THE TEXT PARAMETERS AND THE TECHNIQUES
OF READING TESTING IN CHRISTIAN AND ISLAM
RELIGION INSTITUTES
(A CASE STUDY AT INSTITUTE ALKITAB TIRANUS (IAT)
BANDUNG AND INSTITUT AGAMA ISLAM NEGERI (IAIN) “SMH”
BANTEN)
By:
DIDI SUKYADI
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) Bandung
ERIKSON TOGATOROP
(Politeknik Batam)
Background of the Study
The need of a good reading test which can measure
what the teacher wants to measure.
 A good reading testing considers many aspects, and
some of them are the appropriateness of the test text
selection and the techniques chosen.
 As a religious higher education institution, both IAT
Bandung and IAIN “SMH” Banten teach English as a
general compulsory subject (MKDU) covering the four
language skills which include reading skills.
 The present study tries to see how text parameters and
reading test techniques are applied in the reading tests
in both institutions.

Research Questions
 How
are the text parameters applied on the text
selection of reading test used at IAT Bandung
and IAIN “SMH” Banten?
 What reading test techniques are applied at IAT
Bandung and IAIN “SMH” Banten?
Theoretical Framework




Two of the important aspects in preparing reading tests
are the text selection and the techniques chosen.
To select text candidates for a reading test, Hughes
(2003) proposed a number of parameters: intended
readership, text topic, text types, text form, text length,
text readability, range of vocabulary, and range of
grammar.
Hughes (2003) also indicates that the techniques used
should interfere as little as possible with the reading itself,
and that they should not add a significantly difficult task
on top of reading.
As a solution to this problem, he proposes four techniques
to be used: multiple choice, short answer, gap filling, and
information transfer.
Definition of Terms
English
MKDU means English which is taught as a
general basic courses to non-English Departments.
Reading Test Texts refer to the texts used for measuring
the reading comprehension ability of the students.
Text Parameters are a number of parameters used as
considerations to select a text for the reading test texts
including intended readership, text topic, text types, text
form, text length, text readability, range of vocabulary, and
range of grammar .
Reading Test Techniques are means of eliciting behavior
from the candidates that will tell us about their reading
comprehension abilities (Hughes, 2003)
METHODOLOGY
Research Site
Institut Alkitab Tiranus (IAT) Bandung and Non-English
Department of State Islamic Institute Banten.
Research Design
This study employed a qualitative research in the form of
descriptive since researchers focused on the observing,
interpreting, and understanding the texts of the reading
tests used in both institutions.
Participants of the Study
The lecturers who taught English MKDU at IAT Bandung
and in Non-English Department of IAIN “SMH” Banten.
Methodology
 In
collecting the data the researchers
applied document analysis and interview.
 The term “document” refers to a wide
range of written, visual, and physical
materials.
 The written documents used in this study
are those of the formative tests from both
of the institutions – the mid term test (UTS)
and the final term test (UAS), of the last
four years (from 2005 – 2008).
Methodology
 Based
on the purposes of the research,
we did not analyze all documents in
those formative tests,
 We selected only certain tests related to
reading skill evaluation instead.
 The document analysis was then
supported the by interviewing the
lecturers.
METHODOLOGY
Instrument
Principal instruments of the of the research are the
researchers themselves.
Data Analysis
 In analyzing the data, the researchers categorized
and classified the data such as to what specification
categories the reading text used belong to, or to
what category the test techniques used fit in.
 During the categorization, the researcher tried to eye
on possible ideas, perceptions, and experiences.
 The final phase of the data analysis is to interpret
and conclude the findings.
FINDINGS
1. The Text parameters Application on the Reading test
Used at IAT Bandung and IAIN “SMH” Banten can be
seen in the table below.
THE TEXT PARAMETERS APPLICATION ON THE READING
TESTS USED AT IAT BANDUNG AND IAIN “SMH” BANTEN
No Parameters
1
Text Topic
IAT BANDUNG
IAIN “SMH” BANTEN
about what Jesus done
(taken from Bible)
all related to Islam
(taken from various sources)
around the development of
Islam
Range of
Vocabulary
around the biblical
stories
Text Types
Non fiction: reports
Non fiction: articles
Text Form
Narrative
Argumentative
Text Length
Short (206-296 words)
Medium (408 - 786 words)
6
Range of
Grammar
Easy
(limited longer clauses
and subordination)
Rather difficult
(some longer clauses and
subordination )
7
Text
Readability
Easy level
(for college students)
Medium level of difficulty
(for college students)
Christian Readers
Muslim Readers
8
Intended
Readership
(with biblical background
knowledge)
(with Islamic background
knowledge)
2
3
4
5
(Koran & Prophet Muhammad –
history of Islamic education)
Data interpretationThe data described
conclude that:
Islamic institute chose more varied topics and
vocabularies than Christian institute
 Texts used at the Christian institute tend to be
script-centered than those used in Islamic
institutes
 Christian institute prefers to employ narrative
texts, while Islamic institute prefers to use
argumentative texts
 The grammar and vocabulary used at Islamic
institute are more difficult than those used at the
Christian institute.
 Islamic institute prefers to use longer texts than
Christian institute.

FINDINGS
2. The Reading Test Techniques Applied
at IAT Bandung and IAIN “SMH” Banten can be
seen in the table below.
THE READING TEXT TECHNIQUES
APPLIED AT IAT BANDUNG AND IAIN “SMH” BANTEN
No
TEST
1
M-04/05
2
F-04/05
3
M-05/06
4
F-05/06
5
M-06/07
6
F-06/07
7
M-07/08
8
F-07/08
IAT BANDUNG
Short answer,
Information transfer
Matching words/phrases,
True-false, Short answer,
Matching words/phrases,
True-false, Short answer,
IAIN “SMH” BANTEN
True-false, Multiple choice,
Short answer
True-false, Multiple choice,
Short answer
True-false, Multiple choice,
Short answer
True-false, Multiple choice,
Multiple choice
Short answer
Matching words/phrases, True-false, Multiple choice,
True-false, Short answer, Short answer
Matching words/phrases, True-false, Multiple choice,
True-false, Short answer Short answer
Matching words/phrases, True-false, Multiple choice,
True-false, Short answer Short answer
True-false,
True-false, Multiple choice,
Short answer
Matching words/phrases
THE COMPARISON OF
READING TEST TECHNIQUS APPLIED
AT IAT BANDUNG AND IAIN BANTEN
No
IAT BANDUNG
IAIN “SMH” BANTEN
1
True-false (6)
True-false (8)
2
Multiple choice (1)
Multiple choice (8)
3
Short answer (7)
Short answer (7)
4
Matching words/phrases (5) Matching words/phrases (1)
5
Information transfer (1)
Data Interpretation
Islamic institute does not use any information
transfer technique.
 Islamic institute uses more multiple choice
technique than that of Christian institute.
 Chritian institute uses more matching technique
than Islamic institute.

CONCLUSIONS

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There are some similarities and some differences in the text
parameters application on the reading text tests used at IAT
Bandung and in non-English Department of IAIN “SMH” Banten.
The similarities are in the topic choice in which both institutes
used topic related to their field of study
and in the
intended readership of the reading test texts which is both
institution is their students with their religion background.
The differences covered the types of the text which is more
scientific in IAIN “SMH” Banten, the text length which is
shorter in IAT Bandung, and the ranges of grammar which is
also easier in IAT Bandung .
CONCLUSIONS
There are a bit differences in the reading test techniques
applied in both institution.
 There are five kinds of reading test techniques applied in
IAT Bandung; those were True-false, Multiple choice,
Short answer, Matching words/phrases, and Information
transfer.
 While it was only four IAIN “SMH” Banten; those were
True-false, Multiple choice, Short answer, and Matching
words/phrases.

SUGGESTIONS
For IAT Bandung Lecturers:
 Try to choose a more scientific text for the reading test.
 Try to widen the range of the vocabularies of the text.
 Try to vary the text.
For IAIN “SMH” Lecturers:
 Consider the length of text whether it was too long.
 Try to vary the reading test.
THANK YOU