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 ELT FORUM 2 (2) (2013) 

 

Journal of English Language Teaching 
 

http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/elt 

 

 

ANALYSIS OF CHARACTER EDUCATION ASPECTS IN NARRATIVE 

TEXTS OF THE ELECTRONIC TEXTBOOK “DEVELOPING ENGLISH 

COMPETENCIES”  

 

Ratna Widya Iswara  

 

Department of English, Faculty Language and Arts, Semarang State University, Indonesia 

 

Info Artikel 

________________ 
Sejarah Artikel: 

Diterima September 2013 

Disetujui Oktober 2013 

Dipublikasikan  

November 2013 

________________ 
Keywords: 

character education aspects, 

narrative texts, electronic 

textbook 

____________________ 

 

Abstract 
___________________________________________________________________ 

The issue of character education has mushroomed recently as many as social problems in 

Indonesia. Thus, character education should be taken into consideration in teaching and learning 

activity. The aim of this study is to identify the character education aspects in narrative texts found 

in the electronic textbook used for senior high school students grade XI entitled Developing English 

Competencies based on the eighteen character education aspects mandated by the Ministry of 

National Education. 

This research applies descriptive qualitative method. In collecting the data, the writer used 

documentary method. The research instrument used in this study was documentation protocol and 

check list. The result of this research shows that there are 301 sentences from 605 sentences found in 

all the narrative texts which contain the character education aspects. So the percentage is 49,75 %. 

The sentences in the 17 narrative texts are relevant to the eighteen character education aspects. 

  

© 2013 Universitas Negeri Semarang 

 
 Alamat korespondensi:  

   Gedung B3  Lantai 3  FBS Unnes  

   Kampus Sekaran, Gunungpati, Semarang, 50229 

   E-mail: ratnawidyaiswara@gmail.com 

 

 

 

ISSN 2252-6706 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Ratna Widya Iswara / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

2 

 

INTRODUCTION 

 

 

Down through history, in countries all 

over the world, education has had two great 

goals: to help young people become smart and to 

help them become good (Lickona, 2007:1). The 

issues of character education has mushroomed 

recently as many as social problems in 

Indonesia. Character development in teaching is 

particularly important in today‟s society since 

globalization has globbed the whole world. 

Students are bombarded with many more 

negative influences through the media and other 

external sources prevalent in today‟s culture.  

However, learning system is currently 

considered not effective in building morals and 

noble character of the nation for the students. 

This is shown by the occurring cases of moral 

degradation, such as drug abuse, student 

radicalism, criminal activities, pornography and 

porno-action, plagiarism, and the declining pride 

toward nation and state. Even, junior and senior 

high school students have greater risk in 

character problems. It is proved by what the 

writer experienced while doing Praktik 

Pengalaman Lapangan (PPL). At the school where 

doing the training to be a teacher, the writer 

found out that some of the students engaged in a 

gang fight. Even, some of them from seventh 

graders until ninth graders used drugs.  

In order to tackle these problems, the 

2010 - 2014 MoNE Strategic Plan (Renstra) took 

policies to develop educational curriculum that 

provides soft skills to enhance noble moral and 

foster national character. One of the ways is by 

teaching character education at schools. As 

stated by Battistich (n.d.), schools today face 

enormous challenges in educating all of the 

young people in their charge. In addition to 

provide youth with basic academic knowledge 

and skills, and promoting their character 

development, schools have increasingly been 

called upon to play a primary role in helping to 

solve a variety of social problems among youth. 

Comprehensive and high quality character 

education is not only effective at promoting the 

development of good character, but is a 

promising approach to the prevention of a wide 

range of contemporary social problems. 

Lickona (1991) stated that moral 

education is not a new idea. It is, in fact, as old 

as education itself. Supporting this statement, 

Berkowitz (2011) also added that the term 

character education is simply the current term 

for a millennia-old issue. In Indonesia, it is not a 

new concept either. The pretension to becoming 

a country with noble character has been 

manifested since the country‟s independence. 

Pancasila and 1945 National Constitutions of 

the Republic of Indonesia (UUD 1945) provide 

a philosophical foundation also various basic 

principles for building education.  

The latest one, as mandated in Regulation 

of the President of the Republic of Indonesia 

Number 5 of 2010 Regarding the National 

Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 

2010-2014 that applying education methodology 

is no longer in the form of education for the sake 

of passing „teaching to the test‟, but is oriented to 

a comprehensive education that takes into 

account social capability, character, morals, and 

appreciation for Indonesia‟s culture and 

language. Thus, character education is 

mentioned as a value and moral education that 

aims to develop students with good personality 

to be better. 

Character education is not a quick 

process. Good character is not formed 

automatically. It is developed over time through 

a sustained process of teaching, modelling, 

learning and practice. To be effective, character 

education must include the entire school 

community and must be infused throughout the 

entire school curriculum and culture. Thus, 

inserting character values and traits in textbooks 

becomes a very effective way since books are 

used in every teaching and learning process.  

Being interested in the phenomenon 

above, the writer decided to have research on the 

values contained in textbook. Thus, it is the aim 

of this study to analyze and identify the 

materials of the electronic textbook Developing 

English Competencies for Second Grade Students of 



 

Ratna Widya Iswara / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

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Senior High School, especially the narrative texts 

based on the eighteen essential character 

education aspects mandated by the Ministry of 

National Education in 2010. 

 

Review of Related Literature 

Definition of Character Education 

Character is a psychological construct 

(Berkowitz and Bier, 2005:4). The outcome of 

effective character education is the psychological 

development of students. The complex set of 

psychological characteristics that enable an 

individual to act as a moral agent. Character is 

the composite of those psychological 

characteristics that impact the child‟s capacity 

and tendency to be an effective moral agent, to 

be socially and personally responsible, ethical, 

and self-managed. 

Abourjilie (2012:2) defined character 

education as a national movement creating 

schools that foster ethical, responsible, and 

caring young people by modeling and teaching 

good character through an emphasis on 

universal values that we all share. It is the 

intentional, proactive effort by schools, districts, 

and states to instill in their students important 

core, ethical values such as respect for self and 

others, responsibility, integrity, and self-

discipline. 

Berkowitz and Bier (2005:4) highlighted 

the importance of school in character education, 

they viewed character education as “a 

multifaceted approach that is best accomplished 

through comprehensive school reform”.  

 

Character Education in Indonesia 

Based on Pancasila and 1945 National 

Constitutions of the Republic of Indonesia 

(UUD 1945), the national education system put 

the students as the highest form of creation 

made by Almighty God with a task to lead a 

noble and dignified life also become well 

mannered, good hearted and kind human being. 

In 2010, the centre board of curriculum 

research and development under the supervision 

of Ministry of Education has conducted an 

empirical study on character education. The 

study revealed the development of character 

education by means of operational unit from 

every educational institution.  

Thus, since year of education 2011, all 

educational units and institutions in Indonesia 

should insert and apply the character education 

in each teaching and learning process. Eighteen 

aspects have been identified based on Master 

Plan of Character Education by Ministry of 

Education as follows: 

 

No Aspect Description 

1. Religiousness  Having attitudes and behaviors reflecting religious practices that 

one believes in, showing tolerance towards the practice of others 

and living harmoniously in a society. 

2. Honesty  Being truthful in words and actions and able to be trusted. 

3. Tolerance Having respect and appreciation for different opinions, beliefs, 

ethinicities, attitudes and actions of others. 

4. Discipline  Demonstrating self-control, even in difficult situations and 

obeying rules. 

5. Perseverance Continuing to work towards a goal, no matter what the obstacles 

and challenges are. 

6. Creativity Involving and using imagination to develop new ideas. 

7. Independence Capable of acting for oneself or on one's own without being 

influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion and 

conduct. 

8. Democracy Belief in political freedom and equality. 



 

Ratna Widya Iswara / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

4 

 

9. Curiosity Showing a marked desire and eagerness to learn more about 

knowledge or information. 

10. Citizenship Prioritizing the country‟s interest above personal interest. 

11. Patriotism Attempting to profess loyalty and care about the social, 

economic and political condition of a country.  

12. Achievement 

Respect 

Obtaining thing successfully by exertion, effort, courage and 

skill, and being happy for other‟s success.  

13. Friendship Being gentle and generous towards others; having a relationship 

between two or more people who enjoy being together. 

14. Peacefulness Helping maintain peace and preventing violence. 

15. Reading Interest Highly educated; Knowledgeable through having read 

extensively. 

16. Environmental 

Care 

Protecting natural environment from loss and pollution; saving 

the earth's resources for the future. 

17. Compassion Show kindness and concern for others in distress by offering help 

whenever possible. 

18. Responsibility Taking care of duties, being dependable and accountable when 

having things to do to God, self, and society. 

 

(Source: Ministry of National Education, 2010) 

 

Definition of Textbook 

There are some definitions of textbooks. 

One of those definitions given by Goslin (2012) 

in Permatasari (2012:30) who viewed a textbook 

as a printed and bound artifact for each year or 

course of study. Textbooks contain facts and 

ideas around a certain subject. From this 

definition we know that textbook is commonly 

used in schools. Textbooks are not only 

published in printed format, many are now 

available as electronic books. 

The Institution of the Development of 

Educational Materials (2011) in Permatasari 

(2012:31) stated that textbook is a teaching tool 

(material) which presents the subject matter 

defined by the curriculum”. This definition 

shows a comprehensive understanding of 

textbook that textbooks are written based on the 

curriculum. It‟s quite challenging in today‟s 

world to choose a good textbook, where there 

are numbers of textbooks. Good teacher has to 

know how to choose a good textbook. A good 

textbook is a book that is appropriate with the 

curriculum and students‟ level.  

 

Function of Textbook 

Textbook is very important to teachers 

and students. It is hard to do teaching learning 

without textbook. The function of textbook 

stated by Lier (1996:208) that textbooks tend to 

severely hamper the ability to engage in 

innovative and exploratory teaching. For 

teachers, textbook is an objective sequencing 

device which provides support and shows the 

way.  

In such textbooks, all the material that is 

supposed to be covered during a specific period 

of time is included. Modern textbooks aim to be 

not just comprehensive but also interesting, 

varied, inviting, and so on. They are full of 

photographs and drawings, and allusions to the 

types of things the authors imagine the target 

audience is interested in. At the same time, to be 

commercially viable, they must appeal to as 

broad a population as possible, and this 

requirement tends to lead to a certain blandness, 

and, in certain cases, to the uncritical 

presentation of an official point of view. (Lier, 

1996:208) 

 



 

Ratna Widya Iswara / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

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General Concept of Narrative Texts 

A narrative is a piece of text which tells a 

story and, in doing so, entertains or informs the 

reader or listener (Anderson and Anderson, 

1997:8). It can also be stated to stimulate the 

readers‟ emotion or to teach the readers. Thus, 

the purpose of a narrative text is to construct a 

view of the world that entertains or informs the 

reader or listener. The following are types of 

narrative text: humor, romance, crime, real-life 

action, adventure, historical fiction, mystery, 

fantasy, science fiction, and diary-novels.  

 

Generic Structure of Narrative Texts 

Anderson and Anderson (1997:8) stated 

that the generic structures of a narrative text are 

an orientation, a complication, a sequence of 

events, a resolution, and a coda. An orientation 

can be in the form a paragraph, a picture, or 

opening chapter in which the narrator tells the 

audience about who is in the story, when the 

story is taking place, and where the action is 

happening. 

A complication sets off a chain of events 

that influences what will happen in the story. 

These events will affect one or more characters. 

While a sequence of events is where the 

characters react to the complication. Then, a 

resolution is in which the characters finally sort 

out the complication. In this part, the crises are 

solved, for better or worse. The last part 

constructing a narrative text is a coda. It is an 

optional step that provides a comment or moral 

based on what has been learned from the story. 

 

Language Features of Narrative Texts 

There are some required elements dealing 

with the language features of narrative text. In 

the book Text Types in English 2, Anderson and 

Anderson (1997:8) defined the language features 

which usually found in a narrative text: specific 

characters, time words that connect events to tell 

when they occur, verbs to show the actions that 

occur in the story, and descriptive words to 

portray the characters and settings. 

 

 

 

Research Design 

Many traditional researchers speak of the 

design of a study as the product of the planning 

stage of research. The design is then 

implemented, the data collected and analyzed, 

and then the writing is done. In this study, the 

writer is going to use a qualitative research since 

the main purpose of the study is to analyze the 

character education aspects in narrative texts of 

the electronic textbook Developing English 

Competencies.  

Qualitative research expresses something 

comprehensively about the context through data 

collection taken by the researcher as the key 

instrument (Mujiyanto, 2007:19). In a 

qualitative research, the data and the results of 

the study are presented in the form of 

description. The writer is going to analyze the 

data and interpret the findings obtained by 

means of words. 

 

Source of Data 

Arikunto (2010:172) defined source of 

data as subject in which the research data 

obtained. If the researcher uses documentation, 

so the document and note are the source of data, 

while content of the document or note is the 

subject of study or research variable. 

In order to make light of identifying the 

source of data, he classified into three levels of p: 

person, place and paper. Person is the source of 

data who can give data in the form of spoken 

interview or written questionnaire. Place is the 

source of data which provide the persence of 

stationary or moving situation. While paper is 

the source of data which provides signs in the 

forms of letters, numbers, pictures or other 

symbols.  

The source of this study is paper, 

particularly document, electronic textbook 

entitled Developing English Competencies. It is an 

English eldectronic textbook for Senior High 

School (SMA/MA) grade XI. It was written by 

Achmad Doddy, Ahmad Sugeng, and Effendi 

and published by the Book Centre of the 

Ministry of National Education. 

 

 



 

Ratna Widya Iswara / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

6 

 

 

Research Findings 

As it has been stated before, this study 

was a qualitative reserach since the main 

purpose of the study is to analyze the character 

education aspects in narrative texts of the 

electronic textbook Developing English 

Competencies. Qualitative research expresses 

something comprehensively about the context 

through data collection taken by the researcher 

as the key instrument (Mujiyanto, 2007:19). 

There are 17 narrative texts which were 

analyzed and presented in the table below. 

 

No Title Page Number of Sentences 

1 Liu-Always-in-a-Hurry 232 30 

2 Cookie Dolls 232 13 

3 Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves 33 32 

4 Why Does the Cock Eat the Millipede 35 16 

5 Miss Mole Catches a Ghost 38 25 

6 Teddy Bear Time 40 17 

7 Little Peachling 42 28 

8 The Wolf and the Lamb 235 19 

9 Tom Thumb 236 10 

10 The Mystery of the Sphinx 236 4 

11 Money Isn‟t Everything 118 25 

12 The Jealous Crow 121 37 

13 The Golden Reed Pipe 125 88 

14 The Magic Moneybag 129 61 

15 The Necklace 209 170 

16 The Kind Duck and the Poor Frog 216 13 

17 Nai Manggale 218 17 

Total 605 

 

After selecting, numbering and presenting 

the data, the researcher came to the next step, 

analyzing the data. This subchapter analyzed the 

calculation finding of character education 

aspects and related it to eighteen character 

education aspects mandated by the Ministry of 

National Education. The number of eighteen 

character education aspects in each narrative 

text is shown in the following table. 

 

No Text 
Character Education Aspect 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 

1. 1 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 

2. 2 0 2 0 0 3 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 4 3 0 0 0 0 

3. 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 

4. 4 1 0 2 0 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 

5. 5 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 1 

6. 6 0 3 0 1 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 2 4 

7. 7 1 5 0 0 7 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 5 6 

8. 8 0 3 1 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 

9. 9 0 0 1 0 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 

10. 10 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 

11. 11 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 



 

Ratna Widya Iswara / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

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12. 12 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 4 2 0 1 1 0 

13. 13 0 3 1 1 9 2 1 0 3 0 0 4 3 1 0 2 1 5 

14. 14 0 1 4 5 7 1 3 0 2 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 

15. 15 0 7 1 1 20 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 3 9 

16. 16 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 

17. 17 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 2 

Total 
4 29 13 9 62 25 

1

0 2 19 1 1 14 29 9 0 5 31 38 

 

NOTE: Character Education Aspect 1 = 

Religiousness; 2 = Honesty; 3 = Tolerance; 4 = 

Discipline; 5 = Perseverance; 6 = Creativity; 7 = 

Independence; 8 = Democracy; 9 = Curiosity; 

10 = Citizenship; 11 = Patriotism; 12 = 

Achievement Respect; 13 = Friendship; 14 = 

Peacefulness; 15 = Reading Interest; 16 = 

Environmental Care; 17 = Compassion; 18 = 

Responsibility. 

From the previous table of the number of 

each character education aspect in the narrative 

texts, it could be classified into the amount of 

each character education aspect from all the 

narratives and make the percentage of them. 

Here, the data were classified into each character 

education aspect in the narrative texts. The table 

below shows the number of sentence which 

contains each character education aspect and the 

percentage against the total number of sentences 

found in the texts. 

 

No Character Education Aspect Number of Sentence Percentage 

1. Religiousness  4 0,66 % 

2. Honesty  29 4,79 % 

3. Tolerance 13 2,15 % 

4. Discipline  9 1,49 % 

5. Perseverance 62 10,25 % 

6. Creativity 25 4,13 % 

7. Independence 10 1,65 % 

8. Democracy 2 0,33 % 

9. Curiosity 19 3,14 % 

10. Citizenship 1 0,17 % 

11. Patriotism 1 0,17 % 

12. Achievement Respect 14 2,31 % 

13. Friendship 29 4,79 % 

14. Peacefulness 9 1,49 % 

15. Reading Interest 0 0,00 % 

16. Environmental Care 5 0,83 % 

17. Compassion 31 5,12 % 

18. Responsibility 38 6,28 % 

Total 301 49,75 % 

 

Perseverance became the most appeared 

value because student from very early age 

should be taught and prepared to be a tough, 

diligent and keen person. It reached 10,25% of 

the total sentences and appeared most, 20 times 

in the text 15, The Necklace.  



 

Ratna Widya Iswara / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

8 

 

Besides perseverance, responsibility also 

had high rank among all. It took 38 sentences or 

6,28% which also appeared most also in text 15. 

This short story by Guy de Maupassant told a 

story of Madame Loisel and her husband who 

lived simply. However, their lives became worse 

when she borrowed a magnificent diamond 

necklace from her bestfriend, Madame Forestier, 

and lost it. Then, she had to borrow much 

money, got the new necklace and began the long 

path of her financial struggles. It showed a great 

responsibility of Madame Loisel to take risk of 

thing she had done. Even it meant that she had 

to work very hard.  

Compassion, like responsibility, was also 

considered important. There was 5,12% 

calculation of sentences which contained this 

value of showing kindness and concerning for 

others in distress. 

Character value of honesty and friendship 

had similar total number, which was 29 

sentences. Both of them had percentage of 

4,79%. Other aspects of character education like 

tolerance, independence, curiosity and 

achievement respect reached the number of 10-

20 sentences. While religiousness, discipline, 

democracy, citizenship, patriotism, 

peacefulness, and environmental care was less 

than 1,65% or less than 10 sentences in all the 

narrative texts. 

Furthermore, there was one value of the 

aspects, reading interest, which did not appear at 

all in those narrative texts. Reading interest itself 

means being knowledgeable through having read 

extensively. Considering the importance of this 

aspect, it was very regrettable that it did not exist 

in the narrative texts. 

From the above explanation, it is clear 

that the 17 narrative texts of the electronic 

textbook contain the character education aspects 

mandated by the Ministry of National 

Education, but there was still one character 

education aspect which did not appear in all the 

narrative texts. 

 

 

CONCLUSION 

  

First, all the 17 narrative texts found in 

the electronic textbook contain at least three 

aspects of character education which were 

compatible and relevant to the eighteen 

character education aspects identified as the core 

values of cultural and character education in 

Indonesia. They are including religiousness, 

honesty, tolerance, discipline, perseverance, 

creativity, independence, democracy, curiosity, 

citizenship, patriotism, achievement respect, 

friendship, peacefulness, environmental care, 

compassion and responsibility. 

Second, the percentage of sentences which 

contain the character building aspects by the 

Ministry of National Education was adequate. 

There were 301 sentences from all 605 sentences 

appeared in 17 narrative texts. Thus, there was 

49,75 % sentences which contain the character 

building aspects mandated by the government. 

The most character education aspect was found 

in perseverance, which reached 10,25%. Besides, 

responsibility and compassion were also highly 

ranked and mostly found. In contrast, there was 

one aspect of character education, reading 

interest, which did not appear in the narrative 

texts at all. 

 

  



 

Ratna Widya Iswara / Journal of English Language Teaching 2 (2) (2013) 

9 

 

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Anderson, Mark and Kathy Anderson. 1997. Text 

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Arikunto, Suharsimi. 2010. Prosedur Penelitian : Suatu 

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Battistich, Victor. (n.d.) Character Education, Prevention, 

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