Structural Analysis and Religiosity of Balinese Song Lyrics

This study examines the lyrics of Balinese religious songs with a primary focus on analyzing the various forms of microstructure, macrostructure, and superstructure of Balinese religious songs by using the Van Dijk discourse analysis. The type of this research is qualitative with the systematic writing of the study which is from theory to deep observation of data for further analysis. The lyrics of Balinese religious songs are literary works containing the traits of lyrical poems that are very beautiful and full of meaning. This study revealed that the lyrics of Balinese religious songs contain microstructure, macros structure, and superstructure. The results of this study provide clear pictures of what religious values ​​are actually in the lyrics of Balinese songs which can be utilized as guidance in establishing a harmonious society

An Analysis of Assessment Models Employed by the Indonesian Elementary School Teachers

The present study was conducted to analyze the assessment models employed by Indonesian elementary school teachers in the context of assessment models as suggested by the curriculum in 2013. The analysis includes the selected assessment models and their implementation in real classroom settings to assess the students' attitudes, knowledge, and skills. This study made use of a qualitative research design in which the data were analyzed by means of deep argumentation and presented descriptively. Data were collected through direct observation and in-depth interviews with the selected elementary school teachers. The collected data were analyzed in an analytical manner to obtain the findings.   The findings of the present study indicated that primary school teachers employed various models of assessment based on the aspects of attitudes, knowledge, and skills. Assessment of the students' attitude includes observation, self-assessment, peer assessment, and teachers' records. Assessment of the students' knowledge includes a written test, an oral test, and assignment.  Assessment of the students' skill includes performance, portfolio, and project. Meanwhile,  the scores of the students' achievement were analyzed based on the scores of the students' attitude obtained by using the instruments, such as observation blank sheet, Self-assessment, peer assessment, and teacher' records. Self-assessment and peer assessment were also used as a confirmation of the scores for the report card and the teachers' records were mainly used to provide the suggestions for the students' improvement

Developing Communicative English Language Tests for Tourism Vocational High School Students

The present study aimed at developing communicative language tests for vocational high school students. A Research and Development design was employed in this study with the primary target was to develop communicative English language tests. The main procedures in the development of the test include: (1) identifying objectives, (2) developing the test specification, (3) developing the communicative tests, (4) analyzing the results of the preliminary tryout of the communicative tests drafts, (5) revising the communicative test drafts, (6) trying out the communicative test drafts, (7) analyzing the results of the tryout of the communicative tests, (8) revising the communicative test drafts. Questionnaires and observation blanks sheet was used to gather comments, opinions, and criticisms on the draft of communicative tests from a number of selected experts. The analysis of the communicative tests tryout was done to ensure the validity, reliability, and practicality of the tests

Developing Learning Methods of Indonesian as a Foreign Language

The present study was conducted which aims at developing teaching methods of Indonesian as a foreign language. This study was carried out for two years in the form of Research and Development design to develop accuracy of teaching methods to be employed to teach the Indonesian language. The study was conducted as an important and crucial issue encountered by prospective teachers of Indonesian as a foreign language to face global challenges in which teachers of Indonesian are urgently required to teach effectively. In addition, this study was conducted to prepare the Indonesian teachers to be professional teachers and ready to face the competitive world of work. In the first year, the research was focused on creating a draft of effective learning methods to teach Indonesian as a foreign language. Consequently, this study was started by analyzing the teaching methods that have been used by various language learning institutions. The second year, the study is mainly focused on trying out and validated the learning methods to ensure their effectiveness to teach Indonesian as a foreign language

Writing English Language Test Items as a Learning Device: a Principle of Habit Formation Rules

The present study aims to uncover how valid and reliable the multiple-choice test items as learning device are and their effect on permanent language habit formation. In this pretest-posttest one group pre-experiment study, we observed and analyzed the English test constructed by junior high school teachers. The Pretest on constructing the test items was administered to fifteen English teachers and some weaknesses were revealed. These can be seen from the total score of 855 and the mean score was 57.00.  Treatment was given by ensuring them the rules of writing the test based on a principle of habit formation. The competence of teachers in constructing appropriate test items increased to higher quality indicated by scores of 79.33. It means the treatment has significantly influenced the ability of English teachers in constructing appropriate tests. The tests were tried out to 40 students of Junior High School and the result showed that 63 test items were valid and 37 was invalid. The fifty-valid test was administered to the students of different Junior High School and the result showed that the mean score was 72.53. 21 students from 40 students passed the minimum rank and 19 students still needed improving. The highest score was 95 and the lowest one was 26. The medium was 78 and the mode was 53. After measuring the reliability level, the standard deviation ranged 0.50 – 1.00, meaning that the test was appropriate to be applied as measuring device. The valid test was then reconstructed to be raw material of software module.&nbsp

Integrating Collaborative Learning in Cyclic Learning Sessions to Promote Students' Reading Comprehension and Critical Thinking

The advancement of technology requires higher skill in obtaining information due to the rapid flows of information in this recent globalization era. Consequently,  reading comprehension becomes an important language skill for students to nurture. In classroom practices, Indonesian students still encounter problems in English reading comprehension. The present classroom action study dealt with improving reading comprehension through collaborative learning. This is due to some studies revealed that collaborative learning is an effective learning strategy to improve students' learning achievement. The data were collected by administering a pre-test in reading comprehension prior to the teaching cycle and two post-tests at the end of every teaching cycle. The results showed that collaborative learning is significantly effective to improve students' reading comprehension and critical thinking. This study implies that teachers should consider the integration of collaborative learning in teaching reading comprehension