develop a holistic understanding of the content to be learned Siriphanich and Laohawiriyano: 2010
Considering the problems discussed above, the reading has an important role to help the learners to comprehend a text they read. From the preliminary
observation done by the researcher, it could be known that in the school, the learners had some problems in reading. Consequently, it is necessary to conduct a
res earch on improving the students‟ reading skills by using the mind map
technique. It allows the students to imagine and explore associations between the concepts in a passage they read Davies, 2010. When the students can represent
or manipulate a complex set of concepts of the passage in a diagram, they are more likely to understand those relationships, remember them, and be able to
analyse the component parts of the text. The researcher focused on reading skills in class XI IPA 1 of SMA N 1 Kretek because
the students‟ reading skills were still low.
B. Identification of the Problem
There were a number of prominent problems related to the learners‟ reading skills. These problems must be solved so that the students reading skills in
class XI IPA 1 in SMA N 1 Kretek could be improved. There were some factors which caused these problems. Those factors did not come only from the students,
but also from other components of the teaching learning process. All of the factors were related to each other.
The researcher observed the class of XI IPA 1 in SMA N 1 Kretek to identify the problems. This observation showed some problems which
encouragedthe researcher to conduct a research. The researcher did not only observe the class, but also interviewed the teacher and the students to get further
information about the teaching and learning process. From the activities which were found, there were some important problems to be solved which existed in the
classroom which involved the learning process, the students, and the teaching technique.
Firstly, the students did not get adequate guideline to the students how to read a text effectively. They were just given a text and asked to read. After that,
they had to answer some questions about the text. It made the students feel bored and did not enjoy the lesson, so they only did the assignment carelessly. The
process of teaching also could not handle the students who made noise in the classroom because there was less students‟ involvement.
Secondly, the students had low motivation to read a text. Moreover, reading was an activity that the students disliked much. They were not interested
in the reading activity, such as doing assignment and homework. The students also did not master vocabulary well. As a consequence, they got difficulty in
interpreting the meanings of the difficult words. They guessed the words carelessly. The students did not use their dictionary in finding the meaning of
unknown words. Meanwhile, the students had low reading skills. As a consequence,
there were students who did not pay attention to their teacher‟s explanation. In addition to those problems, the students also often made noise in
the classroom. Finally, they were not able to find the topic of the text and its supporting information.
Lastly, the way they read text was monotonous. There was not an innovative way for the learners to read a text comprehensively. The students could
not learn effectively without the teacher‟s guidance. When the teacher used an appropriate technique which could overcome those problems that were identified,
the students could be more active and interested in the reading activity. Therefore, it needs a technique to solve those problems identified above.
C. Delimitation of the Problem
