DEVELOPING ENGLISH READING TEXT MATERIALS THROUGH CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION (CBI) FOR STUDENTS OF MTs.

DEVELOPING ENGLISH READING TEXT MATERIALS
THROUGH CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION (CBI)
FOR STUDENTS OF MTs

A THESIS
Submitted as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan

By:

MALAWITA
Registration Number: 2122121023

ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2017

ABSTRACT
Malawita. Registration Number: 2122121023. Developing English Reading
Text Materials through Content-Based Instruction (CBI) for Students of

MTs.
The objective of this study was to develop the suitable English reading text
materials for students of MTs. It was found that English reading text materials
provided in the students’ textbook were not suitable to the needs and relevant to
the MTs students. This research was conducted based on educational research and
development (R & D) through Content-Based Instruction (CBI) approach. The
subject of this study was grade eight students of MTs at MTs Insan Cita. The steps
of this study were: collecting and analyzing data, writing syllabus, Developing
new reading materials, and validating. The instruments to collect the data were
observation and questionnaire which were given to the students. The results
showed the students needed English reading text materials which were suitable to
them. English reading text developed was 4 texts accompanied by building
vocabularies and reading comprehension (Barrett Taxonomy). These development
of English reading text materials were validated by two experts and the result
were considered as suitable. The mean score of all aspects of the developed
materials was 4.35 and was categorised as “Very Good”.
Key words: research and development (R&D), English reading text, Madrasah
Tsanawiyah (MTs.)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researcher would like to express her deepest gratitude to Allah SWT,
the Almighty and Most Beneficial for His Grace, Guidance, Honour and Mercy
that has been given to the researcher so that she finally accomplished her thesis
entitled: “Developing English Reading Text Materials through Content-Based
Instruction (CBI) for Students of MTs”.
This thesis is aimed to fulfill one of the requirements for the degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan of the English and Literature Department, Faculty of
Languages and Arts, State University of Medan (UNIMED).
In accomplishing this thesis, the researcher realizes that she faced some
problems and she had received the academic guidance, suggestions, and
comments and also a lot of assistance and moral support from many people.
Therefore, the researcher would like to express her gratitude and special thanks to:
 Prof. Dr. Syawal Gultom, M.Pd., the Rector of State University of
Medan.
 Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., the Dean of Faculty of Languages and
Arts.
 Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English and Literature
Department.

 Nora Ronita Dewi, S.S., S.Pd., M.Hum., the Head of English
Educational Study Program.
 Prof. Dr. Busmin Gurning, M.Pd., and Prof. Dr. Sri Minda Murni,
M.S., her Thesis Advisors for their valuable time, knowledge, and
guidance with all of their patience and wisdom given to the researcher
during the process of accomplishing this thesis.
 Dr. Rahmad Husein, M.Ed., and Dra. Meisuri, M.A., Examiner for their
valuable input to furnish this thesis.
 Prof. Amrin Saragih, M.A., Ph.D., Validator for reviewing the product
of this research.
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 Eis Sri Wahyuningsih, M.Pd. and Pak Pantes, the Administration Staffs
of English Department.
 Dra. Hj. Zahara Balatif., the Headmaster of MTs Insan Cita Medan for
giving the permission to conduct this research at that school.
 Eddy Mulia, M.Pd., the English teacher of MTs Insan Cita Medan for
helping the researcher during the research and all of the students of of
MTs Insan Cita Medan, especially VIII-2 students for being the subject of
this research.

 Her best parents, Umar and Fatimah, her beloved brother and sisters, for
their abundant love, trust and prayers. Her special friends Iqbal and
Hendri. May their live full of happiness.
 Her best friends “The Black Ribbon”, Berman Lumbannahor, Bertha
M. Silalahi, Betharia S. Pandia, Citra I. M. Laoli, Frikson Siburian,
and Petrus L. Simamora for the great experiences during these 4 years of
togetherness and friendship.
 Her classmates in Education 12 Regular C, especially Anggita,
Theresia, Sri Lestari Setyawan, Suchroni, and Soibatul and everyone
who cannot be mentioned one by one for sharing care and support to the
researcher in accomplishing this thesis. May God bless you.
The researcher realizes that this thesis still has the paucity, she
conveniently welcomes any suggestions, comments, and advice that will improve
the quality of this thesis. She hopes that this thesis would be useful for those who
read and interest in the field of this study.

Medan, April 2017
The researcher,

Malawita

Reg. No. 2122121023
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................... vi
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................ vii
LIST OF APPENDIXES ................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 1
A. The Background of the Study ..................................................................... 1
B. The Problem of the Study ........................................................................... 6
C. The Objective of the Study ......................................................................... 6
D. The Scope of the Study ............................................................................... 7
E. The Significance of the Study ..................................................................... 7
CHAPTER II REVIEW OFRELATED LITERATURE .................................. 8
A. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................... 8
1. School-Based Instruction (KTSP)......................................................... 8

2. Reading ............................................................................................... 10
a. Definition of Reading ................................................................... 10
b. Reading Learning Principles ......................................................... 11
c. Reading Comprehension ............................................................... 12
d. Reading Comprehension Level ..................................................... 13
e. Descriptive Text ............................................................................ 15
3. English for Specific Purposes (ESP)................................................... 17
a. The Definition of English for Specific Purposes (CBI) ................ 17
b. Needs Analysis .............................................................................. 20
4. Content-Based Instruction (CBI) ........................................................ 22
a. Definition of CBI .......................................................................... 22
b. Principles of CBI........................................................................... 22
c. Theories of Language.................................................................... 24
d. Types of Learning and Teaching Activities .................................. 25
e. Roles of Learners and Teacher in CBI .......................................... 27
f. Roles of Materials ......................................................................... 28
5. Materials Evaluation ........................................................................... 29
6. Materials Development ....................................................................... 30
B. Relevant Studies........................................................................................ 37
C. Conceptual Framework ............................................................................. 38


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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................ 40
A. The Research Design ................................................................................ 40
B. The Subject of the Study ........................................................................... 40
C. The Instruments of Data Collection .......................................................... 41
D. The Techniques of Developing Materials ................................................. 41
CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS AND MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT . 46
A. Data Analysis ............................................................................................ 46
1. Collecting and Analyzing Data ........................................................... 46
a. Collecting Data ............................................................................. 46
b. Analyzing Data ............................................................................. 47
B. Materials Development ............................................................................. 50
1. Writing the Syllabus ........................................................................... 50
2. Developing New Reading Materials through CBI .............................. 55
3. Validating ............................................................................................ 62
a. Validation ...................................................................................... 62
b. Revision ........................................................................................ 63
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ...................................... 65

A. Conclusion ................................................................................................ 65
B. Suggestion ................................................................................................. 65
REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 67

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1. Standard Competence and Basic Competence ....................................... 9
Table 2.2. The Purpose of Description ................................................................. 17
Table 3.1. The Organization of Questonnaire ....................................................... 41
Table 3.2. Data Conversion Table ........................................................................ 45
Table 4.1. Basic Competences in Existing and New Syllabus ............................. 51
Table 4.2. Learning Materials in Existing and New Syllabus .............................. 52
Table 4.3. Class Activites in Existing and New Syllabus ..................................... 52
Table 4.4. Indicators in Existing and New Syllabus ............................................. 53
Table 4.5. Time Allocation in New Syllabus ........................................................ 54

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LIST OF FIGURES


Figure 2.1. The Diagram of Conceptual Framework ............................................ 39
Figure 3.1. The Diagram of Materials Development ............................................ 45
Figure 4.1. The Template of Reading Text Materials ........................................... 56

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LIST OF APPENDIXES
APPENDIX A Questionnaires ............................................................................. 70
APPENDIX B Questionnaire Analysis ................................................................. 73
APPENDIX C Existing Syllabus .......................................................................... 75
APPENDIX D Developed Syllabus ...................................................................... 77
APPENDIX E Existing Reading Text Materials (Descriptive Text) .................... 79
APPENDIX F Validation Score from the English Teacher .................................. 81
APPENDIX G Validation Score from the Lecturer .............................................. 83
APPENDIX H Developed Reading Text Materials (Descriptive Text) ............... 87
APPENDIX I Letters .......................................................................................... 115

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. The Background of the Study
Reading as one of important skills for students in learning English. It can
be defined as perceiving a written text in order to understand its contents. As Pang
et.al (2003) mention that reading is about understanding written text. Furthermore,
Eskey (2002:5) describes reading as a process of obtaining information from a
written text. In conclusion, by reading the readers or the students make sense what
a writer means and can also catch the information in a text. Therefore, a text can
be a good model to learn English because it provides structures and information to
support their learning.
Reading has a possitive effect on students’ vocabulary knowledge, on their
spelling and on their writing (Harmer, 2007:99). Then, he notes that good reading
text can introduce interesting topics, stimulate discussion, excite imaginative
responses and provide the springboard of well-rounded, fascinating lessons. In
other words, by having reading skill they will be easy to get information,
knowledge, and science.
Reading consists of two related processes: word recognition and
comprehension. Word recognition refers to the process of perceiving how written

symbols correspond to one’s spoken language. Comprehension refers to the
process of making sense of words, sentences and connected text. Readers typically

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make use of background knowledge, vocabulary, grammatical knowledge,
experience with text and other strategies to help them understand written text.
In Indonesia there are two formal schools in Junior High School level.
They are Junior High School (SMP) and Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs). Both of
them have different disciplines. SMP tends to general education while MTs tends
to accommodate a certain religion that is Moslem. It means that MTs has more
specific lessons that should be mastered by students namely Fiqih, Aqidah
Akhlak, Arabic, and Qur’an Hadits. In spite of having different disciplines, the
government decides that teaching set such as curriculum, syllabus, and etc. are
same. Not only teaching set but also all lessons learned in SMP are studied in
MTs as well and one of the lessons should be learned is English.
As one of the compulsory subjects in Junior High School, English is
needed to be mastered. This subject requires them to learn at least four hours in a
week. The ultimate goals of learning English in the junior high school are written
in the Content Standard of Curriculum. Those are communication tools to give
and receive information, relate interpersonal relation, exchange information, and
enjoy the English language aesthetic in the daily life context. Hence, they must
study English in their school.
Materials are important part of teaching and learning English. Suitability
of materials refer to the materials that meet the needs of students. Those materials
will give a direct impact to the teaching and learning process. So, the students can
understand what they learn in English. In other words, by providing the suitable

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materials can help students to get more exposure in English as well as learn
something new they have not known.
Considering that MTs tends to accommodate Moslem religion, so the
selection of suitable English reading text materials for the students is important.
As Nuttal in Sudirman (2015) state that there are three main criteria when
choosing the text to be used in the classroom and one of them is suitability. This
criterion can be considered to be the most important, because the suitability of text
can interest students to study. Furthermore, the statement is strengthened by
Hutchinson and Waters (1987:107) which claim that to improve the students’
motivation and make learning better and faster, teachers or lecturers should
prepare materials which are relevant to the students’ needs. In conclusion, the text
given to the MTs students should be based on their needs in line should be suited
and related to the discipline of MTs itself that is about Islamic knowledge.
Relating to the explanation above, basic competence of school-based
curriculum (BSNP:2006) also stating that the eighth grade students are expected to
read a text in piercing and get the meanings that have relation to their
environment. Here, the environment means as dicipline of MTs. In conclusion, the
students are given the relevant text to their discipline, in order the students can
read and comprehend the text easily.
Regarding to the basic competence that are reading and getting the
meaning of the text, there are three types of text which should be learned by the
eighth grade students, one of them is descriptive text. Descriptive text is a kind of
text which has purpose to describe particular features of person, place or thing in

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detail. Considering the previous explanation, so that, descriptive text which is
given to the students should discuss of Islamic knowledge. It can be about Kabah,
Al-Haram mosque, and other religious topics. These texts are expected to help
them acquire the specific content of the reading materials which is useful for their
study.
In fact, problem was found at MTs Insan Cita Medan by the researcher
who conducted this research. The students of MTs used English textbook
“Experiencing English for Junior High School Students Year VIII 2” written by
Tim Masmedia Buana Pustaka. The materials were not relevant to the discipline
of MTs itself. It was proven, in learning descriptive text, it discussed about
“Mickey Mouse” as quoted “Mickey has bulky eyes and a long tail”. From the
data obtained, it can be concluded that the textbook and the content of reading text
materials were not suitable and not relevant to the students and also did not fulfill
students’ needs, because the textbook did not serve the reading text materials in
accordance with students’ needs and curriculum demanding.
Based on the fact above, it can be better for the researcher to develop the
materials specifically in English reading descriptive text. Developing reading
Descriptive text materials are needed because the existing descriptive text was not
suitable to the students’ need. Then, Blagojevic (2013) claims that the students are
truly motivated to study only if teaching materials constantly address their needs.
In other words, the materials will motivate the students to study because the
materials are developed focus on discussing specific content that is about Islamic
knowledge.

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In terms of education, the students of MTs are included as English for
Specific Purposes (ESP) students because they have specific disciplines. So, the
materials developed should meet the needs of students. It is supported by Evans
and John (1998: 4) who claim that ESP material is designed (developed) to meet
specific needs of the students and it may be related to specific disciplines.
Furthermore, this materials are developed by using Content-Based Intruction
(CBI). CBI is considered as the most appropriate approach/method used in
teaching English for MTs since it considers content as the starting point. the
implementation of CBI in the developed materials fits the needs of the students
which aim to develop foriegn language competence.
There are some studies which have conducted the reasearch development
through Conten-Based Instruction (CBI). Purnamasari (2015) conducted about
Developing English Learning Materials for Grade X Students of Beauty Study
Program. She found that the English course book contains general English since it
is used for all study programs and the input materials are also too general to them.
So, she developed appropriate English material for the Grade X students of
Beauty Study Program based on CBI. In her study, the new learning materials
developed can help students to face the global competition. Regarding these, the
English for Specific Purposes is required to support their English proficiency
based on their expertise.
Ismiyati (2016) also consucted study about Developing English Learning
Materials for Grade XI Students of Patisserie Study Programme. She found that
that students of Patisserie Study Programme had low motivation in learning

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English. That condition affected their achievement in learning English and the
course books used in Patisserie Study Programs are the same with those used in
senior high school. Then, she also designed the effective learning materials for
grade XI students of Patisserie Study Programme through CBI. In her study, the
new learning materials can help the students to master some competences in the
field of patisserie including understanding ingredients, patisserie equipments,
hygiene, health and safety work, making pastry such as bread, cake, and dessert,
and preparing a business in field of patisserie.
Based on the studies above, so the researcher also conducted her study by
using CBI. Brinton in Jayanti (2015) states CBI refers to the language teaching
through exposure to the content that is interesting and relevant to learners. In
conlusion, developing English reading text materials by using CBI can produce
the new reading text materials focused on the needs of students. Then, it can
interest them to study English.

B. The Problem of the Study
Based on the identification of the background above, the problem of the
study was formulated as the following “What are the suitable English reading text
materials that should be developed for the eight grade students of MTs?”

C. The Objective of the Study
According to the problem that have been mentioned, the objective of the
study was to develop the suitable English reading text materials for the eighth
grade students of MTs.

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D. The Scope of the Study
The scope of the study was developing English reading text materials
specifically for genre Descriptive text. These developed materials should be
relevant to the students’ needs and the curriculum implemented. It was applied in
the grade eight students of MTs Insan Cita Medan in the first semester.

E. The Significance of the Study
The finding of this study was useful for English teacher as the alternative
materials which are suitable for the students. Then, for other researcher, as further
information about the development of English reading text materials so that they
are able to develop suitable materials better.

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion
The objective of this study was to develop the suitable English reading text
materials for the eighth grade students of MTs. Reading text materials focused on
Descriptive text. The suitability of it, just discussed about Islamic knowledge. In
this study, reading text materials were developed consisted of four Islamic texts.
They were about Ka’bah, Al-Haram mosque, Quran and Hira Cave. Then, they
were followed by building vocabularies, and reading comprehensions. Each of
them were developed through some CBI activities proposed by Shang.
Furthermore, reading text materials were validated by experts. The score gotten
was 4.35, it was categorized “Very Good”. It means that the development of
reading text materials were suitable to the students of MTs.

B. Suggestion
In relation to the conclusion, the following suggestion was needed to be
considered in conducting the related study. This suggestion was adressed for:
English teachers, as we know the materials that served by the government
can not reach all the students’ needs. Hopefully, teacher could use this new
reading text materials as the alternative materials which are suitable for the
students.

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Then, for other researcher, this study could be as further information about
the development of English reading text materials so that they were able to
develop suitable materials better.

67

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