Background of the Study

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter is a general description of what the writer will discuss in the next chapters. This part consists of background of the study, problem identification, problem limitation, problem formulation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study and definition of terms.

A. Background of the Study

English language is considered important as the first foreign language in Indonesia to improve and develop science, technology, art, and culture, and to maintain a relationship with other countries Depdikbud, 1994: 1. Therefore, English is necessary to be learnt because it becomes an important subject in the curriculum and it helps Indonesian people to follow the growth of the world. To provide Indonesian people with a good understanding of English, the government realize that they should prepare all the aspects which can help the Indonesian people in learning English. The government stipulate that English is taught from the first grade of the elementary school. In this level, English skills are taught in the simplest way, including the reading skill. The reading materials provide the students with a simple story along with some simple comprehension questions. Based on the 1994 English syllabus for the Junior High School, reading becomes the most important skill of all to be taught and is given primary stress in English teaching. However, the result shows that Junior High School graduates are 2 not capable of reading English texts, let alone using English. This means that the teaching of English in the secondary schools has not been successful. Then, in 2001 the government tried to improve the students’ capability of using English by reviewing the 1994 English Curric ulum. The English teaching, consequently, emphasizes the students’ competencies. The basic competency of Junior High School students is mastering the four English language skills which have relevant contexts based on their maturity and interests. Those four language skills are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Reading skill mastery may facilitate the mastery of other language skills. Actually in language teaching process, the four language skills cannot be separated. They should be taught integratively using one of the language skills; in this case reading skill is taught to integrate the other skills. As the basis or the guidance to teach other language skills, however, reading is perhaps the most difficult language skill to teach. Most of the English teachers were accustomed to following certain teaching techniques prescribed in the textbooks. The students may have considered the teaching- learning process boring. Thus, it is hoped that the teachers would avoid this problem. They are expected to present reading materials not in the same way as teachers did in the past without thinking of making some modifications on them, but they must be creative enough to make students enjoy the learning process. Adolescents and teenagers today are surrounded by diverse and increasingly complex media, and some will often find classroom materials dull, irrelevant, or both Versaci, 2001. From this situation, teachers should be active in finding interesting 3 materials for the students to read and should also realize what kinds of books that they like. Many people, especially teenagers, like to read fables. They like fables because they consist of animal pictures showing kinds of the characters of the animals. Also, the plot of the story can be seen clearly in order that they can follow the story easily. They can retell the content of the story to others without thinking deeply about it because they understand the story well. In addition, most fables contain other countries’ culture and good moral lessons and that is why, they may learn about others’ culture and develop their personalities after reading fables. From this phenomenon, teachers may take some advantages by developing their reading materials using fables. Teachers can create the reading materials in such a way to make the reading activity interesting to do. When students already begin to like English passages, teachers may replace fables with other literary media such as magazines or newspapers. Teachers may also use them as supplementary reading materials depending on the students’ needs and condition. In other words, teachers may or may not use fables in the learning process if the students have been ready to read other English passages. By using passages from English fable in which the stories are more interesting and enjoyable, it is easier for the students to understand the materials given because basically they like them. If they like them, they will be highly motivated to read other English passages. The 2000 Instructional Program Outline 2000: 2, known as Garis-garis Besar Program Pengajaran GBPP, states that students’ learning motivation is the main factor of the success of learning. The 4 quality of motivation corresponds with the quality of materials’ importance and students’ learning activities. In other words, materials and learning activities are the most important things for the success of learning. The 2000 Instructional Program Outline GBPP also states that in the teaching learning process, language elements which are considered difficult for students can be systematically presented based on the theme 2000: 3. This statement denotes that teachers are free to create their materials based on the students’ ability and needs. As what is proposed by Davis 1997 about the area of language instruction, teachers of reading should constantly search for new and innovative materials to enhance learning in the formal classroom environment. Davis believes that other materials should be introduced into the class to expose students, both physically and mentally, to the outside world, particularly in EFL settings where authent ic models are scarce. Therefore, in this design, the writer would like to use fables as the supplementary reading materials in order to develop students’ reading ability. As a result, they would be accustomed to reading English textbooks from the simple to the complicated ones. From the explanation above, it can be concluded that most students find problems in understanding English textbooks. One of the problems is that they sometimes feel bored reading passages using formal language because the topics are not interesting and the reading activities are not modified interestingly. Therefore, the writer would design some additional reading materials which are suitable for 5 students ’ interest, that is, a set of supplementary English materials using fables to teach reading to the first year students of Junior High School.

B. Problem Identification