An Analysis of Questions on Reading Tasks in the English Textbook “Work in Progress” in Merdeka Curriculum

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the distribution of the level of thinking on questions on reading tasks in the English textbook “Work in Progress” in Merdeka curriculum using Marzano and Kendall’s Taxonomy. There are three system or knowledge in this theory which are the self-system, the meta cognitive system, and the cognitive system. The cognitive system in this theory is divided into four level. 1) Level 1 or retrieval level. (2) Level 2 or comprehension level, (3) Level 3 or analisis level, and (4) level 4 or knowledge utilization level. Descriptive qualitative research design used in this research. The first two level, retrieval and comprehension, belong to lower level question while other levels, analysis and knowledge utilization, belong to higher level questions. The researcher examined all reading questions in this textbook and used table analysis to classify them based on the level of thinking. The results showed that lower level questions were found more than higher level questions. Although, higher level questions were also found in the textbook, their number was far below lower level questions. There are several explanation for why lower level questions appear more than high level questions. First, learning should begin from basic to more complex. Second, it can prevent students from being overwhelmed.