HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS IN THE READING SECTION OF

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH EXAMINATION

A Research Proposal

By

Putri Maulina (1532500097)

1. Introduction

1.1 Research Background

As one of the important things in the world, education plays an essential in the

process of life. Education is the process of developing potential and self-skills through

the stages of teaching, training and research, so that a person can have knowledge,

expertise and personality that is useful for herself and others. Gardner (2010) argued

that people have education because they hope that one day the knowledge they get can

be used in life. Then, Wagner (2010) also proposed that having good education can be

one of the factors that guarantee future life. From this statement, education is a long-

term investment that cannot be harvested instantly and is one of the keys to get a

knowledge.

The process of education at school cannot be apart from the output of education

itself. One of the educational substances which has the important role to determine the

graduation quality is curriculum. School as a formal educational institution,

systematically had planned various environments, that is the educational environment,

which provides a variety of opportunities for students to gain experience of education

in order to encourage the students‟ growth and development. The environment is

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organized into the curriculum and teaching methods (Hamalik, 2004). So, the good

quality of the graduation depends on the curriculum as the guidance in education.

The curriculum in Indonesia has been changing and developing in many times.

Nowadays, The National Education Department has changed the previous curriculum

– School Based Curriculum (SBC) 2006 – with the new one called 2013 Curriculum.

Mulyasa (2013) stated that the existence of 2013 curriculum becomes a great attention

and leads to controversy for most people, because some people regard 2013 curriculum

is not ready to implement. So, curriculum change happens with reasons and purposes,

of course to make it more relevant.

In this industrial revolution 4.0 era, due to the demand of education in this era

is not merely focus on the intellectual development but also creativity. According to

Widana (2017), the external factors are related to globalization and others issues;

technology development, industry 4.0, culture and international education

development. However, the partnership for 21st century skills (2011) formulated

framework for 21st century skills; 1) learning and innovation skills, 2) life and career

skills, and 3) information, media, and technology skills (Scott, 2017). Furthermore,

Scott (2017) and Bialik (2015) state that the 21st century skills can be grouped into two

main components; abstract skills related to thinking skills (creative thinking and critical

thinking), and concrete skills (communication and collaboration). Creative thinking

skills and critical thinking skills are parts of higher order thinking skills (HOTS) (Miri,

David, & Uri, 2007, p.2). Therefore, higher order thinking skills (HOTs) are one of the

essential components for industrial revolution 4.0.

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 In 2013 curriculum, English is taught as a compulsory subject for the secondary

school students, starting from grade 7 to grade 12. Matarrima and Hamdan state that

teaching of English has become increasingly important as a first foreign language in

Indonesia. While, Harmer (2005, p. 78) states “English is a worldwide language

spoken throughout all parts of life such as in the arts, sciences, human sciences, travel

and the social sciences “(as cited in Astrid, 2011, p. 176). Therefore, it is important for

people to learn English, because English is used in every aspect of the society life.

Unfortunately, although English literacy is a burning issue in the 21st century, the

data from international measures indicate that Indonesian people literacy, even in

Indonesian language is still weak. World’s Most Literate Nations (WMLN, 2016) rank

Indonesia in the 54th rank out of 61 countries. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2015)

also recorded that there are still 331,045 illiterate people aged 15-24, and 11,254,788

illiterate people aged 15 years and older in Indonesia. Furthermore, UNDP (2013)

reported that Indonesian adult literacy is in the 88th of 180 countries and in the 108th

rank out of 187 respectively. In addition, in Program for International Student

Assessment (PISA) Indonesian students’ literacy is also very low, placing Indonesia in

the 57th of 65 countries in 2009 and 64th of 65 countries in 2012 (OECD, 2009, 2012).

In related to the statements above, Indonesia is one of the countries that has weak

English literacy.

In particular, when literacy in English is noticed, it is found that Indonesian

students’ achievement is not that satisfactory. The data from the result of Test of

English for International Communication (TOEIC) on Test Takers Worldwide (2015)

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reveal that Indonesia ranked 43rd out of 46 countries, while in Test of English as a

Foreign Language (TOEFL) ITP, Indonesian mean score is 477 (Education Testing

Service, 2015). Also, results of English Proficiency Index (EPI) showed that

Indonesia’s position was 32nd out of 70 countries with mean score 52.91 (Education

First, 2015). Furthermore, in PIRLS, Indonesian was in the 42nd rank of 45 countries

(PIRLS, 2012). Even in smaller scope, Indonesia is in the 8th of 16 countries in Asia.

In national scope, results of EPI noted that even English proficiency in Indonesian

provinces was moderate, but South Sumatera had low mean score (46.16) (Education

First, 2014). This certainly makes sense since there were still around 102,969 illiterate

adults in South Sumatera in 2010 (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2012). From

these results, it appears that education in Indonesia requires an increase in English

literacy.

Within South Sumatera Province itself, the citizens’ English literacy performance

is still problematic where teachers’ mean score of TOEFL is 485, junior high school

students’ functional reading score is 36.92 (Diem & Atmanegara, 2014) and English

achievement of senior high school students is 58.51 (Diem & Lestari, 2016).

Furthermore, studies conducted during 2009-2015 show that the average score of

reading comprehension of university students in Palembang was also low; the mean

score is 59.03 (Fitriana, 2009). From the results above, it shows that English language

literacy of a teacher and student is still below the average.

Based on those issues, English language teaching in 2013 Curriculum should

develop students’ Higher Order Thinking skills (HOTs). By implementing 2013

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curriculum and applying creative learning that train students to use HOTs, the

graduates are expected to be able to compete in the industrial revolution 4.0 era, such

as independent, productive, innovative, creative, and having good character (Mulyasa,

2018, p. 140). In this case, the application of the 2013 curriculum students are required

to develop higher order thinking skills (HOTs) in learning.

In learning English, there are four major language skills. They are speaking,

reading, listening, and writing. Depdiknas (2006) declares that there are four

competences in English subject that students should master, they are: listening,

speaking, reading and writing (as cited in Carolina, 2017, p. 46-47). All of those skills

are important especially reading. Richard and Renandya (2002) explain that “in many

second or foreign language teaching situations, reading receives a special focus” (p.

273). However, Anderson (2003) states that “reading is an essential skill for learners

of English” (p. 2). It means that reading is a crucial skill to be mastered in learning

English.

English language teaching in 2013 curriculum should develop students ‘Higher

Order Thinking Skills (HOTS). By implementing 2013 curriculum and appliying

creative learning that train students to use HOTS, the graduates are expected to be able

to compete in the industrial revolution 4.0 era, such as independent, productive,

innovative, creative and having good character (Mulyasa, 2018, p.140). So, the

application of the 2013 curriculum very needed.

Examination is a process in which an educational and training procedure is

compared with its predetermined goals to find out their fulfillment. According to

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Gultom, Syawal (2012) evaluate system education standard in Indonesia, other than as

a means to map the quality of various levels of education in one area and another. Nem

Singh and Padilla (2009) states examination is the bringing together from different

sources of all forms of information on student performance. Examination is an

assessment of educational standards aimed at developing national policies.

In conclusion, according to the description above, an analysis of Higher Order

Thinking Skills reading English Examination will be conducted at SMAN 11

Palembang. Therefore, a research will be conducted with entitle “Higher Order

Thinking Skills reading English National Examination.”

Based on my preliminary study that I have done. I ask a teacher who are

teaching English in SMAN 11 Palembang. I find that even though the government has

already provided English Examination, the teacher use last year exam question for

student as a try out. Considering the phenomenon above, it is important to analyze and

evaluate The English Examination, appropriate amount of Higher Order Thinking

skills-based reading section.

Regarding the problems above, previous study, was conducted on HOTS a

study conducted by Ahmad in Surabaya was done research Higher Order Thinking

Skills in National Examination a result, students do not get accustomed to read beyond

the lines, which require them to combine both a literal understanding of the text and

their schemata. The sources of data were the twenty packages of the English National

Exam for Senior High School students of 2013-2014 academic year.. The results of this

study indicate the presence of almost all levels of thinking in English National Exam

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(ENE) items in Indonesia, except “Appreciation” which is the highest level of thinking

in Barrett taxonomy. Accordingly, based on the results of this study, it can be

concluded that Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS) are the main concern of ENE

items. This finding reveals that there is still much room for ENE to be the driving force

in the effort to make learners critical thinkers. It must be accompanied by classroom

exercises in all English skills which require students’ HOTS.

1.2 Research Questions

Based on the background, the problem of this research is focused on:

1. How is higher order thinking skills distributed in the Reading Section of

Senior High School of English Examination?

1.3 Research Objectives

In accordance with the problems above, the objective of this study is:

1. To investigate higher order thinking skills distributed in the Reading Section

of Senior High School of English Examination.

1.4 Significance of the Study

This research is expected to be useful for many parties, especially for myself as

a prospective teacher and reader. I hope this research can make the teacher pay more

attention to English Examination of Reading and know more about higher order

thinking skills so that teachers can apply higher order thinking skills to the learning

process.

Next, by this research, hopefully students can get to know what is higher order

thinking skills and can identify their thinking abilities. Thus, they can increase their

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self-awareness to think critically and creatively. This study was also expected to be

useful for the future researcher who wants to do such kind of study. It can be one of the

references to the problems discussed. Furthermore, it is hoped that further researcher

can investigate deeper research about higher order thinking skills in English

Examination of Reading

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2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 The Concept of HOTS

2.1.1 The Definition of Higher Order Thinking Skill

Higher order thinking skills (HOTs) is a thinking activity involving a high level

of the bloom’s taxonomy. HOTs consists of the top three levels of the bloom’s

taxonomy such as analyzing, evaluating and creating. Brookhart (2010) mentioned that

higher order thinking skills is understood as the top end of Bloom's cognitive

taxonomy. According to Heong et al., (2011), higher order thinking skills (HOTs) is a

component of critical thinking and creative thinking skills.

Furthermore, there are two types of thinking skills such as higher order thinking

skills (HOTs) and lower order thinking skills (LOTs). In the field of education,

especially for students who are higher (senior high school), they do not only have a

lower order thinking skills (LOTs) which consists of remembering, understanding and

applying, but also must achieve a higher order thinking skills (HOTs) which consists

of analyzing, evaluating, and creating. The teaching goal behind cognitive taxonomy

is so that students are able to think critically and creatively. "Being able to think" means

that the student can apply the knowledge and skills they develop during learning.

Higher order thinking is understood as students can connect their learning with other

elements from outside their learning. Limbach & Waugh (2010) state that to develop

critical thinking skills, there are five lessons that can be taken, namely: (1) determining

learning goals, (2) teaching through inquiry, (3) practice, (4) reviewing, improving and

increasing understanding, and (5) practicing bait back and assess learning. From the

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statements above, the higher order thinking skills are way of encouraging students to

think creatively, critically and constructively. Hence, these skills have an important

role in the process of learning English in the classroom. Skills (HOTs) are one of the

essential components for industrial revolution 4.0.

HOT is a thinking activity that involves a high cognitive level, where is people

encouraged to think critically and creatively. According to Lee (2016), HOT skills

mean cognitive processes at high levels, and at the same time they include emotional

characteristics involving in-depth contemplation of problem situations, provision of

appropriate grounds for problem solving and generation of new approaches from

multiple perspectives while considering others. Soule & Warrick (2015) state that these

HOT skills are consistent with the creativity, communication, collaboration, and

critical thinking which are advocated as the key skills for the 21st century. HOT skills

involve critical thinking, creative thinking, and caring thinking (Lipman, 1995, p.64).

Higher order thinking skills (HOTs) is based on the hierarchy of cognitive skills

processing. HOTS include the skills to analyze, evaluate and create, following the C4,

C5 and C6 levels of the revised Bloom's Taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)

skills (HOTs) is cognitive skills to analyze, evaluate and create; it is also an ability to

apply the knowledge, skill, and values in reasoning process to solve a problem make

decision, and create something creative.

Brookhart claims that there are three categories about definition of the high

order thinking, (1) those that define higher-order thinking in terms of transfer, (2) those

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that define it in terms of critical thinking, and (3) those that define it interms of problem

solving.

Higher order thinking skill consists of the three top ends of Bloom’s taxonomy,

analyze, evaluate, and create. Further, the higher order thinking skill is related with the

scientific approaches in the 2013 curriculum; observing, questioning, associating,

experimenting, and communicating, because those approaches are also related with the

problem solving and critical thinking skill which belong to the higher order thinking

skill.

Higher order thinking is also useful for creating meaningful learning in the

teaching and learning process because it gives broader vision of learning that includes

not only acquiring knowledge but also being able to use the knowledge in a variety of

new situations in the students’ everyday life. It enables the students not only to

remember and understand the knowledge or information they got but also to use the

knowledge in increasingly more complex way.

Higher order thinking skill is the ability to think in the complex process which

useful for transferring the knowledge in real life, thinking critically, and solving the

problems. The students who already have the higher order thinking skills should be

able to examine assumptions and values, evaluate evidence, and present the

conclusions with their own words. It is also very crucial in today’s world.

Many advantages that the students get from the learning process when the

teachers teach the students the higher order thinking skill. Therefore, teaching the

higher order thinking skill for the students is important for the better outcomes of the

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teaching and learning process. The advantages of higher order thinking skill are helping

students to learn something in meaningful process and improving the students’overall

performance.

2.1.2 Benefits of Higher order Thinking Skills

Learning and assessment which regularly apply high-order thinking skills, the

teachers will see the benefits the students gain in the future. Some research who have

been done by experts showed the application of higher order thinking skills have a very

positive impact on the learning process. The benefits of higher order thinking skills

(Brookhart: 2010) are given as follow.

1) Increase student achievement

The use of tasks and judgments that require intellectual and critical thinking

skills are associated with student’s achievement progress. The progress are shown in

various learning outcomes, such as standard test scores. Wenglinsky (in Brookhart,

2010: 10) describes his research on students' ability relationships in large-scale

measurements and teaching that emphasize higher order thinking skills, projects, and

problem solving. Wenglinsky reports that teaching that emphasizes reasoning is

associated with increasing values in all tests at various grade levels. Newmann, Bryk,

and Nagaoka (in Brookhart, 2010: 11) explained that students who receive teaching

through higher order thinking skills can solve problems by organizing their knowledge

and experience, able to elaborate their statements or opinions, and to complete non-

familiar tasks.

2) Increase student motivation

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 Several studies have shown that teachers are responsible for higher order thinking

skills using tasks and judgments. These things need understanding and critical thinking

to improve student motivation as well as student achievement. Students will not be

interested or motivated by abstract material and abstract teaching. Students will be

interested in thinking about particular or detail things which make them motivate to

learn. Higher order thinking skills increases their interest in

2.1.3 The Higher Order Thinking Skills in Bloom’s Taxonomy

Regarding about the higher order thinking skills, there are things related to the

Bloom’s Taxonomy. According to Nayef, Yaacob and ismail (2013), Bloom’s

Taxonomy can be a very powerful tool in assisting a student to learn critical higher-

level thinking skills. Bloom’s taxonomy is made for educational purposes which

explains the way of thinking.

The following chart includes the two primary existing taxonomies of cognition

consist of Bloom (1956) and Anderson and Krathwohl (2001). That table describes the

original taxonomy and revised taxonomy. Actually, revised taxonomy is very similar

to the original Bloom’s taxonomy except the order of the last two categories which is

reversed or slightly rearranged. The last two order catagories are reversed from

synthesis and evaluation into evaluate and create. The meaning is the same but the

order is slightly rearranged. The differences of the original taxonomy and the revised

taxonomy can be seen as:

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Table 2.1. Taxonomies of the Cognitive Domain.

Anderson and Krathwohl’s

Bloom’s Taxonomy 1956
Taxonomy 2001

1. Knowledge : Remembering or 1. Remembering:

retrieving previously learned material. Recognizing or recalling knowledge

Exampes of verbs that relate to this from memory. Remembering is

function are : when memory is used to produce or

- know identify - memorize repeat retrieve definitions, facts, or lists, or

- define recall - record name to recite previously learned

- related list - recognize acquire information.

2. Comprehension : The ability to grasp 2. Understanding:

or construct meaning from material. Constructing meaning from

Examples of verbs that relate to this different types of functions be they

function are : written or graphic messages or

- Restate locate report - illustrate interpret activities like interpreting,

- Recognize explain - draw represent exemplifying, classifying,

- Express - differentiate summarizing, inferring, comparing,

- Identify discuss - conclude or explaining.

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 3. Application : The ability to use learned 3. Applying:

material, or to implement material in Carrying out or using a procedure

new and concrete situation. Examples of through executing, or implementing.

verbs that relate to this function are: Applying relates to or refers to

- Apply relate - demonstrate illusrate situations where learned material is

- Develop translate - practice calculate used through products like models,

- Use operate - show exhibit presentations, interviews or

- Organize employ - dramatize simulations.

- Restructure interpret

4. Analysis : The ability o break down or 4. Analyzing:

distinguish the parts of material into its Breaking materials or concepts into

components so that its organizational parts, determining how the parts

structure may be better understood. relate to one another or how they

Examples of verbs that relate to this interrelate, or how the parts relate to

function are : an overall structure or purpose.

- Analyze compare - survey classify Mental actions included in this

- Probe inquire - deduca function are differentiating,

- Examine contrast - scrutinize discover organizing, and attributing, as well

- Categorize - inspect dissect as being able to distinguish between

- Differentiate contrast - separate the components or parts. When one

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- Investigate detect is analyzing, he/she can illustrate

this mental function by creating

spreadsheets, surveys, charts, or

diagrams, or graphic

representations.

5. Synthesis: The ability to put parts 5. Evaluating:

together to form a coherent or unique Making judgments based on criteria

new whole. Examples of verbs that relate and standards through checking and

to this function are : critiquing. Critiques,

- compose produce - document combine recommendations, and reports are

relate some of the products that can be

- design assemble - propose develop created to demonstrate the processes

- create prepare - arrange contruct of evaluation. In the newer

- predict modify tell - organize originate taxonomy, evaluating comes before

- plan invent - derive write creating as it is often a necessary

- formulate collect - purpose part of the precursory behavior

- set up generalize before one creates something.

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 6. Evaluation : The abiity to judge, 6. Creating:

check, and even critique the value of Putting elements together to form a

material for a given purpose. Examples coherent or functional whole;

of verbs that relate to this function are : reorganizing elements into a new

- judge asses - choose rate select pattern or structure through

- compare evaluate - estimate generating, planning, or producing.

- conclude measure - validate consider Creating requires users to put parts

- deduce - appraise value together in a new way, or synthesize

- argue decide - criticize infer parts into something new and

- estimate different creating a new form or

product. This process is the most

difficult mental function in the new

taxonomy.

1956 2001

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 Evaluation Create

Syinthesis Evaluate

Analysis Analyze

Application Apply

Comprehension Understand

Knowledge Remember

Diagram 2.1. Wilson, Leslie O (2001).

The table and diagram above draw that the meaning of every domain are the

same between the revised taxonomy and the original taxonomy. The differences are

only showed in the word-used and the re-arragement of the last two domains; synthesis

and evaluation which into evaluate and create. Those two skills are rearranged because

it is considered that produce and generate some result. From those explanations above,

it can be inferred that higher order thinking skills are the top three cognitive domains;

analyzing, evaluating and creating.

2.2 Reading

2.2.1 Definition of Reading

Reading is one of important skills in English which needs to understand the

meaning that provided in text. According to Wallace “reading is so much a part of daily

life for those of us who live in literate communities that much of the time we hardly

consider either the purposes or processes involved” (as cited in ariesca and Marzulina,

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2016, p. 25). Pang et al. (2003) state that “reading is about understanding written texts.

It means that through reading student scan get a lot of information and it can help them

to intensify their knowledge in any aspect.Reading is an important skill in English” (p.

21). Anderson (2003) states that “ reading is an essential skill for learners of English”

(p. 2). While, Patel and Jail state that “reading is an important activity in life with which

one can update his or her knowledge. Reading skill is an important tool for academic

success. Moreover, reading is regarded as the most dominant skill in learning any

subject because the ability to read is not only performance to pronounce the passage

but also the understanding of the message from a passage or text” (as cited Wahyudi,

p, 94).

In addition, Richards and Renandya mention that “many foreign language

students often have reading as one of their most important goal” (p. 273). According

to Pang et al. (2003) “the goal of reading is to understand the texts and to be able to

learn from them. Therefore, in reading students have to comprehend the texts so that

they getknowledge through reading that text” (p. 21).

Pang et al. (2003) staes that “good teaching enables students to learn to read

and read to learn. So, beside able to makes students comprehend the text in teaching

reading, the teacher should also be able to raise students motivation, makes students

active and interested in reading” (p. 21).Teachers need to be aware of their students’

learning needs, including their motivation for reading and the purpose that reading has

in their lives (Pang et al, 2003, p. 15).

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 Based on the explanations above, it can be concluded that reading is a process

to get information from the reading passage. To get the information, the readers must

understand the content of the reading passage.

2.3.2 The Concept of Reading Comprehension

According to Richards and Renandya (2002) “reading comprehension is the

primary purpose for reading (though this is sometimes overlooked when students are

asked to read overly difficult texts); raising students awareness of main ideas in a text

and exploring the organization of a text are essential for good comprehension” (p. 277).

Meanwhile, Snow (2004) argues that “reading comprehension as the process of

simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and

involvement with written language” (p. 16).

Furthermore, Klingner, Vaughn, and Boardman (2007) state that “reading

comprehension involves much more than readers’ responses to text. Reading

comprehension is a multi-component, highly complex process that involves many

interactions between readers and what they bring to the text (previous knowledge,

strategy use) as well as variables related to the text itself (interest in text, understanding

of the text types)” (p. 8).

Brassell and Rasinski ( 2008) state that “comprehension occurs when a reader

is able to act on, respond to, or transform the information that is presented in written

text in ways that demonstrate understanding” (p. 18). It seems that comprehension is

definitely the reading goal for every reader that can determine whether they get the

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points and understand what the author’s idea or not. It also requires readers to think

about ideas and information so that they can get the purpose of reading comprehension.

Duffy states that “good comprehension is not limited to determining an author’s

message” (as cited in Pratiwi, 2016, p. 151). It means that comprehension involves

making judgments about the message. The reader evaluates what the author is saying.

Westwood (2008) explains that “to comprehend, readers must use information they

already possess to filter, interpret, organize and reflect upon the incoming information

from the page. Efficient interpretation of text involves a combination of word

recognition skills, linking of new information to prior knowledge, and application of

appropriate strategies such as locating the main idea, making connections, questioning,

inferring and predicting“ (p. 31). Therefore, if the reader has a good quality to each of

these factors, they can get the primary goal of reading comprehension.

Based on the explanations above, it can be concluded that reading

comprehension means the students’ ability in understanding the message from the

written materials they read. In other words, the students are hoped to know not only the

word but also its meaning. Besides, reading comprehension requires a persons’ ability

in reading, finding information and understanding it in terms of what is already known.

2.2.2 The Level of Reading Comprehension

There are three levels of reading comprehension that proposed by Brassell and

Rasinski (2008, p. 18) as follows:

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1. Literal Comprehension: Literal comprehension, the lowest of the three levels,

requires a reader to be able to retell or recall the facts or information presented in

a text. Names of characters and details of the setting are examples of literal

comprehension. The information required for literal comprehension comes largely

from the text itself. Recall comprehension can easily be evaluated. In responding

to a literal question, the reader either can recall the information from the text or he

or she cannot.

2. Inferential Comprehension: Inferential comprehension, the next level, refers to the

ability of a reader to take in information that is inferred or implied within a text. If

a text indicates that a character is carrying an umbrella while walking down a street

on a cloudy day, you can infer that the character is expecting rain. Inferential

comprehension is more sophisticated than literal comprehension because it

requires the orchestration and manipulation of information from the text as well as

information that resides within the readers— their background knowledge.

3. Critical Comprehension: Critical or evaluative comprehension, the third and

highest level in the taxonomy, involves making critical judgments about the

information presented in the text. Were the characters reputable and honest in their

actions? Did the selection offer the reader new information, new insights, or added

enjoyment? Were the characters authentic? Was the literary quality of the text

high? Answers to such questions require a high level of interaction between

information from the text, the reader, perhaps other people with whom the reader

has interacted, or even other texts the reader has read. Moreover, in-depth analysis

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 and critical thinking are necessary to make informed judgments and evaluations.

Because responses to inferential and critical-level questions are highly dependent

on the reader’s own background, interest, and disposition, determining a reader’s

level and the quality of a reader’s inferential and critical comprehension is not

easy.

2.2.3 The Difficulties in Reading Comprehension

There are several difficulties in reading comprehension that proposed by

Westwood (2008, p. 38) as follows:

1. Lack of fluency

There are high correlations between oral reading fluency and comprehension.

Students who read very slowly – or much too fast – often comprehend poorly.

Slow reading tends to restrict cognitive capacity to the low-level processing of

letters and words rather than allowing full attention to be devoted to higher-order

ideas and concepts within the text. But very fast reading may result in inaccurate

word recognition, and important details being overlooked. Sometimes, attention to

rate of reading needs to be a specific focus in students’ literacy programs,

particularly in terms of increasing fluency and expression of those who read much

too slowly.

2. Lack of familiarity with the subject matter

It is much easier to read with understanding if the reader already possesses some

prior knowledge of the topic. Using the school textbook as the medium for first

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 introducing new information to students is not usually the most effective method

of delivery. It is better to provide information first by other means (e.g. video,

posters, mini-lecture, discussion) to build firm background knowledge before

students are expected to read about that theme in printed texts. This is particularly

important for weaker readers.

3. Difficulty level of the text (readability)

Text that is complex in terms of concepts, vocabulary, sentence length and

structure is difficult for readers to process.

4. Inadequate use of effective reading strategies

Unlike skilled readers, weaker readers do not approach the interpretation of text

strategically. They tend not to know of, or use, strategies that would help them

visualise, make connections, reflect, infer, predict, question and summarise.

5. Weak verbal reasoning

The ability to understand text, and particularly to go beyond the words on the page

in order to make relevant connections among facts and to critique the ideas, reflects

the operation of verbal. To some extent, the ability to reason is determined by an

individual’s level of intelligence; but guided reading activities in which a teacher

uses effective questioning to challenge students to think more deeply about the text

they are reading are helpful in developing their ability to reason from the

information given. Deliberately guiding students to make connections between

new information in text and their existing bank of knowledge is beneficial.

6. Problems with processing information

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 In order to maintain the meaning of text as the sentences and paragraphs

accumulate, a reader has to be able to keep relevant information within working

memory and make necessary connections between ideas. Limited working

memory is sometimes suggested as a causal factor in poor comprehension.

7. Problems in recalling information after reading

Recall is dependent partly upon factors such as vividness and relevance of the

information in the text; but it is also dependent upon a student giving adequate

attention to the reading task and knowing that it is important to remember details.

Recall is strongest when readers connect new information in the text to their

previous knowledge and experience, and when they rehearse key points from the

text.

2.3 Curriculum 2013

2.3.1 Concept of 2013 Curriculum

Curriculum is used as the guidance of the implementation of learning activities

to develop a learning system. 2013 curriculum follows learning which teachers do

(taught curriculum) in the form of process which is developed in the form of learning

activities in school, class, and society. And students’ direct learning experiences fit to

background, characteristic, and students’ initial capability. Direct learning experiences

of individual student become the result for themselves, while students’ learning

outcomes become the curriculum outcomes. 2013 curriculum is designed by the

following characteristics.

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1. Developing the balances between spiritual and social developed attitude, curiousity,

creativity, cooperation with intellectual skill and psychomotor.

2. School is part of society which gives planned learning experience where students

apply what they learn in school into society and make it useful as learning sources.

3. Developing attitude, knowledge, and skill also applying it in any situations in school

and society.

4. Giving free time to develop attitudes, knowledge, and skills.

5. Competence is expressed in the form of core competence which is detailed more in

subject basic competence.

6. Class core competences become organizing elements basic competence, where all

basic competences and learning process are developed to achieve core competences.

7. Basic competences are developed based on the accumulative principle, mutually

reinforce and enrich inter subjects and education level.

K13 aims to prepare Indonesian people to have life skill as individual and

citizen who have believe, productive, creative, innovative, and affective, and can

contribute in society life, state and nation, and world civilization. K13 uses two

components of competences; they are core competence and basic competence. Core

competences are description about principal competence which is grouped attitude,

knowledge, and psychomotoric aspects that must be learned by students in every school

level, class, and subject. Basic competence are content or competence which consists

of attitude, knowledge, and skill which are sourced by core competence that must be

mastered by students.

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 English is one of the important subjects in every school. So, when the

government changed the curriculum, they still give the priority in English subject. In

high school levels, English will not be deleted.

Curriculum 2013 is an advanced step and development of Competency-Based

Curriculum (KBK) and School-Based Curriculum (KTSP). It includes aspects of

knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Some elements that change over Curriculum 2013

development are graduate competence, content, structure, learning process, assessment

process, syllabus, and book (Kemendikbud, 2014:24). Some of these elemental

changes are expected to balance the following hard and soft skill:

1) Graduate Competence, Graduate Competency Standard of Curriculum 2013

is derived from student’s demand. It is different from the Graduate

Competency Standard of KBK and KTSP which is derived from the

material standard.

2) Material standard, the content standard of Curriculum 2013 is derived from

Graduate Competency Standards through Subject Competencies which are

subject-free, while the previous two curricula standard is formulated based

on subjects (Competency Standards based on passing subject) detailed into

Competency Standards and Basic Competency of subjects.

3) Curriculum structure, curriculum 2013 consists of two groups of

compulsory subjects supposed to be learned by all students and special

subjects relevant to their talents, interests, and abilities.

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 4) The learning process, curriculum 2013 focuses on the scientific approach.

The use of scientific approach aims to improve students' credibility with

logical thinking during the learning process.

5) The assessment process, assessment of curriculum 2013 is aimed at

assessing the process and results. Assessment is done continuously or

authentic assessment. Assessment includes all aspects: knowledge,

attitudes, and skills.

6) Syllabus, Curriculum 2013 teachers do not need to create a syllabus. The

syllabus in the Curriculum 2013 is prepared by the government.

2.3.2 The Implementation of Curriculum 2013

The Implementation of Curriculum 2013 Curriculum 2013 is a design of

learning to develop the potential of learners and to realize a noble, healthy,

knowledgeable, capable, creative, independent, democratic, and responsible

Indonesian generation with dignity, high civilization, culture, character, faith, and piety

to God Almighty (Kemdikbud, 2013). Curriculum 2013 is a set of plans and

arrangements concerning objectives, content, and instructional materials as well as

methods used as guidelines for learning activities to achieve certain educational goals.

This curriculum has actively been implemented since 2013.

2.3.3 The Implementation of Curriculum 2013 in the Learning Process

The implementation of curriculum 2013 is the actualization of the curriculum

in the learning process, competence improvement, and character building of learners.

It is an educational design that helps learners develop their potential through the

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learning process. Learning and curriculum are important components of education.

Learning and curriculum are interrelated. The actualization of the curriculum in the

learning process requires teachers’ activeness to create and to grow various activities

in accordance with the programmed plans. The Implementation of the curriculum is

done through fun, effective, and meaningful learning. There are five things to consider

related to the organization of learning in the implementation of curriculum 2013: the

implementation of learning, expert formation and coaching, utilization of environment

and community resources, as well as development and management of learning policies

(Mulyasa, 2013: 04). The success of Curriculum 2013 implementation can be assessed

through the implementation of the learning plan, learning process, the formation of

competence, and the character of learners. In general, learning activities include initial

activity or opening, core activity or the inclusion of competence and character, and the

final or concluding activities. A class implementing curriculum 2013 cannot be

separated from the scientific approach. The learning process consists of steps of the

scientific approach.

2.4 Examination

2.4.1 The understanding Examination

Examination is a process in which an educational and training procedure is

compared with its predetermined goals to find out their fulfillment. Gultom, Syawal

(2012) evaluate system education standard in Indonesia, other than as a means to map

the quality of various levels of education in one area and another. Tilar, H.A.R, (2006)

national examination is the government’s effort to evaluate the level of education

29
nationally by establishing national education standards. According to Nem Singh and

Padilla (2009) examination is the bringing together from different sources of all forms

of information on student performance. Airasian (2005), states that the examination

that is given immediately after completing the instruction provides students the

opportunity to review study and reflect on the instruction before being tested. Seif

(2008) states that evaluation is a rule governed process for gathering and analysis of

data. It is used to determine whether the educational goals are fulfilled or they are on

the process of fulfillment, and to what extent. Examination is an assessment of

educational standards aimed at developing national policies.

2.4.2 The objectives of examination

The objectives of examination to know student capability and measure during

students learn in school. According to Ki Supriyoko (2006) Examination for basic

education and medium needs to be implemented with various considerations. Furqon

(2009) states the reason or purpose of the importance of holding Examination is as the

following: First; to encourage teachers to improve the quality of teaching. Second; to

improve guidance efforts on students who learning difficulties. Third; to encourage

teachers to apply various methods to improve learning. Fourth; so that students are

more diligent and active learn and Fifth; so parents pay more attention to learning their

children.

In the context of the Final Examination, students will work hard for develop

their potential to face the Final Examination; Creative, think and do something to

produce new ways or results from something he already has. In the context of the Final

30
Examination, students will think and find the right way to work on the National Exam

questions; Mandiri, attitudes and behaviors that are not easy to depend on others in

completing assignments.

In the context of the Final Examination, students are not only study under the

supervision of the teacher and parents only, but fully the students are learning

independently because they want to succeed in the exam Final as the first step in the

process of further development; Desire know, in preparing themselves to face the Final

Examination, students always trying to find out in depth about the things related to

material to be tested at the Final Examination with the aim of understanding the

material; The spirit of nationality, fosters enthusiasm and awareness a student that the

Final Examination is an effort to improve the quality of national education;

Appreciating achievements, hard work in learning is a form of appreciation for

achievement; and Gemar reading, one of the efforts of a student in facing the National

Examination is to read books related to the material to be tested on the National

Examination. So, examination needed for students to improve they skills.

2.4.3 The negative sides of Examination

The negatives sides of examination the students feels, anxious, worry towards

Exam and they can do cheat to get high score. According to Masdar Hilmy, there are

several negative sides of the National Examination, namely as follows. First, as a

determinant of student graduation, even though that is tested not all subjects; Second,

the quality of learning cannot it is assumed, the quality of learning can only be narrated

qualitatively; Third, The Final Examination does not reflect Bloom's Taxonomy, which

31
is in it there are two important aspects in education that are left behind namely affective

and psychomotor; Fourth, the Final Examination is not life skill oriented, students are

passing the Final Examination with the highest score is not guaranteed to be able to

solve various problems in his life; Fifth, the National Examination does not reflects

reality-based education, indirect Final Exams correlate with solving various kinds of

life problems; Sixth, The Final Examination is not able to read or present potentials

local area; Seventh, the Final Examination can invite crime, such as the business of

answering the Final Examination questions that can eventually lead to leakage of

answers to questions on the Final Examination; And Eighth, creates unhealthy

competition ideology. Cheating in the Final Examination shows an infectious

mentality, attitude justify any means to pass the Final Examination. Therefore, several

students do not honest in examination.

2.5 Previous Related Study

In this part, the previous related studies also described. The first previous study

was written by Ahmad in (2016) Surabaya was done research Higher Order Thinking

Skills in National Examination the results of this study indicate the presence of almost

all levels of thinking in English National Exam (ENE) items in Indonesia, except

“Appreciation” which is the highest level of thinking in Barrett taxonomy. . The

similarity of the previous’ journal article and the present’s study were to analyze of

each items in English National Exam, meanwhile the differences are this research will

be conducted at SMAN 11 Palembang with the sample is National Exam item.

32
 Second is, was written by Mertha Dewa Kusuma, Undang Rosidin,

Abdurahman and Agus Suyatna in Lampung (2017) this research stated that there had

been developed an instrument assessment of HOTS with HOTS indicators in static

fluid material based on cognitive dimension process in form of analysing ability (C4),

evaluating (C5), and creating (C6), as well as knowledge dimensions in form of factual

knowledge, conceptual procedure, and metacognitive. The similarity of the previous’

journal article knowing coseptual knowledge analysis. The difference is research

analyze item in final exam at SMAN 11 Palembang.

The third this study conducted by I Wayan Widana (2017) From the result , it

appears that each of the cognitive taxonomy there are similarities in formulating high-

level thinking skills (HOTS). Learners are required to have the ability to think more

complex, the ability to connect the fragments of information into a single entity, the

ability to transfer more complex concept in a new situation. The similarity between the

previous’ study and the present’s study were to find formulating high-level thinking

skills. Meanwhile the difference is this research will be conducted with cards and

qualitative analysis about HOTS format adapted from the Directorate of High School.

Related to these studies, I only focus on English Reading Examination of the

Higher Order Thinking Skills based on revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy. I feel it

is a must to examine the distribution of higher order thinking skills in English Reading

Examination because it can support in improving students’ critical thinking skills in

examination

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3. METHOD AND RESEARCH

3.1 The Method of Research

In this study, the researcher is using qualitative research with descriptive

design. Qualitative study is a method allows the researcher to explore and better

understand the complexity of a phenomenon (Mohajan, 2018). Furthermore, Cohen,

et.al. (2007) describe that research studies that investigate the quality of relationships,

activities, situations, or materials are frequently referred to as qualitative research (p.

54). Then, according to Best and Khan (1993: 105):

A descriptive method describes and interprets what it is. It is concerning with

the condition or relationship that exists, opinions, that are held, process, that
are going on, effects that are evident, or trends that are developing. It is
concerned with the present, though it often considers past events and
influences as they relates to current condition.

In addition, I will organize the questions of Higher Order Thinking Skills of

Reading English Examination. To determine the distribution of each level of Bloom’s

taxonomy, particulary the Higher Order Thinking level and interprets the data

qualitatively.

English.

3.2 The Object of the Study

The object of the study is the Reading Section English Examination. The

entitled Ujian Sekolah Berbasis Nasional for SMA Program Study MIPA/IPS was

chosen as the students exam. It is Published 2019. Written by PEMERINTAH

34
PROVINSI SUMATRA SELATAN DINAS PENDIDIKAN MUSYAWARAH

GURU MATA PELAJARAN and MUSYAWARAH KERJA KEPALA SEKOLAH

SMA.

3.4 Technique for Collecting Data

3.4.1 Documentation

To collect data, the analysis card (see Appendix B) will be used as a reference

to decide what kind of cognitive domains contained in each reading questions. The

analysis card is created by combining collecting the understanding about six levels of

cognitive domain from the revised edition of Bloom’s taxonomy along with the

example of the reading question (Anderson & Krathwol, 2001, p. 97-118)

The data of higher order thinking skills content in the questions of Ujian Sekolah

Berstandar Nasional which will be taken are going to be gathered categorizing them

into broad divisions starting from lower order thinking skills (LOTS) to higher order

thinking skills (HOTS) that are remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing,

evaluating and creating by using analysis card. However, the data that will be analyze

only focus on higher order thinking skills (HOTS) in reading section.

3.5 Data Analysis

To gather all information needed, I will collect and list of all the questions of

reading section in English examination. After that, I will categorized each question of

reading based on the analysis card to decide what kind of cognitive domains contained

in each reading question section in the checklist table form to analyze and compare the

distribution of the higher order thinking skills (HOTS) in the reading Section of English

35
examination. The checklist table form consists of the lists of questions from the reading

section in question of exam and the columns for all cognitive skills from the revised

version of Bloom’s taxonomy (see Appendix C).

Furthermore, I will count the total of every cognitive skill from the reading

questions and compares it to every level find out the exact amount of the distributions

of the higher order thinking skills (HOTS) in the reading section of English

examination. Finally, I also decide the reading questions which only belong to the

higher order thinking skills (HOTS) and divides them based on their skill domain in

the higher order thinking level; analyze, evaluate, and create. The reading questions are

group based on their skills in order to know how the type of the higher order thinking

questions from each skill is. Last, the result will be checked by three English lecturers

as inter-codes to obtain the valid and trusted answers and to avoid errors that might be

made by me.

3.5.1 The Analysis of “Analyze” Level

To analyze and decide the questions that belong to analyze level, I will use the

analysis card. The question that meet the criteria those are “analyze, break, down,

compare, contrast, diagram, deconstruct, differeniate, discriminate, distinguish,

identify, illustrate, outline, relate, select, and separate “ will be considered as analyzed

(C4) questions.

3.5.2 The Analysis of “Evaluate” Level

To analyze and decide the questions that belong to evaluate level, I will use the

analysis card. The question that meet the criteria those are “appraise, compare,

36
conclude, contrast, criticize, critique, defend, described, discriminate, evaluate, explain

interpret, justify, relate and summarize” will be considered as evaluate (C5) questions

3.5.3 The Analysis of “Create” Level

To analyze and decide the questions that belong to create level, I will use the

analysis card. The question that meet the criteria those are “Categorize, combine,

compile, compose, create, devise, design, explain, generate, modify, organize, plan

rearrange, reconstruct, relate, reorganize, revise, rewrite, summarize, tell and write”

will be conducted as create (C6) question.

3.6 Establishment Trustworthiness

In this research I will use member checking to validate the accuracy of finding.

Creswell (2005) describes that member checking is the process in which the researcher

asks one or more participants in the study to check the accuracy of the account. This

check involves taking the findings back to the participants and asking them about the

accuracy of the report.

37
 APPENDIX

APPENDIX A

Analysis Card

Level Key words Questions

Remember (C1): Define, Describe, Identify 1. Where is?

Recall data or label, List, Match, Name, 2. What did?

information from long- Outline, Recall, Recognize, 3. Who was?

term memory . this level Reproduce, Select, State 4. When did?

emphasize on 5. How many?

recognizing and 6. Who were the main

recalling 7. How did happen?

8. Which one?

Understand (C2): Comprehend, convert, 1. What does it mean?

determine the meaning defend, distinguish, estimate, 2. Which statement support?

of translation and explain, extend, generalize, 3. What is the main idea of

interpretation of give examples, interpret, 4. How would you summarize?

instructions and predict, re write, summarize,

problems, this level translate

emphasizes on grasping

the meaning,

interpreting, classifying,

38
comparing, explaining,

and summarizing

Apply (C3) : Use a Apply, change, compute, 1. What is the real example of

concept in a new construct, demonstrate, that phenomenon?

situation or unprompted discover, manipulate modify, 2. What would happen to you

use of an abstraction. operate, predict, prepare, if?

This level emphasizes produce, relate, show, solve, 3. How would you organize.. to

on the ability to use show?

recognize, execute, and 4. How would you solve the

implement, a form or problem?

pattern as a means of 5. What other way would you

understanding. plan to?

Analyze (C4): Separate Analyze, break down, 1. What things would you have

material concepts into compare, contrast, diagram, used…?

component parts so that deconstruct, differentiate, 2. What things are similar /

its organizational discriminate, distinguish, different?

structure may be identify, illustrate, outline, 3. What things couldn’t have

understood. This level relate, select, separate. happened in real life?

emphasizes on detection 4. What caused….to act the

of the relationships way he/she did?

of the parts and of the

39
way they are organized. 5. Which of these statements

It involves are facts and which are

differentiating, opinions?

organizing,

and attributing.

Evaluate (C5): Make Appraise, compare, conclude, 1. Select the best… why is it

judgments about the contrast, criticize, critique, the best?

value of ideas or defend, describe, 2. What do you think will

materials based on the discriminate, evaluate, happen to?

criteria and standards. It explain, interpret, justify, 3. What judgment would you

emphasizes on checking relate, summarize, make about?

and giving critiques 4. Which character would you

about an idea or value. like to meet?Why?

5. Was … good or bad? Why?

6. Did you like the storyWhy?

7. What was the most

important moment in the

story and why?

8. What is you opinion of the?

Create (C6): Build a Categorize, combine, 1. How would you improve…?

structure or pattern from compile, compose, create,

40
diverse elements. Put devise, design, explain, 2. How would you change the

parts together to form a generate, modify, organize, plot..?

whole, with emphasis on plan, rearrange, reconstruct, 3. What do all these pictures

creating a new meaning relate, reorganize, revise, have in common?

or structure. This rewrite, summarize, tell, 4. How would use your

category involves write. imagination to draw a

generating, planning, picture of…?

and producing 5. How would you write a

different ending of…?

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 APPENDIX B

The Cheklist Table

Ch No Reading Questions Cognitive Domain Of Bloom’s

Taxonomy

Lower Order Higher Order

Thinking Thinking Skills

Skills

C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6

16- 16 What is the purpose of the text? V

17

Total

Score

42
 APPENDIX E
English Examination Profile
1. Tittle : Ujian Sekolah Berstandar Nasional
2. Author : Pengelola web Kemdikbud
3. Publisher : PEMERINTAH PROVINSI SUMATRA SELATAN DINAS
PENDIDIKAN MUSYAWARAH GURU MATA PELAJARAN and
MUSYAWARAH KERJA KEPALA SEKOLAH SMA
4. Year : 2019
5. Grade : Twelfth

43