
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