An Analysis of Reading Questions Types of An English Textbook “Gold Experience” Based on Marzano and Kendall’s Taxonomy

Oleh :
Sasa Lia Marta Parahita - K2219074 - Fak. KIP

 This study aims to analyze the reading comprehension questions in the Gold Experience B1 textbook using a qualitative content analysis approach. The analysis focuses on two frameworks: the four subcomponents of Marzano and Kendall’s Cognitive System (knowledge utilization, analysis, comprehension, and retrieval) and six reading comprehension indicators, including identifying the topic, main idea, stated detail, implied information, contextual meaning of words, and referents. The data consisted of 60 reading questions from 10 reading texts across 10 units. Document analysis was used to classify each question based on the cognitive levels and reading indicators. To ensure validity, the study employed persistent observation and peer debriefing. The findings reveal that the reading comprehension questions encompass four cognitive levels of Marzano and Kendall’s Cognitive System are unevenly distributed. There is a predominant focus on lower-order thinking skills’ questions, Retrieval (30%) and Comprehension (36.6%), while higher-order processes questions are underrepresented with only 26.6% under Analysis level and 6.6% under Knowledge Utilization level. Regarding the six reading comprehension indicators, the analysis shows a strong emphasis on identifying explicitly stated and implied information while other indicators such as identifying the topic and main idea receive minimal attention. This imbalance suggests that the textbook may not provide sufficient opportunities to practice a full range of comprehension skills and cognitive demands, highlighting the need for complementary instructional materials.