Based on the problems and the proposed solution above the researcher is interested in conducting a research study entitled
“Improving Reading Comprehension Skills of the Eight Grade of SMP N 1 Karang Nongko by Using
Structure Strategy in the Academic Year of 20152016”.
B. Identification of the problem
In order to identify the existing problems in the reading comprehension, the researcher observed the teaching and learning process in VIII B class of SMP N 1
Karang Nongko and interviewed the English teacher and the students. In reference to this preliminary study, it is solicited that there were some problems which led the
reading comprehension learning becomes ineffective. The problems were derived from the teacher, the students, and the teaching and learning process.
1. The teacher
Teachers have responsibilities to be a great leader in the classroom. They should be able to facilitate the learning by encouraging, prompting, and interacting
students to be critical. Therefore, they also should be able to manage the class effectively and choose interesting strategies in teaching. Based on the observation
conducted by the researcher in VIII B class of SMP N 1 Karang Nongko, the teacher cannot manage the reading class effectively. She also rarely used
interesting method in teaching so the students got bored and they tended to have lack of motivation to read.
Related to the teacher’s factors which are classroom management and reading
strategies used by the teacher, it seemed that the teacher should make more attempts in conducting encouraging classroom management and applying
appropriate reading strategies to develop students’ reading comprehension. 2.
The students Students play important roles in the teaching and learning process. They are
required to contribute to the discussions and be active participants in their own learning. They should feel free to ask questions or express their own ideas about a
subject; not only to their teacher but also their peers. In fact, they often found difficulties in reading texts. They considered reading was difficult. Since they
seldom used English as a language in a daily communication, they tended to have lack of vocabulary. Moreover, they lacked reading strategies. Consequently, they
could not comprehend the texts well. 3.
The teaching and learning process of reading It is indicated from the classroom management, some students were busy chatting
with their friends, and some others were busy doing their own activities while the teacher was explaining the lesson. There was no significant action such as giving
fun activities or using interesting strategies to get the students’ attention. This
makes the process of teaching reading disturbed by the noises from the students. Moreover, it makes the participation of the students in the process of teaching
reading was low and the interaction between the teacher and the students were limited.
C. Limitation of the problem
