THE IMPLEMENTATION OF QUESTION ANSWER RELATIONSHIP STRATEGY IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION AT THE FIRST GRADE OF SMAN 9 BANDAR LAMPUNG

ABSTRACT

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF QUESTION ANSWER RELATIONSHIP

STRATEGY IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION AT

THE FIRST GRADE OF SMAN 9 BANDAR LAMPUNG By

SILVIA AGUSTINA

Many students have difficulties to comprehend reading text. This might happen because their reading skill is still low. This might be caused by many factors; (1) students do not have much motivation to read the text, (2) there are too many unknown words on the text that leads them to spend much time in opening dictionary which make them lazy to read, and (3) the teacher used uninteresting method /strategy for teaching reading.

Therefore, this Classroom Action Research was conducted, (1) to improve the students’ reading achievement through QAR strategy, (2) to know students’ response toward the implementation of QAR strategy during the teaching learning process, and (3) to know the students’ problem in reading aspects. This research was conducted in three cycles. The subject of the research was the first grade of SMAN 9 Bandar Lampung. The research lasted from May 9th _{until May 25}th _2012. The result of the research proves that QAR strategy can be used to improve the students’ reading comprehension. There are three cycles in this research. In the first cycle, the indicators in this learning product and learning process could not be fulfilled yet in cycle 1. For learning product, in students’ reading score, only 29% of the students exceeded the passing grade. It means that the second cycle needs to be conducted. In cycle 2, the number of students whose score exceeded the passing grade increased to 64.51%, but it was still could not fulfill the indicator yet, which means the third cycle needs to be conducted. In cycle 3, the indicator of the research for learning product was achieved. 83.87% of the students passed the passing grade. In teaching learning process, the researcher found that in cycle 1 and 2, the students could not really enjoy QAR strategy, but at the third cycle, the students started to enjoy it. The researcher also found that in reading aspects, the students mostly have problem in finding main idea, specific information, and vocabulary.

Based on the data, the researcher concludes that the implementation of QAR strategy improves students’ reading achievement. Therefore, QAR strategy is recommended to be used by teachers to improve their students reading comprehension.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Alhamdulillahirobbil ‘alamin, Praise is merely to The Mightiest Allah SWT for the gracious mercy and tremendous blessing that enable me to accomplish this script entitled “The Implementation of Question Answer Relationship Strategy in Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension at the First Grade of SMAN 9 Bandar Lampung”. This script is submitted as a compulsory fulfillment of the requirements for S1 degree of English Education Study Program at Teacher Training and Education Faculty, University of Lampung.

It is important to be known that the research report would never have come into existence without any supports, encouragements, and assistance by several gorgeous persons. First of all the writer would like to express her sincere gratitude and respect to the first advisor, Prof. Ag. Bambang Setiyadi, M.A., Ph.D., and the second advisor, Budi Kadaryanto, S.Pd., M.A., who have contributed and given their invaluable evaluations, comments, and suggestions during the completion of this research. The writer also would like to express the deepest gratitude and respect to Dr. M. Sukirlan, M.A., as her examiner who has given suggestions and criticisms to the research report. It will be hard for the writer to make the research report better without his contributions.

Next, the writer acknowledges her respect to Drs. Hendro Suyono, M.M., as the Headmaster of SMA N 9 Bandar Lampung for allowing her to undertake the research and also to Dra. Bekti Suprantini, as the English teacher of the school in which the writer did her research. Her appreciation also goes to the students X7, academic year 2011/2012, who welcomed the writer into their environment and so willingly became involved in the research.

The writer also would like to extend her appreciation to her bestfriend, Ardela Saraswati, Ayu Tri Lestari, Sekar Dini, Dicky Kurniawan, Romandani Adyan, Rr. Fauzia, Ervina Natalia, Diah Ripratiwi, Delia Elmanisya, all the fighters in N.E.R.D ’07, and also to her junior, Elvira Rosyida MR, Tacca Prita Yudhistira, Yussi Indah Putri, Elis Rahma, Elvina, and Dwi Meilia, for their supports and friendship. Her thankfulness also goes to M. Wahyu Wahdini, for the limitless motivation and support in conducting this script.

Last but not least and the most importantly, her special gratitude and indebtness goes to her family, especially her father, Komarudin, who used to fight against any circumstance bringing so much joy to his family. Her never ending gratitude is also extend to her mother, Rohaini, who is really tough and never show the tears and sigh in supporting the writer’s education. From her, she learns something that she is lucky to have her as her mother. Her thankfulness is also due

to her sister and brother, Rini Febriani and Dery Afrian, who always give their limitless love, support and motivation in conducting this script. Hopefully, this script would give a positive contribution to the educational development or those who want to carry out further research.

Bandar Lampung, November 2012

The writer

Silvia Agustina

ADMITTED BY

1. Examination Committee

Chairperson : Hery Yufrizal, M.A., Ph.D. ...

Examiner : Drs. Sudirman, M.Pd. ...

Secretary : Dra. Rosita Simbolon, M.A.

...

2. The Dean of Teacher Training and Education Faculty

Dr. Hi. Bujang Rahman, M.Si. NIP 19600315 198503 1 003

Research Title Student’s Name Student’s Number Department Study Program Faculty : : : : : :

A CLASSROOM INTERACTION ANALYSIS OF TEACHER’S

QUESTIONING TYPES IN ENGLISH CLASS AT THE SECOND YEAR OF SMA NEGERI 9 BANDAR LAMPUNG

Dicky Kurniawan

0713042023

Language and Arts Education English Education

Teacher Training and Education Faculty

APPROVED BY Advisory Committee

Advisor Co-Advisor

Hery Yufrizal, M.A., Ph.D. Dra. Rosita Simbolon, M.A. NIP 19600719 198511 1 001 NIP 19480920 197503 2 001

The Head of

Language and Arts Department

Drs. Imam Rejana, M.Si. NIP 19480421 197803 1 004

I. INTRODUCTION

This chapter discusses the reason for conducting this research. It deals with background of the problem, formulation of the problems, objectives of the research, uses of the research, scope of the research, and definition of terms. 1.1 Background of the Problem

English, as a foreign language in Indonesia, is taught as a compulsory subject which is learned from junior high school to university level. The students were taught the four language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. When one learns a language, he/she learns to communicate with other people. Learning how to communicate is not only through listening and speaking but also through reading and writing. Reading is seen as a way of communication through printed material or text. It may contain information about science, technology, knowledge, etc. Because of that, one of the language skills that should be mastered by the students after following a set of teaching learning process is reading.

Reading plays an important role in learning process., through which learners can get information such as science, technology, culture and many others knowledge. Moreover, Christian and Mary (1976) mention that reading is the most important skill of all for most students of English through the world. By reading, the

students were able to access much information. Reading is a very important skill to increase knowledge, and it is also a way of thinking. It is because to transfer new modern science, technology, and information can be done through reading. Reading will also give more contribution if it is done with a good comprehension. It means that comprehending the reading text is really needed in a reading process. Dallman (1982:23) also says that reading is more than knowing what each letter of alphabet stands for, reading involves more than word recognition; that comprehension is an essential of reading; that without comprehension no reading takes place. In other words, comprehension is stressed in reading.

Although reading text has been taught since elementary school, there were still many students who were confused of what they have read, even when they were in Senior High School. The students’ ability in comprehending the text is still unsatisfactory. Based on researcher’s experience during the field practice (PPL) at SMAN 9 Bandar Lampung in 2011, it was found that the students still have difficulties to comprehend the text. This might be caused by many factors; (1) students do not have much motivation to read the text, (2) there were too many unknown words on the text that leads them to spend much time in opening dictionary which make them lazy to read, and (3) the teacher used uninteresting method /strategy in teaching reading.

A new strategy should be applied so that the students’ activeness will arise, the strategy should also be applied in order to help the readers comprehend the text. The researcher in this research focuses on the teaching-learning process in reading. So, a new strategy which is able to make the students active during the

teaching-learning process in reading and also can help them comprehending the text is need to be applied.

The researcher chooses QAR strategy as an alternative way for teaching reading comprehension. There were many reasons why this strategy is chosen; (1) Question Answer Relationship strategy can empower students to think about the text they were reading, (2) it inspires them to think creatively , (3) it can make the students work cooperatively while challenging them to use literal and higher-level thinking skills, (4) Question Answer Relationship strategy allows students to participate actively in teaching and learning process, and (5) when the students participate directly and actively, they would tend to focus to do the teaching learning process.

Raphael (1986) says that QAR is a reading comprehension strategy developed to clarify how students approach the tasks of reading texts and answering questions. It encourages students to be active, strategic readers of texts. Raphael created QAR strategy as a way to help students realize that the answers they seek were related to the type of question that is asked. It encourages them to be strategic about their search for answers based on an awareness of what different types of questions look for.

Based on the statements stated before, the researcher was interested to find out whether or not QAR is an appropriate strategy for teaching reading comprehension.

1.2 Formulation of Problem

Based on the background above, the study addressed the following research problems:

1. How can the implementation of QAR strategy improve students’ reading comprehension?

2. What is the students’ response toward the implementation of QAR strategy during teaching learning process?

3. What problems do the students mostly have in reading aspects?

1.3 Objectives of the Research

The objectives of this research were:

1. To find out the implementation of QAR strategy improves students’ reading comprehension.

2. To find out the students’ response toward the implementation of QAR strategy. 3. To identify the students’ problem in reading aspects.

1.4 Uses of the Research

1. Theoretically, to enrich the relevant study related to the improvement of students’ comprehension in reading and also be reference for future research. 2. Practically, to give information about that the implementation of Question

Answer Relationship can be used to improve students’ comprehension in reading, to give consideration for English teacher to apply this strategy in

his/her classroom activities, and to enable students to be more independent learners.

1.5 Scope of the Research

The research was focused on students’ reading comprehension skill. This research was conducted to the first year students of SMAN 9 Bandar Lampung 2011/2012. The population of this research was the first year student of SMAN 9 Bandar Lampung. The subject of the study was class X.7, and it focused on the implementation of QAR to improve students’ comprehension in reading. This classroom action research was conducted in three cycles. The teaching material of this research was narrative text.

1.6 Definition of Terms

Reading Comprehension

It refers to a matter ‘of making sense’, of relating written language to what we know already and to what we want to know. It means that an understanding of idea of a text.

QAR

It is the strategy that focuses on students and teachers developing a common language for discussing questions and their relationship to the text. QAR teaches students to use the question answer relationship to improve reading comprehension.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter deals with the theories used in this study, namely concept of reading, concept of reading comprehension, concept of teaching reading, aspects in reading assessment, concept of Question Answer Relationship, and the procedures of teaching reading through QAR strategy.

2.1 The Concept of Reading

Reading is the process of exchanging information between the writer who brings new information and the reader who combines the new information with the previous information she or he has got before. Nuttal (1982) in Simanjuntak (1988:3) defines reading as the meaningful interpretation of printed or written word verbal symbol. It means that reading is a result of the interaction between the perception of graphic symbols that represent language and the readers’ language skills, cognitive skills, and the knowledge of the world. In this process, the reader tries to create the meanings intended by the writer.

Moreover, Smith (1981) conveys that reading is a process of understanding the text in term of question that the reader formulates about the text. He also stated that in reading, the reader should be able to comprehend the text and memorize

what they have read. It means that the reading process involves what the reader wants to know about the text by consulting questions appear in their head.

Clark and Silberstain (1987:45) state that reading as an active cognitive process of interacting with print and monitoring comprehension to establish meaning. Reading is the instantaneous recognition of various written symbols, with existing knowledge, and comprehension of the information and ideas communicated. It means that when a reader interacts with printed-material, his/her prior knowledge combines with the visual (written) information resulting in his/her comprehending the message.

The ability to understand the content of the text is an essential thing in reading activity. Dallman (1982:23) said that reading is more than knowing what each letter of alphabet stands for, reading involves more than word recognition, and comprehension is an essential of reading. Therefore, it means that reading involves an interaction between the thought and the language. Reading is not simply making sound of the text, but it is about comprehending the idea of the text itself. In other words, without comprehension, no reading takes place.

From the statements above, it can be inferred that reading is a process of understanding the text by categorizing questions to make the students realize the need to consider both information in the text and information from their own background knowledge.

2.2 The Concept of Reading Comprehension

Reading and comprehension are regarded as one activity which cannot be separated, and each program is depending on the progress of activity of mind. In

other words, reading comprehension is an activity to grasp the meaning of written materials with fully understanding.

According to Doyle (2004), comprehension is a progressive skill in attaching meaning beginning at the same level and proceeding to attaching meaning to an entire reading selection. All comprehension revolves around the reader’s ability in finding and determining main idea and topic sentence from the text.

Rubin (1993:194) states that reading comprehension is a complex intellectual process involving a number of abilities. The two major abilities involve word meaning and verbal reasoning. Without words meaning and verbal reasoning, there could be no reading comprehension, there would be no reading. From this statement, it can be understood that reading needs comprehension. Comprehension can be regarded as a condition where no uncertainty exists. One comprehends when he/she has all questions answered and he/she has no doubt about alternative interpretations or decisions in his/her mind. When someone reads, he/she is constantly asking questions, and as long as these questions are answered, and his/her uncertainty is reduced, then he/she already comprehends the text.

Loban, et al (1969: 378) express reading comprehension is indeed a very elaborate procedure, which is involving a balance of many elements in a passage and their organization in the proper relation to each other comprehension in reading depends upon knowing the literal meaning of words in various context. It means that the reader must be able to perceive the relation of each part to the other and each of the wholes.

Hornby (2000) argued that comprehension is an exercise that trains students to understand a language. It means that reading comprehension is a passage presented to the reader, which they must read either silently or loudly. Then a series of questions are presented to test the readers’ comprehension of this passage, and they have to be able to answer the questions. Brown and Johnson (1978:65) in Helwana (2011:11) see comprehension as product and process. Process is what happens to the readers as they read and product involves measuring, in some objective ways, the result of the process. Comprehension is not only seen as a result of reading but also seen as a way in which the readers can get the result of reading. In other words, in this research reading comprehension is meant as an activity to extract the meaning of written materials with fully understanding by categorizing questions to make the students realize the need to consider both information in the text and information from their own background knowledge which is related to the text.

2.3 The Concept of Teaching Reading

The aim of teaching reading is to develop the students’ skills so that they can read English text effectively. Effective and efficient reading is always purposeful and tends to focus mainly on the purpose of the activity. That is why it is important for teacher to build up the students’ ability to adapt the reading technique according to reading purpose as a goal in teaching reading.

Reading skills are also often regarded as receptive skills and linked to listening skills. There are similarities, but one important difference is that the reader can take control of input more easily. Woods (2005: 62) states that a listening input is

often taped with pauses built and or controlled by teacher. When reading, however, a reader determines the speed of the activity by himself so that this becomes one of the positive things to stress to students in the teaching reading. When trying to gauge how difficult a particular text will be for students, teacher need to bear in mind not only the inherent difficulty of the text, but also the nature of the tasks they plan to set and whether they require student to attempt such tasks before, during or after students have studied the text. Woods (2005: 63) classifies the activities in reading class into three a follows:

2.3.1 Pre-Reading Tasks

This task can be in form of vocabulary games, word searches and matching synonyms. These activities can help students to approach a text in a more confident way. Other pre- reading activities that can help readers related to the full meaning of a text are ones which activate top-down skills, or schematic knowledge. All of them enable students to familiarize themselves with the content of text. The activities can be systematic (such as vocabulary exercise) or schematics (such as thinking of the purpose of a text or predicting the content from its title) Woods (2005: 63)

2.3.2 While-Reading Tasks

Hedge in Woods (2005: 63) states that reading is an interactive process. It encourages learners to be active as they read. Students can be given activities which require them to do any of the following: follow the order of the ideas in a text, react to the opinion expressed; understand the information it contains; ask

themselves questions; make notes; confirm expectations of prior knowledge or predict the next part of a text from various clues.

2.3.3 Post-Reading Tasks

The activities above are a part of a structure program of learning probably chosen by teachers when teaching reading. All the above kinds of activity can be undertaken on an individual or group basis. Reading is frequently thought as being solo and a silent activity, but group pre and post-reading activities can motivate the crucial while reading- activities, the task of the teachers in class is to go beyond course book and introduce the students to a challenging element of the target language which can add a new dimension to their learning and which can give them some autonomy (Woods, 2005: 19).

In short, when teaching reading, the teacher should provide an appropriate reading strategy to her/his students in order to arouse the students’ interest to make the students comprehend the text easier.

2.4 Aspects in Reading Assessment

Assessment in education is the process of observing and measuring learning. Teachers evaluate a student's level of achievement and skill for the purpose of supporting and improving student learning. Teachers use assessments in reading to make sure students are making measurable progress. According to Brown (1983:32), there are four elements or aspects in reading comprehension we need when we want to assess reading. The four elements mainly deal with vocabulary, specific information, main idea, and the ability to infers or imply the ability to

gain meanings that are not explicitly stated in the context of reading materials. These are the following explanations:

2.4.1 Vocabulary

Wallace (1987:30) said that vocabulary is the stock of word used by the people or even person. Concerning with those statement, vocabulary is very fundamental for everyone who wants to speak or to produce utterance for reading.

2.4.2 Specific Information

According to Mc Whother (1986:36), supporting sentence or specific information develops the topic sentence by giving definition, examples, facts, incidents, comparison, analogy, cause and effect statistics and quotation.

2.4.3 Main Idea

A main idea is a sentence or generalization that tells what the paragraph is about. Main ideas are generally found at the beginning of the paragraph, however they can be anywhere in the paragraph. In line with Mc Whother (1986:36), the sentence which states this main idea is called the topic sentence. The topic sentence tells what paragraph is about. In some paragraphs, the main idea is not explicitly states in any one sentence. Instead, it is left to the reader to infer, or reason out. In other word, the main idea is the most important idea that the author develops throughout the paragraphs.

2.4.4 Inferences and References

Kathleen (1986:31) states that inference is an educational guess or prediction about something unknown based on available facts and information. It is the

logical connection that the reader draws between what he observes or knows and what he does not know.

On the other hand, Latulippe (1986:20) in Muawanah defines that reference is words or phrases used either before or after the reference in reading materials. They are used to avoid unnecessary repetition of words or phrases. It means that, such words are used, they are signals to the reader to find meaning elsewhere in the text

As we know, reading comprehension, especially in this research, is defined as the process of getting message from the author through a written text. The message can be an idea, a fact, feeling, an argument, etc. So, based on the explanation above, in this research, the researcher will focus on those four aspects in making reading assessment.

2.5 The Concept of Question Answer Relationship

According to Raphael (1986), QAR is a reading comprehension strategy developed to clarify how students approach the task of reading texts and answering questions. It encourages students to be active, strategic readers of texts. QAR is a strategy that focuses on students and teachers developing a common language for discussing questions and their relationship to the text. QAR teaches students to use the question answer relationship to improve reading comprehension.

Gavelek and Raphael (1982) said that by using QAR strategy, students will become familiar with the various functional relationships that exist between questions and their responses. It means that the students will realize that there is a

relationship between questions and answers, when they understand this relationships, it makes them easier in finding appropriate answers to the questions, and then comprehends what the text is about. Through QAR, students will also know that not all of the answers are found in the text. Some questions sometimes need them to infer from what is given in the text and some answers are not found in the text at all. Therefore, students will not waste their time looking for answers in the text, but they will try to use their own ideas in answering the questions. Furthermore, Billmeyer and Barton (2004) said that teaching students through QAR help them to develop an awareness of their own cognitive processes when answering questions.

Raphael (1986) developed a four-fold view of passage comprehension represents by the QAR; Right There, Think and Search, Author and You, and On My Own. The four levels of questioning represent four types of strategies for assisting the students in processing text meaning. The explanations are as following:

2.5.1 Right There Questions

Right There Questions are factual and on the line questions. The answer is in the text Right There questions ask students to respond at the literal level. The words used to make up the question and words used to answer the question are found in the same sentence of the text. Example: Who is…?, Where is…?, What is …?. 2.5.2 Think and Search Questions

Think and Search Questions demand more from the reader because the reader needs to put together different sections of the story in order to reflect a deeper level of comprehension. These questions require students to think about how the

information or ideas in the text related to one another, and to search through the entire passage to find the information that applies. The students need to put together different pieces of information to find the answer. Example: Why was…?,

What caused…?, How did…?. 2.5.3 Author and You Questions

Author and You Questions ask the readers to combine their own background experiences, knowledge, and values, and in combination with the text provided, respond to a particular question. The answer will include information that is beyond what is found in the text. They must read the text to understand what the question is asking. The answers are not required in the story. The students need to think about what they already know, what the author tells them, and how it fits together. The student makes connections between new knowledge from the text passage and prior personal knowledge, creating a new level of understanding. The Author and You response helps the student to personalize the knowledge, then adding it to his or her own schema. For example: Which character…?, What do you think of…?, Did you agree with…?.

2.5.4 On My Own Questions

On My Own Questions ask students to go completely beyond the text, respond to queries for which the text is not needed. This type of question can be answered with information from the students’ background knowledge and do not require reading from the text. To answer the question, the students need to think about how the text and what they already know fit together. For example: Do you know…?, Have you ever…?, Would you ever…?.

This table below shows how questions asked typically varies across the reading cycle:

Table 1. Using QAR to frame questioning within the reading cycle

Before reading On My Own

From the title or the topic, what do I already know that can connect me to the story or text?

Author & Me

From the topic, title, illustrations, or book cover, what might this story or text be about?

During reading Author & Me

What do I think will happen next? How would I describe the mood of the story and why is this important?

Think & Search

What is the problem and how is it resolved?

What role do [insert characters’ names] play in the story?

What are the important events? (literary, informational)

Right There

Who is the main character? (literary)

Identify the topic sentence in this paragraph. (informational) What are some words that decribe the setting? (literary)

After reading Author & Me

What is the author’s message?

What is the theme and how is it connected to the world beyond the story?

How can I synthesize the information with what I know from other sources?

How well does the author make his or her argument? How is the author using particular language to influence our beliefs?

Think & Search

Find evidence in the text to support an argument.

QAR provides a framework that students can use to link strategies at appropriate points in the reading cycle. Furthermore, the framework guides teachers’ modeling of question-asking practices before (e.g., eliciting relevant background

knowledge), during (e.g., focusing on important information, locating key terms, making inferences about key plot events or character motivation), and after reading (e.g., considering themes, building arguments about author intent supported by text evidence). Understanding and control of strategies learned helps readers engage in the high levels of literacy for which they are accountable in their day-to-day classroom activities (Raphael & Au, 2005: 214-215).

This strategy can be an appropriate strategy to make the students participate actively, not only in groups but also individually too. Question Answer Relationship strategy provides a chance for every student to dig and find facts or information, also provides a responsible approach in preparing students for higher stakes tests at different grade levels. Besides, it will also trigger the students’ curiosity in reading and shows the students that learning about questions and their answers will help them, as a reader, become better at understanding a text.

2.6 Procedure of Teaching Reading Through QAR Strategy

The teaching procedures in teaching reading through Question Answer Relationship are listed below:

Pre-Activity

1. Teacher greets the students.

2. Teacher checks the students’ presence.

3. Students are shown picture related to the topic and asked some questions related to the topic.

Whist-Activity

1. Teacher introduces and defines about QAR strategy. 2. Students are asked to sit in groups.

3. Students are given the students’ worksheet.

4. Students are asked to read silently and discussed the text. 5. Students are asked to comprehend the content of the text.

6. Students are assigned to make and then identify the questions types. 7. Students are asked to answers the questions in groups.

8. Each group is asked to show their answers.

9. Students discuss the correct answers together with the teacher. 10. Students are given another students’ worksheet.

11.Students do the task individually. 12.Students collect their works. Post-Activity

1. Students are asked about what they learnt today in order to check their understanding.

2. Teacher summarizes the materials. 3. Teacher closes the meeting.

III.RESEARCH METHOD

This chapter discusses the methods of research used in this study, that are: setting of the research, general description of the research, procedures of research, determining indicator of the research, instruments of the research, and data analysis.

3.1 Setting of the Research

In this reseach, the researcher used classroom action research. This research was done at SMAN 9 Bandar Lampung. It was done based on the problem faced by the researcher in the class when she conducted PPL. Based on the problem found by the researcher, the researcher examined the cause of that problem and then found the solution for it.

The subject was class X.7 of the first year students of SMAN 9 Bandar Lampung which consists of 31 students. Based on the researcher’s pre-observation while she took part in practice program in that school she concluded that the students of that school were unable to identify the main ideas, specific information, vocabulary making reference and inference of each paragraph of the text. As the result their reading comprehension scores were low.

In this classroom action research, the researcher acted as the observer and also the teacher; she taught the students by implementing QAR strategy. The researcher made the lesson plan and then she performed in the class based on the lesson plan. So, during the research, beside taught the students, the researcher also observed everything occurred in the classroom when they were learning reading comprehension. The data was taken from the students’ reading comprehension score.

3.2 General Description of The Research

The research was a classroom action research which was conducted based on students’ problems. In doing this research, the researcher acted as an observer, and also as a teacher who taught the students in order to improve the students’ reading comprehension through the implementation of Question Answer Relationship strategy.

Besides acting as a teacher who applied QAR strategy in teaching learning process, the researcher observed the process and makes some necessary points from the process. The teacher also hold a reading comprehension test in the process.

After that, she analyzed the result of the observation and also the reading test. Then, she did a reflection based on the result of the analysis. After that she decided whether the next cycle was needed to be held or not. The next cycle was focused on eradicating the weaknesses in the previous cycle.

3.3 Procedures of the Research

In this classroom action research, the researcher used the procedure of classroom action research designed by Arikunto. In Arikunto (2006: 16), the research procedures in a classroom action research consist of planning, acting/implementing, observing, analyzing, and reflecting. So, the research was designed as follows:

1. Planning

Based on the problem of the research, the researcher prepared the lesson plan and selected the appropriate material based on the school syllabus as the basis of lesson plan. The researcher also prepared classroom observation note, interview and also the reading test for the students.

2. Action/Implementing

The teacher implemented the material by using Question Answer Relationship strategy while she taught reading. The teacher taught the material about how to identify the questions types in order to find the main idea, specific information, inference and reference of the text. The teacher let the students practiced it. As an observer, she observed the situation in the class while the teaching learning process was running.

3. Observing

The researcher observed the activities happened in the classroom in every cycle then wrote the result of the observation in the observation sheets. This step started when teaching learning process was occurring.

4. Analysis and Reflecting

In this step, she analyzed the result of the reading test of the students as the learning product. She also analyzed everything that occured in the teaching learning process based on the observation notes. It was done in order to find out the improvement after the teacher implemented QAR strategy in the classroom. In analyzing, she did reflection to discover the weakness and strength of the implementation of Question Answer Relationship strategy, and also knew the students’ problems in the implementation of Question Answer Relationship strategy during teaching and learning process. So, she knew what should be improved for the next cycle. The process of the research is represented through the picture below:

The activity began by planning, and then the action/implementing. During the action, the researcher observed the teaching learning process. At the end, the researcher analyzed the result of activity.

3.4 Indicators of The Research

There were two indicators that used to find out the success of this Classroom Action Research, they were learning product and learning process.

1. Learning Product

The learning product in this research was the students’ result (scores) of reading test given by the teacher, the researcher observed the scores and found out whether the score in every cycle improves or not. The target of learning product determined by the teacher was at least 80% of the students’ scores could reach 75 or more. It based on the standard score of English subject stated by the school. If the scores in every cycle improved, it meant that Question Answer Relationship strategy could improve students’ achievement in reading comprehension.

2. Learning Process

In learning process, the aspect which became the focus of this research was the students’ responses and students’ problems toward the implementation of QAR strategy. The data was collected by the observation during teaching learning process and interview.

3.5 Instruments of the Research

In gaining the data, the researcher used triangulation as the instrument to be reliable. Triangulation is a manner of collecting the data by combining two or

more method in order to enrich the data by combining and to have accurate conclusion (Setiyadi,2006:246). The researcher applied three kinds of instruments. The instruments were the reading test, observation sheet, and interview.

1. Reading Test

Reading test was conducted as the product of the teaching learning process. The test was about analyzing the main ideas, specific information, reference, and interference of each paragraph of the text. The result of the test considered as the data of the students’ improvement.

In scoring the results of students’ test, the researcher used Arikunto’s formula. The ideal highest score is 100. The writer calculated the score test by using this formula:

Where:

S : The score of the test R : The right answers N : The total items 2. Interview

The interview was conducted to find out the students’ responses and students’ problems towards learning reading through Question Answer Relationship strategy. The researcher interviewed the student in order to know the responses and what problems were faced by the students and in what aspects of reading did they mostly have difficulties. The result of the analysis from the interview was used to improve the teaching learning process in the next cycle.

3. Observation Sheet

Observation was conducted in every cycle during the teaching learning process. When the teaching learning occured, the researcher observed the process happened in the classroom. The observation was conducted in order to know the weaknesses and the strength of every cycle and to make the next cycle better. In this classroom action research, observation sheet were needed to help the researcher in making the reflection for the next cycle better.

3.6 Data Analysis

In analyzing the data, the researcher classified the data into two categories; the data of the learning product and the learning process. The data analysis was done during and after the data had been collect, then the researcher and the teacher analyzed the data and did reflection based on them. From the analysis and reflection, the researcher knew the weaknesses and strengths from the first cycle. Besides, the researcher knew what should be improved for the next cycle.

1. Learning Product

To know the learning product, the researcher used reading test to collect the data. After giving the test, the researcher checked the result of the students’ test to give the score, and also analyzed the result to know the errors mostly made by the students. This was very useful in making the next cycle better. The researcher observed the scores in every cycle, and then calculated the mean or average score.

Mean is the average score which obtained from the summation of all data divided to the number of the available data (Setiyadi, 2006:111). After that, the researcher

compared the average score from every cycle in order to see whether the scores improve or not. The formula to count the mean is:

Mean : average score

x1 : score of first data

x2 : score of second data

x3 : score of third data

xn : score of n-data

n : number of data

The researcher then calculated the number and percentage of the students who get 75 or more.

2. Learning Process

In learning process, the observer gathered data by interviewing and observing the students’ activities, and making a description from the data that had been analyzed.

V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

In line with the result of the research, the conclusion and the suggestion are formulated as follows:

5.1 Conclusions

In line with the results of the data analysis and discussion about learning product and learning process in the research, it can be concluded that:

1. QAR strategy is applicable to improve the students’ reading comprehension achievement. QAR strategy can improve students’ reading scores in learning product. It can be seen from the increase of the students’ scores from cycle 1 (64.51%) and cycle 2 (83.87%) after QAR strategy was implemented.

2. In teaching learning process, the researcher also found some problems faced by the students during the implementation of QAR strategy. Based on the problem found, the teachers are demanded to create suitable materials and media to attract students’ attention and activeness in teaching learning process.

3. After considering the result of the interview and observation, the researcher concluded that QAR strategy is a helpful technique in comprehending the reading comprehension questions easily.

5.2 Suggestion

In line with the conclusions above, the suggestions are put forward as follows: 1. English teachers are recommended to use QAR strategy since QAR can be

used to improve students’ reading achievement and it enables the students to be more active in the classroom activities.

2. The teacher should lead the students in implementing this strategy and give clear instructions since QAR might be confusing at first time.

3. The teacher should be selective in choosing the material, since it can make the students easy to understand the content of the text.

4. The teacher should be selective in choosing the media for teaching, in order to attract and catch students’ attention in teaching learning process.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF QUESTION ANSWER RELATIONSHIP STRATEGY IN IMPROVING STUDENTS READING COMPREHENSION AT THE FIRST GRADE OF

SMA NEGERI 9 BANDAR LAMPUNG (A Script)

By

Silvia Agustina

UNIVERSITY OF LAMPUNG BANDAR LAMPUNG

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF QUESTION ANSWER RELATIONSHIP STRATEGY IN IMPROVING STUDENTS READING COMPREHENSION AT THE FIRST GRADE OF

SMA NEGERI 9 BANDAR LAMPUNG

By

Silvia Agustina

A Script

Submitted in a Partial Fulfillment of The Requirement for S-1 Degree

in

The Language and Arts Department of Teacher Training and Education Faculty

k

UNIVERSITY OF LAMPUNG BANDAR LAMPUNG

CURRICULUM VITAE

The researcher’s name is Silvia Agustina. She was born in Bindu, Kotabumi, on

August 31st_{, 1989. She is the first child of a harmonious and wonderful couple}

Komarudin and Rohaini. She has one brother and one sister: Dery Afrian and Rini Febriani.

She entered SD Negeri 1 Bindu in 1995 and graduated in 2001. Then she continued her study to SMP Negeri 1 Kotabumi and graduated in 2004. She finished her High school at SMAN 3 Bandar Lampung in 2007.

In 2007, she was registered as S-1 college student of Lampung University English Education Program of Teacher Training Faculty through SPMB. In 2011, she carried teaching Field Practice Program (PPL) at SMAN 9 Bandar Lampung from July to October.

DEDICATION

This Script is dedicated to:

My beloved parents, Komarudin and Rohaini.

My beloved brother and sister, Dery Afrian and Rini Febriani. My beloved friends, NERD ’07 of Lampung University.

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

Figure 1 The Cycles in Classroom Action Research Designed

by Arikunto ... 22 Figure 2 The Improvement of Students’ Reading Achievement ... 54 Figure 3 The Improvement of Students’ Response toward the

Implementation of QAR Strategy ... 57 Figure 4 Students’ Problems in Reading Aspects ... 59

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

Table 1 Using QAR to frame questioning within the reading cycle .... 16 Table 2 Frequency of Students’ Reading Achievement (Cycle 1) ... 31 Table 3 Frequency of Students’ Reading Achievement (Cycle 2) ... 40 Table 4 Frequency of Students’ Reading Achievement (Cycle 3) ... 49 Table 5 The Result of Students’ Reading Achievement from Cycle I

MOTTO

“So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief. Verily with every difficulty there is relief.”

REFERENCES

Alyousef, H.S. 2005. Teaching Reading Comprehension to ESL/EFL Learners. The Reading Matrix Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2005

Arikunto, 2006. Penelitian Tindakan Kelas. PT. Bumi Aksara: Jakarta-Indonesia Brown. 1983. Teaching by Principles: an Interactive Approach to Language

Pedagogy-2nd ed. San Fransisco State University: Longman.

Dallman, R.I. 1982. Teaching of Reading. New York : CBS Collage Publishing. Doyle, B. S. 2004. Main Idea and Topic Sentence. London: Ward Lock

Educational.

Hatch and Farhady. 1982. Research Design and Statistics for Applied Linguistics.

Massachusetts: Newbury House Publisher, Inc. Rowley.

Heaton, J.B..1988. Writing English Language Tests. United Statas of America: Longman.

Helwana, Y. 2011. The Implementation of Pre-questioning Technique in Teaching Reading Comprehension at The Second Year Students of SMAN 1 Natar. Bandar Lampung.

Hornby, A.S. 1964. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English.

London: Oxford University Press.

Loban, Ryan, and Squire. 1969. Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. London: Heinemann Educational Books.

Mc Whother, Kathleen T. 1986. College Reading and Study Skills. Boston: Little Brownand co. Limited.

Raphael, T.E.,& Au, K.H. 2005. QAR: Enhancing comprehension and test taking across grades and content areas. The Reading Teacher, 59, 206-221. Rubin. 1993. How to be a more Successful Language Learner. Boston: Heinle &

Setiyadi, B. 2006. Metode Penelitian untuk Pengajaran Bahasa Asing. Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu.

Simanjuntak, E.G. 1989. Developing Reading Skills for EFL students. Bandar Lampung: Lampung University.

Smith, F. 1983. UnderstandingReading a Psycholinguistics Analysis of Reading and Learning to Read. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Sinclair, J. 1975. Towards an Analysis of Discourse:The English Used by Teacher and Pupils. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Universitas Lampung. 2007. Format Penulisan Karya Ilmiah. Bandar Lampung: Lampung University Press.

Woods, C. 2005. Teaching and Assessing Skills in foreign Languages. London: Cambridge University Press.

CONTENTS

Page

TITLE ... i

ABSTRACT ... ii

APPROVAL ... iv

CURRICULUM VITAE ... v

DEDICATION ... vi

MOTTO ... vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... viii

CONTENTS ... x

LIST OF TABLES ... xii

LIST OF FIGURES ... xiii

LIST OF APPENDICES ... xiv

I. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of the Problem ... 1

1.2. Formulation of the Problem ... 4

1.3. Objectives of the Research ... 4

1.4. Uses of the Research ... 4

1.5. Scope of the Research ... 5

1.6. Definition of Terms ... 5

II. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. The Concept of Reading ... 6

2.2. The Concept of Reading Comprehension ... 7

2.3. The Concept of Teaching Reading... 9

2.3.1. Pre-Reading Task ... 10

2.3.2. While-Reading Task ... 10

2.3.3. Post-Reading Task ... 11

2.4. Aspects in Reading Assessment ... 11

2.4.1. Vocabulary ... 12

2.4.2. Specific Information ... 12

2.4.3. Main Idea ... 12

2.4.4. Inferences and References ... 12

2.5. The Concept of Question Answer Relationship ... 13

2.5.1. Right There Questions ... 14

2.5.2. Think and Search Questions ... 14

2.5.4. On My Own Questions ... 15

2.6. Procedures of Teaching Reading through QAR Strategy ... 17

III. RESEARCH METHODS 3.1. Setting of the Research ... 19

3.2. General Description of the Research ... 20

3.3. Procedures of the Research ... 21

3.4. Indicators of the Research ... 23

3.5. Instruments of the Research ... 23

3.6. Data Analysis ... 25

IV. RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH 4.1. Results of Research ... 27

4.1.1. Cycle 1 ... 27

4.1.2. Cycle 2 ... 36

4.1.3. Cycle 3 ... 46

4.2. Discussion ... 53

4.2.1. The Result of Students’ Reading Comprehension Achievement ... 53

4.2.2. The Result of Students’ Response toward the Implementation of QAR Strategy ... 57

4.2.3. The Result of Students’ Problem in Reading Aspects ... 58

IV. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Conclusions ... 62

5.2. Suggestions ... 63

REFERENCES ... 64

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

Table 1 Using QAR to frame questioning within the reading cycle .... 16 Table 2 Frequency of Students’ Reading Achievement (Cycle 1) ... 31 Table 3 Frequency of Students’ Reading Achievement (Cycle 2) ... 40 Table 4 Frequency of Students’ Reading Achievement (Cycle 3) ... 49 Table 5 The Result of Students’ Reading Achievement from Cycle I

MOTTO

“So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief. Verily with every difficulty there is relief.”

65

REFERENCES

Alyousef, H.S. 2005. Teaching Reading Comprehension to ESL/EFL Learners. The Reading Matrix Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2005

Arikunto, 2006. Penelitian Tindakan Kelas. PT. Bumi Aksara: Jakarta-Indonesia Brown. 1983. Teaching by Principles: an Interactive Approach to Language

Pedagogy-2nd ed. San Fransisco State University: Longman.

Dallman, R.I. 1982. Teaching of Reading. New York : CBS Collage Publishing. Doyle, B. S. 2004. Main Idea and Topic Sentence. London: Ward Lock

Educational.

Hatch and Farhady. 1982. Research Design and Statistics for Applied Linguistics. Massachusetts: Newbury House Publisher, Inc. Rowley.

Heaton, J.B..1988. Writing English Language Tests. United Statas of America: Longman.

Helwana, Y. 2011. The Implementation of Pre-questioning Technique in Teaching Reading Comprehension at The Second Year Students of SMAN 1 Natar. Bandar Lampung.

Hornby, A.S. 1964. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. London: Oxford University Press.

Loban, Ryan, and Squire. 1969. Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. London: Heinemann Educational Books.

Mc Whother, Kathleen T. 1986. College Reading and Study Skills. Boston: Little Brownand co. Limited.

Raphael, T.E.,& Au, K.H. 2005. QAR: Enhancing comprehension and test taking across grades and content areas. The Reading Teacher, 59, 206-221. Rubin. 1993. How to be a more Successful Language Learner. Boston: Heinle &

65

Setiyadi, B. 2006. Metode Penelitian untuk Pengajaran Bahasa Asing. Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu.

Simanjuntak, E.G. 1989. Developing Reading Skills for EFL students. Bandar Lampung: Lampung University.

Smith, F. 1983. Understanding Reading a Psycholinguistics Analysis of Reading and Learning to Read. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Sinclair, J. 1975. Towards an Analysis of Discourse:The English Used by Teacher and Pupils. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Universitas Lampung. 2007. Format Penulisan Karya Ilmiah. Bandar Lampung: Lampung University Press.

Woods, C. 2005. Teaching and Assessing Skills in foreign Languages. London: Cambridge University Press.

x

CONTENTS

Page

TITLE ... i

ABSTRACT ... ii

APPROVAL ... iv

CURRICULUM VITAE ... v

DEDICATION ... vi

MOTTO ... vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... viii

CONTENTS ... x

LIST OF TABLES ... xii

LIST OF FIGURES ... xiii

LIST OF APPENDICES ... xiv

I. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of the Problem ... 1

1.2. Formulation of the Problem ... 4

1.3. Objectives of the Research ... 4

1.4. Uses of the Research ... 4

1.5. Scope of the Research ... 5

1.6. Definition of Terms ... 5

II. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. The Concept of Reading ... 6

2.2. The Concept of Reading Comprehension ... 7

2.3. The Concept of Teaching Reading... 9

2.3.1. Pre-Reading Task ... 10

2.3.2. While-Reading Task ... 10

2.3.3. Post-Reading Task ... 11

2.4. Aspects in Reading Assessment ... 11

2.4.1. Vocabulary ... 12

2.4.2. Specific Information ... 12

2.4.3. Main Idea ... 12

2.4.4. Inferences and References ... 12

2.5. The Concept of Question Answer Relationship ... 13

2.5.1. Right There Questions ... 14

2.5.2. Think and Search Questions ... 14

xi

2.5.4. On My Own Questions ... 15

2.6. Procedures of Teaching Reading through QAR Strategy ... 17

III. RESEARCH METHODS 3.1. Setting of the Research ... 19

3.2. General Description of the Research ... 20

3.3. Procedures of the Research ... 21

3.4. Indicators of the Research ... 23

3.5. Instruments of the Research ... 23

3.6. Data Analysis ... 25

IV. RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH 4.1. Results of Research ... 27

4.1.1. Cycle 1 ... 27

4.1.2. Cycle 2 ... 36

4.1.3. Cycle 3 ... 46

4.2. Discussion ... 53

4.2.1. The Result of Students’ Reading Comprehension Achievement ... 53

4.2.2. The Result of Students’ Response toward the Implementation of QAR Strategy ... 57

4.2.3. The Result of Students’ Problem in Reading Aspects ... 58

IV. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Conclusions ... 62

5.2. Suggestions ... 63

REFERENCES ... 64