DEVELOPING A BILINGUAL BOOK “PONTIANAK CITY HIGHLIGHT” FOR AN EXTENSIVE READING PROGRAM

Journal of English Educational Study (JEES) Volume 4 Issue 2 November 2021 Page 112-121 E-ISSN: 2655-0776 DEVELOPING A BILINGUAL BOOK “PONTIANAK CITY HIGHLIGHT” FOR AN EXTENSIVE READING PROGRAM Stella Prancisca Universitas Tanjungpura Submitted: 2021-02-10 Accepted: 2021-09-23 Abstract: Reading is often perceived as a key activity for helping students learn a new language, not only in the first language but also in the foreign language. Unfortunately, some surveys report that Indonesian people have a low reading habit. Thus, this research develops a reading book which is visually interesting, easy in level, and not too long. The research followed the extensive reading framework as it was said capable of maintaining student’s motivation in reading. This research also adopted bilingualism principles and was packed with local-related topics such as tourism destinations in Pontianak City. ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) model was chosen as the main methodology because it was believed as the most popular and has been used extensively in the R&D research. However, due to time and word count limitation, the current paper only discusses the first three steps of the ADDIE model. Results of the research confirmed earlier reports having documented the participant’s low level of reading motivation. Such a claim was derived from data related to the reading duration and the quantity of books that the students read. Besides, their English competence was also lacking, so a bilingual book might be preferred. The students also revealed that they barely found an English language book containing local culture information. This information then became a starting point for the researcher in designing the reading book. The information allowed the researcher to determine the book content, the vocabulary levels, the length, and its visual appearance. Keywords: Reading book; Extensive reading; bilingualism INTRODUCTION Reading is often deemed as a key activity for helping students learn a new language, not only in the first language but also in the foreign language. Unfortunately, some surveys report that Indonesian people have a low reading interest (Iftanti, 2012; Kurniawati, 2015; OECD, 2018). To address the issue, this research attempts to increase student’s motivation in reading English language books by serving them with visually eye-catching books which are equipped with the translation in the student’s native language as well as local-culture content. One of the goals is to help the students understand the book better because the information listed in the book is familiar with their daily life and compounded with interesting real images. Khan, Sani, and Shaik-Abdullah (2017) support it since they believe that the student’s reading materials take a vital part to maintain the student’s reading motivation. Thus, the reading materials should be attractive, yet remains challenging (Cho, et al., 2010). English language scholars have proposed a robust program to achieve the goal, socalled extensive reading program. Some early initiators of this program were Day and Bamford (1998) and their concept has been continuously developed, particularly by Day through his 10 112 Prancisca. Developing…. Journal of English Educational Study (JEES) Volume 4 Issue 2 November 2021 Page 112-121 E-ISSN: 2655-0776 principles of extensive reading (see Day, 2002). Some key features of the program include the flexibility of book choice because the students may read books from various genres and levels as they wish. In addition, the extensive reading program encourages the students to select books whose levels are not way beyond theirs. The students can even pick a book that is below their level in order to maintain their motivation to read the book. When this program is carried out regularly, research has documented multiple benefits of extensive reading such as vocabulary size and reading speed (Aka 2019; He 2014; Liu & Zhang 2018; Renandya & Jacobs 2016; Suk 2017). One of the principles of extensive reading is the convenience for students in terms of accessibility, flexibility, and level of difficulty. In extensive reading, reading convenience is given a larger portion rather than accuracy which potentially puts the students under pressure. In this research, the research complements the extensive reading principles with the bilingualism theory. The theory aims to provide much wider access to the student to understand the text. When using this sort of book, the students may compare their understanding from the original text with the translation in their native language. According to Myers-scotton (2004), bilingualism is someone’s ability to speak in two or more languages in a simple conversation. Previous scholars have mentioned the advantages of inserting the bilingual concept into foreign language books. First, the books assist the students to increase vocabulary in the target language (Zhang & Webb, 2019). Second, the bilingual book is also deemed to broaden the student’s cultural knowledge through a good understanding of the book storyline (Hu, Chen, & Li, 2012; Semingson, Pole, & Tommerdahl, 2015). Finally, Hu, Chen, & Li (2012) deliver that the students in their research seem to have higher motivation and take part actively in post-reading activities. In general, several students have a positive attitude towards the use of two or more languages in day-to-day life. For example, Rizqi (2017) records positive results when he asks the students about the possibility of using Indonesian language and a local language (Dayak language) together. In the English language context, Setiawan (2016) expresses an increasing trend of code-switching among Indonesian language users. Hence, bringing the concept of bilingualism into the student’s reading book might not make the students feel strange. The concept is even hoped to create a sense of comfort in students as they have been quite familiar with using two languages or more in their daily life. Moreover, Indonesia is a large country that consists of hundreds of vernacular languages. Nevertheless, there is a debate among scholars to decide how the bilingual concept should be presented in the student’s book. Semingson, et al. (2015) suggest the three types of bilingual books, namely full-text translation, single-text translation, and embedded text. In 113 Prancisca. Developing…. Journal of English Educational Study (JEES) Volume 4 Issue 2 November 2021 Page 112-121 E-ISSN: 2655-0776 addition to that, Zhang and Webb (2019) introduces another type of the bilingual book, i.e. glossed reading. In this research, I design the book using the first model, full-text translations. Zhang and Webb (2019) affirm that this model is the most popular one among bilingual books. Having decided the type of the book, another question is directed to how the original language and the translation should be placed in the book. Zhang and Webb (2019) (...truncated)