FINAL PROJECT OF SEMINAR ON TEFL: THE MURDER SCRIPT

The MURDER Script

A.    Description of The MURDER Script

A number of cooperative learning techniques have been developed and one of those techniques is the MURDER Script. The MURDER Script technique, which is done in pair, enables the students to collaborate and perform the thinking tasks or summarizing and elaborating on reading material. This technique requires the students work together to achieve learning objectives that they could not achieve individually during learning process. Students are given the responsibility of creating a learning community where all students participate in significant and meaningful ways rather than working as individuals in competition with the others in the classroom.

The word “MURDER” in this technique’s name is actually an acronym for each step of the process that is done in the MURDER Script. The word “MURDER” stands for “Mood”, “Understand”, “Recall”, “Detect/ Digest”, “Elaborate/ Expand”, and “Review”. All of those six words represent the steps that are going to be done in this technique. Here are the explanations of the steps in the MURDER Script:

1. “Mood” is the first step in which the student should attempt to find a time and place that set a positive mood. This will allow the student to study more effectively, because an individual will usually not be able to study effectively if he or she is in an environment that is distracting or just generally irritating.
2. “Understand” is second step in which the student marks any information that he or she does not understand by circling it, highlighting it, or simply drawing a question mark next to it.
3. “Recall” is the third step in which the student should attempt to paraphrase and note everything that he or she leaned from the section that he or she just went over.
4. “Detect/digest” is the fourth step in which the student should go back over each topic that he or she marked earlier and read again that material in an attempt to understand the material better.
5. “Elaborate/expand” is the fifth step in which the student should go back and start asking and attempting to answer questions about the specific topics that he or she still does not understand even after completing the detect/ digest step.
6. “Review” is the last step in which all of the material that the student actually does understand in order to refresh that material in the student’s mind.

B.     Language Skills or Components that Can be Taught

The MURDER script technique can be collaborated into and can be used to teach all of the language skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing. This technique is appropriate to be applied for the students in Senior High School.

C.    Teaching Procedure of The MURDER Script

In applying this technique during teaching-learning process, teacher has already implemented all of language skills; listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Here are the steps in using the MURDER Script technique:

1.      The teacher asks the students to make groups in pair. If the students have got their pairs, then the teacher gives a reading passage that has been divided into sections. (The teacher can do this or students can use natural breaks in the passage, such as chapter sections.)

2.      Each student starts to read the first section silently. (Implementing reading skill).

3.      After the students have finished read the reading passage, the teacher ask the students in each pairs to summarize what they have read to their partner alternately. The students convey the key ideas of the section without looking down at the text. (Implementing speaking skill)

4.      The other partner looks at the text, detects any errors, omissions, or unnecessary information in the summary and discusses with the recaller. (Implementing listening skill)

The roles of recaller and detector rotate for the next section.

5.      Then, both students elaborate on the idea in the section. Types of elaborations include:

·         connections with others things the students have studied,

·         links between the section and students’ lives,

·         additions of relevant information not included in the section,

·         agreements with the views or ideas expressed in the section,

·         reaction to the section such as surprise, gladness, or anger,

·         applications of the ideas and information,

·         questions, either about things not understood or questions generated by the sections.

6.      When the entire text has been completed, the pair combines their thoughts and then they construct overall summary of the entire text. (Implementing writing skill)

D.    Strength and Weakness of The MURDER Script

The MURDER Script has some strength, such as:

1.      This technique makes the students can work together to share what they have learned to their friend. It can increase students’ motivation to succeed.

2.      Research on the MURDER script suggests that this technique can increase students’ comprehension and recall about the passage, for talking about the text and identifying main ideas may help recall and comprehension.

3.      This technique helps the teacher to keep students on task because they work in pair with the other student.

4.      This technique can be applied for all language skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing) so all the skill can be taught.

5.      Pair-work give good effect to the students, for they will more focus in study and also each member of the group will pay attention to check his/her friend understanding if the students work in pair.

6.      The MURDER Script technique makes positive interdependence between the students. It means that each group member’s efforts are required and essential for the success of the group. Moreover, every student has different skill and ideas so they can contribute what they know to make their group enable to reach the learning objective.

Beside its strength, the MURDER Script also has weaknesses; those are:

1.      It can make the class little bit noisy because all the students have to speak with their partner alternately to summarize the key ideas of the reading passage in order his/her partner can detects any errors, omissions, or unnecessary information.

2.      This technique will be time consuming because there are many steps that the students should do that implement listening, speaking, reading and reading skill.

E.     Conclusion

The MURDER Script is one of cooperative learning techniques that enables the students to collaborate and perform the thinking tasks or summarizing and elaborating on reading material. This technique can be used and can be collaborated into all of the language skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing. There are six steps in the MURDER Script, those are “Mood”, “Understand”, “Recall”, “Detect/ Digest”, “Elaborate/ Expand”, and “Review”.  The combination of all of these steps makes the MURDER Script technique very effective for taking, organizing, and reviewing notes. The steps are: First, the students read the reading passage and then as recaller they summarize the key ideas with the member, and the other member has to detect any error from what his/her friend said, next the student elaborates the idea and the last the students have to combine their thoughts to summarize the entire text and write down the conclusion.

Finally, the combination of all these steps makes the MURDER Script technique very effective for taking, organizing, and reviewing notes. The MURDER script was modified to focus on differences and similarities between groups in education and groups in the workplace. This is an example of the fact that cooperative learning techniques can be changed by teacher and students to suit their particular situations.