The Application of Reader Response Approach and the Use of Face Book as a Medium to Appreciate Literary Works

The Application of Reader Response Approach and the Use of Face Book as a Medium to Appreciate Literary Works

Dr. Rita Inderawati, M.Pd.

ABSTRACT

This global era challenges all elements to create and innovate for all the matter. Literature as one of the contestants in urban culture must have high competitiveness in line with multimedia technology progress. It is a fact that literature has something to do with old things, but it does not mean that teachers cannot create innovative things concerning with the use of literature. Meanwhile, the writers of literary works have published their qualified works which can be utilized in all levels of education. Ironically, the qualified works were conventionally taught that is by applying the old paradigm. Rosenblatt (1987) cited that it is an efferent stance (scan reading for enjoyment) if structuralism approach is put forward. There must be collaboration between literary work writers and teachers in which the writers have created the literary works and the teachers have to discover or to establish the method of literature teaching. Creative literature teaching method can be enlightened by applying reader response strategy and making use of face book as a medium to respond the literary works.

New criticism has been criticized as a separated appreciation approach. It is necessary to accept it in positive perspective that the elements of fiction of literary works cannot be analyzed one by one and part by part. In learning, literary works must be explored so that the essence of literature to humanize people can be fulfilled by teachers. Significant theories for life insisted by experts are assumed as “dry” theories and have not been maximally explored. Literary works contains essential components that can sharpen cognitive and affective aspects and that can develop language skills if the works are explored and appreciated by precise appreciation approach.

This research-based paper elaborates the learning of literary appreciation by applying the effective strategy that is reader responses and the use of face book as a medium for the learner to present and comment on their literary appreciation as a way of making use the social network in cyber.

Key words: reader response strategy, literary appreciation, multimedia technology, face book

INTRODUCTION

                             Internet has become a part of daily lives that addresses for abundant websites. The internet helps people search everything entailed. It can also be a powerful teaching tool, provide access to information and allow links to other learners. Technology is valuable in the globalization era. Information Community Technology (ICT) can be a valuable and comfortable media for the students to express their feeling toward the literary works. The use of media and technology in appreciating literary works is expected to improve learning process. The lecturer provides them with a special website or a blog that they can use to give comment on each other. Ultimately, their appreciations can be responded by other visitors.

            In line with that, facebook is one of the top social networking sites, quickly gaining on My-space in terms of total users and traffic that presents a unique marketing opportunity for businesses through the creation of Facebook Business Pages. As more people explore social media, social networking sites have become some of the key online sources they use to learn more about products, organizations, artists and world events. Marketing on Facebook has a vital effect – information spreads through networks exponentially.

            The phenomenon of using facebook widespread in Indonesia especially for   students. Almost every day everywhere every student has a face book that he/she will visit. They use it actively to comment, make friend, search friends or families, and chat. Based on the result of questionnaire distributed to the forth semester students of English study program of Sriwijaya University, it was found that 97% insisted that facebook is important for two reasons that it can be useful for making communication and developing writing skill. The insistence motivates the writer to accommodate the students’ activity and happy hours of being on line in the internet by making use of face book to be their medium of expressing ideas and commenting on their friends’ opinion. Moreover, few of schools or universities have hot spot area so they can access it easily. Or sometimes they can be accessed in by their mobile. Because of that, face book can be a medium to make learners not just having fun in face book, but they can use it in positive one.    Furthermore, teaching is a communication process in which a body of knowledge is delivered from an instructor to students (Gagne, 1985). So with the proliferation of computer software and hardware, especially by using the facebook, the teachers and the students can do the interaction each other and have teaching and learning process. This fact show that the use of internet especially facebook and related information technologies will foster an alternative teaching and learning environment.

                            The teaching of literature is neglected both in Indonesia and abroad so far.  It is obvious  that literature learning process especially in English study program had applied old paradigm, structuralism approach. Since the approach became the umbrella of literature instruction, the lectures (prose and literary appreciation) were presented conventionally and focused on intrinsic values. The students perpetually appreciated such values. In other words, they only identified the elements of fiction that were really in the literary texts. Therefore, the focus of learning was what were in the text and what the text said about characters, settings, and plot.

                             This global era challenges all elements to create and innovate for all the matter. Literature as one of the contestants in urban culture must have high competitiveness in line with multimedia technology progress. It is a fact that literature has something to do with old things, but it does not mean that teachers cannot create innovative things concerning with the use of literature. Meanwhile, the writers of literary works have published their qualified works which can be utilized in all levels of education. Ironically, the qualified works were conventionally taught that is by applying the old paradigm. Rosenblatt (1987) cited that it is an efferent stance (scan reading for enjoyment) if structuralism approach is put forward. There must be collaboration between literary work writers and teachers. In other words, the writers have created the literary works and the teachers have to discover or establish the method of literature teaching. Creative literature teaching method can be enlightened by applying reader response strategy and making use of face book as a medium to respond the literary works. This idea emerges in the surface by accommodating students’ new hobby that is sitting in front of the computer for hours to access internet programs especially facebook. Consequently, while they chat or comment on status, they can appreciate literary works by commenting each other stories from novels or short stories in English by making use of that facebook and appreciating these literary works.

Literature nowadays exists in websites. Learners can read various kinds of literary works, particularly short stories. Since internet is not a new thing anymore and can be accessed every time and everywhere, based on that fact, presenting the short story by using weblog in electronic posting can be assumed more interesting than studying it only in the common way. By using the weblog, as suggested by Rudy (2007), the learners can put their writing, their response, and some comments on the short story in the weblog.

                               This research-based paper elaborates the learning of literary appreciation by applying the effective strategy that is reader responses and the use of face book as a medium for the learner to present and comment on their literary appreciation as a way of making use the social network in cyber.

THEORETICAL REVIEW AND METHOD OF RESEARCH

                             Before analyzing students’ comments toward literary works, some relevant theories such as reader response strategy, peers’ comment in face book, literary appreciation are reviewed and the method to conduct the analysis is under the qualitative paradigm.

Applying Reader Response Strategy in Appreciating Literary Works

The appreciation of the short story applies seven reader response strategies posed by Beach and Marshall (1990); they are describing, conceiving, explaining, interpreting, engaging, connecting and judging. The guiding questions are constructed based on the responses.

No	Responses	Indicators	Questions to Guide
1	Describing	Character, characterization, setting, theme, style,	1.   What do you think of the character of the story? Is he/she good or bad? Do you like or dislike him/her? 2.   Where does the story happen? Do you like the setting? Why? 3.   Does the story tell about good things? 4.   Is the story reasonable? Is the style of the story communicative of figurative? Explain it. 5.   What event in the story do you think is very important? Why?
2	Engaging	Feeling, imagination, thought	6.   Can you feel what is felt by the character? What does he/she feel? 7.   Would you do the same thing if you were the character? Explain it. 8.   Can you imagine what happens? Explain it.
3	Conceiving	Reason	9.   Why is the character forbidden to do something?
4	Explaining	Character’s action, agreement	10.  A character is extremely hated by someone but he/she keeps patient and obeys. What do you think of the character’s action? 11.  Do you agree or disagree of the bad action done by anyone to the character? Why?
5	Interpreting	Opinion	12.  In your point of view, what does the story talk about?
6	Connecting	Experience, Other story, Film, Social life, Culture, Religion	13.  Do you have the same experience with the character? Your brother? Parents? Neighbor? Friend? 14.  Have you ever read book or watched film which is similar to the story read? Tell the story and connect it. 15.  Can you connect this story to social life? Culture? Religion? How do you connect it?
7	Judging	Story line, Moral values, The author	16.  Is the story interesting? 17.  Is the story valuable? What values do you get from reading the story? 18.            What do you think of the author?

Sumber: Rudy (2007)

The guiding questions were established by Rudy (2005) from reader response strategy posed by Beach and Marshall (1990). It has also been developed and revised through research and development (R&D) method by Rudy (2007). The set of questions can be applied by university students as a whole immediately after reading a story. It is suggested that high school students apply part by part so that teacher can identify well their imaginative exploration toward a literary work well.

                                Such guiding questions contribute to sharpen cognitive aspect as well as affective. This technique falsified the underlying assumptions that literature was merely a recitation subject, that it could not develop students’ language skills, and that it only sharpened students’ brain intelligence. It was strengthened by a research conducted by Rudy (2005) that the collaboration between reader response strategy and visual symbol response was able to promote primary school students’ critical thinking and writing skill. The quasi-experiment design proved that the collaboration response was effective to develop students’ writing skill. It was also expected that such kind of response was able to improve the students’ moral since they qualitatively responded short stories that contained moral messages. The indicators of improving their moral were built by describing the character’s action, conceiving and explaining the character, interpreting what had been done, engaging their feeling, imagination, and thought to the character’s feeling, connecting their own experience, other film and story book to the character, and judging the author, the story line, and values by reading the story.

There are a lot of short stories that can be found in many sources, such as in the textbooks and magazines. According to Rudy (2007) literature learning process nowadays still applies old paradigm, structuralism approach. Literature subject is taught in educational institution and it is taught traditionally and conventionally and only focuses on intrinsic values (Tuhusetya, 2006). The students only analyze the elements of fiction that already found in the text. Consequently, literature subject does not contribute to increase students` literary appreciation. Moreover, it is taught in every level of education.

                               According to Barlian (2003) teachers do not know how to teach literature correctly. Similarly, Rudy (2007) quotes from some experts’ opinion that literature teaching cannot run well since teachers are lack of the teaching strategy. She has also observed the phenomenon. Consequently, literary works become such a boring subject to learn. The students complain that the way their lecturers present the short story in the classroom is not interesting. The lecturers only provide them with the elements of fiction to be appreciated. For these reasons, a strategy is required to help students appreciate better the short story

In this study, the six semester students describe and explain about the information from the short story. Students describe the character of the story, the plot and the setting. It means the students retell the story and describe it by putting forward their own opinion and inspiration about the short story. As previously cited, such description can enhance students’ critical thinking. When reading the short story, every student will find different aspects in the same short story. They tell the story the most interesting part in their point of view, at least three sentences in each explanation. To have a good understanding in analyzing the short story, they can choose the most interesting one. So, it is possible that their point of view in understanding the short story will be different. This difference can be supported by the discussion in their analysis.

The Importance of Peers’ Comment

            Peers are practically a good source of feedback, the helpfulness of their comments on peer writing can be very limited. In addition, they tend to be inexperienced in writing and generating constructive comments. Therefore, it is critical for the successful use of peer reviewing that students come to generate helpful reviews for their peer writers in the absence of strong expert input. Also, reciprocal peer reviewing of writing is hard for instructor to monitor. As the class size increases, the amount of peer comments increases in an exponential way.

            When students peer-review another writer's work, they evaluate it, criticize it, suggest improvements, and then communicate all of that to the writer. As a first-time peer-reviewer, they might be a bit uneasy about criticizing someone else's work. For example, how does a student tell somebody his essay is boring? When he or she peer-review other friend's writing, he or she should consider all aspects of that writing, not just—in fact, least of all—the grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Literary Appreciation

                           Prose and literary appreciation are offered as compulsory subjects in English study program. Based on the interview of two lecturers who taught both subjects, it was found that the lecturers did not know how to teach the subjects correctly. They lack the theory of appreciation and the effective teaching technique. Literary works were appreciated by applying the approach that can merely sharpen the brain intelligence. The lecturers asked the students to apply structuralism approach. Rudy (2001:2) observed that the students were asked to read, to answer the available questions, and to summarize the content of a story. Meanwhile, Beach and Marshall (1991:219) expressed that students in literature class were provided by questions to identify characters, characterization, setting, plot, and theme. Such emerged questions help to decide whether or not a literary work had been read.

Learning from Experience in Literary Appreciation Classroom

                             It was the writer’s observation in her literary appreciation class for two semesters since 2006. Firstly, the fifth semester students were asked to read a simple short story and to appreciate it based on their own experiences of responding literary work. The result of appreciation was that all the students summarized the short story and commented on it by identifying the elements of fiction. It was what they knew and it was what they got from their high school teachers.

            The students were asked to read Frank Kafka’s The Bucket Rider and they appreciated the story as freely and personally as possible. It is a story about a poor man who needed coal to warm his body in winter. He rode a bucket to the coal dealer to ask some coal. Unfortunately, he could not meet the generous coal dealer because the poor was sick and his wife opened the door for the poor man and was angry at him. Actually, the coal dealer could hear someone knocked the door but her wife insisted that nobody there. The weak poor man left the house sadly. By applying the reader response strategy, they had responded all the indicators.

Method of Research

                               In this study, the lecturer asked one of the students to make notes in the facebook. The student opened his profile on his page in the facebook by clicking to the menu NOTES and writing the summary of The Legend of Pulau Kemaro, while another student were asked to summarize Nopumbolu Island. After inserting the notes, the two students tagged to their classmates’ facebook by clicking to the menu TAG and typing their names. Then, they can be involved in the discussion.

DISCUSSION

                             After reading  The Legend of Pulau Kemaro, students were asked to give comment to these local literatures by applying reader response strategy after they were taught Literary Appreciation in the classroom. The followings are the summary and the comments from the students in the facebook.

The Legend of Kemaro Island

                    Kemaro Island, a small island with a Buddhist temple and the grave of a Palembang princess has the legend about the love story of Siti Fatimah and Chinese young man called Tan Bun Ann. They loved each other and got married but unfortunately, Tan Bun Ann's parents couldn't come to their wedding party and visited them to Palembang. In order to show their appreciation and how they loved Fatimah as their daughter-in-law, they then sent Fatimah and Tan Bun Ann nine big jars. Tan Bun Ann expected that all the jars contained gold and opened them one by one, but the first one only had Pekasem, kind of Food in China. The second jar also contained Pekasem. He was so disappointed and he thought that his parents insulted Fatimah's family. He was so angry to his parents. He then broke another six jars that unfortunately all of them contained Pekasem. He was still curious to know the content of the last jar but he kicked it unconsciously. Tan Bun Ann jumped into the river as his back kicked the last jar and it plunged into the river, then he wanted to get the gold so he jumped into it. When Fatimah saw that happening, she also jumped into the river and drowned. Finally, the new Island, Kemaro Island, appeared in the middle of Musi river.

The following is the discussion.

(#1) Rita Inderawati Hi all!!!! you have performed a tableau in socio-gram. Let's discuss and appreciate the legend from Palembang that Doddy has tagged for us. What do you think of the main character. Do you like him? Why? (about an hour ago · Like · )

(#2) Genta Anak Galoenk actually i don't like the main character of this story, he is just too impatient and also he doesn't appreciate what his parents have given to him on the other hand, i like his wife very much because she is such a faithful woman. i wish i could be like her :) (about an hour ago · Like)

(#3) Rita Inderawati I wish.Gen, as if you were Tan Bun Ann, would you do such things? What's the reason? (about an hour ago · Like )

(#4) Genta Anak Galoenk if I were tan bun an, I wouldn't do that things, i will check all of the jars one by one and always keep thinking positive about my parents,because however my parents will always try to give the best for me and i believe in them. (about an hour ago · Like)

(#5)Rita Inderawati I agree with you since we know that our parents loves us, they will not give something bad. And keep thinking positively to everything. (48 minutes ago · Like )

(#6) Dody Sugiarto hi guys..waw a very nice conversation..guys..I just realize that i did make mistake in my summary...mam Rita is right that actually there were nine jars not six. I'm so sorry for that one n I've just revised it...hmm...mam, I also dislike the character of Tan Bun Ann so much because that kind of guy is arrogant I guess..he coudn't respect someone's giving..that's not good at all. friends, btw do you have the similar story with that story in your life???? (35 minutes ago · Like)

(#7) Beni Wijaya I have the same idea as Genta. The main character seems in a rush to know what the content of the jars is. If he were more patient to know about that, he would actually get what he desperately expected. From what he does, I don't think that I like it. Besides, it's such a fool that he can't appreciate the things his parents give to him. As we know that giving an expensive or luxurious thing is not the only one way to prove our love to anybody else. (35 minutes ago · Like)

(#8) Doddy Sugiarto Ben, it's absolutely right.I do agree with you brotha..btw, do you have the similar story in your life??? (33 minutes ago · Like

(#9) Beni Wijaya I never find it yet so far... How about you? Do you have? (29 minutes ago · Like)

(#10) Dutax Scottish Oh ye??I think that were only 6 jars. How can it change to be 9jars? Then, what i think about Tan bun an is actualy i dont like his action too but by considering his condition at that time -very shy after knowing there was no gold at all- it forced ... (25 minutes ago via Facebook Mobile · Like)

(#11) Dutax Scottish him to do such stupid action (24 minutes ago via Facebook Mobile · Like)

(#12) Rita Inderawati Who R you Man? Yeah we have read different versions, I read the version that mention 9 jars. It's Ok  (9 minutes ago · Like ·)

(#13) Bunga Aditya I do really agree with u all guys. if I were Tam Bun An, I wouldn't do that. I would see the content of the jars first to make sure whether it contained gold or not. (9 minutes ago · Like)

(#14) Rita Inderawati Hi Dodd, I think that you've missed some important events of the legend. There were actually 9 not 6 jars. Tan Bun Ann jumped into the river as his back kicked the last jar and it plunged into the river, then he wanted to get the gold so he jumped into it. Will you revise that? Tq (about an hour ago · Like · )

(#15) Dody Sugiarto No mam,based on the story that my friends and I had ever read and the performance that we played, there were only six jars. Five of them contained Pekasem and the rest contained gold. Tan Bun Ann jumped into the river because of feeling disappointed n then Fatimah also jumped into the river to follow her husband.While running from the boat to jump into the river, Fatimah kicked the last jar unconsciously.the last jar indeed contained full of gold.

The discussion has not finished yet, but at least the reader response strategy can be identified. The first response posed by a student is describing (#2, #6, #7)

Actually i don't like the main character of this story, he is just too impatient and also he doesn't appreciate what his parents have given to him on the other hand, i like his wife very much because she is such a faithful woman. i wish i could be like her

This quotation is called describing response since the student put forward her idea about the character as one of the indicators of such response.

The next response is engaging (#4, #13)

If I were tan bun an, I wouldn't do that things, i will check all of the jars one by one and always keep thinking positive about my parents, because however my parents will always try to give the best for me and i believe in them.

I do really agree with u all guys. if I were Tam Bun An, I wouldn't do that. I would see the content of the jars first to make sure whether it contained gold or not.

It is engaging response where the student put forward their feeling, thought, and imagination.

Connecting is the next response posed by the students (#9)

I never find it yet so far... How about you? Do you have?

CONCLUSION

                 Based on the findings, it can be concluded that facebook is applicable for students in appreciating literary works because it was proved that reader response strategy gives significant contribution to improve students’ literary appreciation by describing short stories, novels, local literature etc. The strategy in appreciating literary works cannot improve students’ appreciation if the students do not understand the reader response strategy.

The application of reader response strategy consists of concept, interpretation, and application. In the concept, the students got the information about the element of fiction in local literature by using reader response strategy They answered the questions by giving the appreciation in comments boxes. In the application step, the students tagged their appreciation on lecturer’s note and they also gave comments to their friends’ appreciation in the facebook.

REFERENCES

Beach, R.W. dan J.D. Marshall. 1991. Teaching Literature in the Secondary School. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovoch, Inc.

Carter, R. dan M.N. Long. 1991. Teaching Literature. New York: Longman, Inc.

Collie, J. dan S. Slater. 1987. Literature in the Language Classroom. New York:  Cambridge University Press.

Gagne, R.M. dan L.J. Briggs. 1979. Principles of Instructional Design. NY: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Rosenblatt, Louise M. 1978. The Reader, the Text, the Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work. Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press.

Rudy, Rita Inderawati. 2007. Web-Based Literature: Displaying Students’ Response to Short Story. A Paper presented in the 54^th International Conference of TEFLIN at Universitas Islam Negeri Jakarta, 4-6 December 2007.

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