READABILITY IN TALK ACTIVE 2 TEXTBOOK FOR THE ELEVENTH GRADE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL.

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READABILITY IN TALK ACTIVE 2 TEXTBOOK FOR THE

ELEVENTH GRADE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

A THESIS

Submitted to Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan

By:

HERA FITRA LUBIS

Registration Number: 2123121019

ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS

STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN

2016


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ABSTRACT

Lubis, Hera Fitra. Registration Number: 2123121019. Readability in Talk

Active 2 Textbook for the Eleventh Grade Senior High School. A Thesis.

English Educational Program, State University of Medan, 2016.

This research aimed to analyze and describe the readability of reading texts in a textbook entitled Talk Active 2 for the Eleventh Grade Senior High School. This research concerned on measuring six reading texts in the textbook which were selected by using random sampling. The measurements used in this research were Flesch Reading Ease Formula and Cloze Test. The test was distributed to the 40 eleventh grade students at SMA Swasta Galih Agung. Furthermore, the writer used descriptive method. From the analysis by using Flesch Reading Ease Formula, it was found that 3 of 6 texts are readable for the eleventh grade students. The three texts are the third text Emperor Penguin (57.06), fifth text Should Parents Censor Their Children’s Reading Material? (63.59) and sixth text Dewi Sartika (53.47). But, only the third text and sixth text are appropriate for the eleventh grade students because the scores are between 50 to 60 (Fairly Difficult) which estimated for 10th-12th grade. The average readability score of the six texts by using Flesch Reading Ease Formula is 51.35 (Fairly Difficult) which is appropriate for 10th – 12th grade. Moreover, the results by using cloze test showed that text 6 has score 78.80% (Independent Level) which is predicted to be quite easy and the students can read the text independently. Meanwhile, text 1 to 5 have score between 40% to 60% (Instructional Level). The average score of six texts is 59.7% (Instructional Level) which predicted to be appropriate difficulty and it can be concluded that the reading texts are appropriate for the eleventh grade students and the students need teacher’s assistance to comprehend the texts.


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All praises be to Allah SWT who has given guidance, patience and strength to the writer to finish her Thesis as a partial to fulfill the requirements for the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan. Peace and Prayers be upon to our Prophet Muhammad SAW who has taken us the way of truth and brought us the true light of life.

In the process of writing this Thesis, she has encountered a lot of difficulties since the beginning to the final. Many people have directly helped, guided, and motivated her. Therefore, she would like to acknowledge her sincere gratitude for all of them:

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 and her Examiner for the valuable suggestions and critics. Dra. Meisuri, M. A., the Secretary of English and Literature Department,

Nora Ronita Dewi, S. Pd., S. S., M. Hum., the Head of English

Education Study Program, and Syamsul Bahri, S. S., M. Hum., the Head of English Literature Study Program Faculty of Language and Art, State University of Medan.

Drs. Johan Sinulingga, M.Pd., and Anggraini Thesisia Saragih, S.Pd., M.Hum, the Thesis Advisors for the generous guidance, advices and

assistance.

Rita Suswati, S.Pd., M.Hum, her Examiner for the valuable suggestions

and critics.

For all Lectures who have given her the priceless and valuable

knowledge during her study at the English and Literature Department, Faculty of Language and Arts, State University of Medan.

Eis Sri Wahyuningsih, M. Pd., and Pantes, the Administration (staff) of

English Department, for their attention, help and information during the completion process of this Thesis.

For her parents, who have always giving support and praying for her, H. Sarjono Lubis and Hj. Rafeah.


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For her beloved friends, who have given care, support and always beside

her, Debby Septia, S.Ak., Lestriana Lestari, Andi Vera Aprillia, S.M.,

Chairul Imam, S.Pd., and Nita Maury.

For her beloved friends, who have given support, spirit, love and laugh, Nurwahidah R. Waruwu, Dwita Sundari, Khairunnisa, Fajriah Hasanah and Eli Saprida. Thank you for the time and precious moments

of togetherness we have spent during four years.

For her unbiological sisters, who have given help and motivation, Kak

Tikah and Kak Yossi.

All of friends in English Regular C 2012 and all of her PPLT 2015 friends at SMP Negeri 1 Galang, Astrid, Mey, Adel, Helmi and Cita, who have given motivation.

Last but not least, Drs. Zulfan Arifin Marpaung as the principal of SMA Swasta Galih Agung who has given permission to conduct her research there and the English teachers, Ms. Febby and Sir Suprapto.

The writer realizes that her thesis is far from being perfect therefore she warmly receive any comments and suggestions that will improve the quality of her thesis. She hopes that this thesis will be useful for further research.

Medan, October 2016 The Writer,

Hera Fitra Lubis


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ... i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... iv

LIST OF TABLES ... vi

LIST OF FIGURES ... vii

LIST OF PICTURES ... viii

LIST OF APPENDICES ... ix

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ... 1

A. Background of the Study ... 1

B. The Problem of the Study ... 4

C. The Objective of the Study ... 5

D. The Scope of the Study ... 5

E. The Significance of the Study... 5

CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ... 6

A. Theoretical Framework ... 6

1. Textbook ... 6

a. Definition of Textbook ... 6

b. The Role of Textbook ... 7

c. The Criteria of Textbook ... 9

d. Textbook Evaluation ... 10

e. Textbook Selection ... 11

2. Reading ... 12

3. Reading Text ... 15

4. Readability ... 16

a. Definition of Readability ... 17

b. Factors Influence Readability ... 17

5. Measuring Readability ... 19

a. Flesch Reading Ease Formula ... 20


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a. Definition of Cloze Test ... 24

b. Types of Cloze Test ... 25

c. Procedure of Cloze Test ... 26

d. Scoring Cloze Test ... 28

B. Relevant Studies ... 30

C. Conceptual Framework ... 31

CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 33

A. Research Design ... 33

B. Place and Time of Research ... 33

C. Population and Sample ... 34

D. Technique of Collecting Data ... 34

E. Instrument of Collecting Data ... 35

F. Technique of Data Analysis ... 35

CHAPTER IV. DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS, DISCUSSION ... 37

A. Data Analysis ... 37

B. Findings ... 49

C. Discussion ... 52

CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS ... 55

A. Conclusion ... 55

B. Suggestions ... 56

REFERENCES ... 57


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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1. Flesch Reading Ease Score ... 21

Table 2.2. The Judgment of Cloze Score ... 29

Table 4.1. The Result of Calculating Score by Using Flesch Reading Ease Formula ... 43

Table 4.2. The Number of Data Analysis of Deleted Words ... 46

Table 4.3. The Percentage of Data Analysis of Deleted Words ... 47


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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1. Flesch Reading Ease Chart ... 23 Figure 2.2. Tree Diagram of Conceptual Framework ... 32


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LIST OF PICTURE


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ix

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX A. The Reading Texts ... 61

APPENDIX B. The Cloze Test ... 67

APPENDIX C. Students’ Answer Sheet ... 75

APPENDIX D. The Readability Chart of Six Reading Texts ... 91

APPENDIX E. The Frequency of Students’ Right Answer of Each Text ... 97


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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

In teaching, teachers have learning objectives which the students are hoped to achieve it. Hence, teachers need tool to facilitate teaching and learning activity in the classroom to achieve the objectives of the study. The tool mostly used is textbook.

Textbook is used as a tool to facilitate both teacher and students in the classroom to achieve the goal of teaching and learning. Cunningsworth (1995: 7) points out that coursebooks are best seen as a resource in achieving aims and objectives that have already been set in terms of learners needs. Textbook is either published by government or publishers. It contains learning materials about particular subject that will be taught agree with the students’ grade. The good textbook will help the learners in the learning process if it provides good quality of materials and discussions that are needed by the students.

It cannot be neglected that teachers mostly teach rely on the materials provided in the textbook. Each subject in the Indonesia schools has textbook that is used in the learning process, including English subject. English textbook generally contains four language skills integrated; speaking, listening, reading, and writing, and also grammar, pronunciation and vocabularies.

Reading is one of four language skills that should be mastered by the students. It is not only about read a text, but also understand and comprehend the content of the readings. Reading aims to understand the reading materials in order


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to get new information. It is obvious in that any person could say that understanding a text is a purpose of reading (Grabe & Stoller, 2002: 19).

In the reading section of a textbook, it contains reading materials to practice and improve students’ reading skill. Reading materials are any materials for reading which purposed to help the readers to improve their reading skill. Reading materials provided in English textbook are various. It can be in the form of text, dialogue, notice, announcement, invitation letter, etc. Text is the most common reading material that can be found in the textbook. Students mostly practice reading through texts.

Textbook has requirements to be fulfilled. There are some components considered for evaluating a textbook as stated in the Article 43 Paragraph (5): “the feasibility of content, language use, presentation, and the graphic of a text book will be evaluated by BSNP and set by the Regulation of Minister”. The component of language in the article is divided into some indicators, including the readability of the textbook (BSNP, 2007).

Readability comes from word readable which means easy to read and easy to understand. Readability is a concept that describes the degree to which a text is easy or difficult to read (Brown, Janssen, and Trace, 2012: 1). It measures the difficulty of the text whether easy of difficult to read by particular reader.

Text has level of readability which indicates the text is relative easy or difficult to read. The level of readability of a text can be analyzed through readability formula and cloze test. If we have known the readability of a text, we can know for whom or which level of reader the text is intended to.


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As quoted by Janan & Wray (2012: 1), learners who are given reading materials that are too easy are not challenged and their learning growth can be stunted (Chall & Conard, 1991) while learners who are given reading materials that are too difficult can fail to make progress (Gambrell, Wilson, & Gantt, 1981). Therefore, the reading materials with appropriate difficulty can help the students to practice their reading skill.

Reading texts cannot be generalized similarly. A text can be regarded easy or difficult by different students. Sometimes some students may face some obstacles when they read particular text. They cannot read it clearly because they do not understand it. They may face the obstacles either in the grammar or vocabulary. Consequently, they cannot catch the information well from the texts that they have read. As found by the researcher, the eleventh grade students in SMA Swasta Galih Agung faced some obstacles in reading the texts. They cannot construct the meaning of the text. Here is the example of sentences they confused its meaning:

The river catfish may be overshadowed by its famed cousin, the Mekong giant catfish, which shares the same river system in Southeast Asia.

These unique fish have the nickname "iridescent shark catfish," a seemingly ill-suited comparison for a toothless, freshwater fish.

Besides, they also found some unfamiliar words in those sentences such as catfish, overshadowed, iridescent, seemingly, ill-suited. That problem caused them need extra time to read the text. Furthermore, they also cannot answer clearly the teacher’s questions related to the text, such as the main idea of the text. Consequently, they were not able to understand the text clearly.


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As the obstacles faced by the students in reading the text, the writer tried to find out the readability of reading texts in the English textbook they used in the learning activity. The textbook used by the eleventh grade students at SMA Swasta Galih Agung is Talk Active 2 textbook. This book is written by Lanny Kurniawan, published by Yudhistira in 2013 and has been developed based on the National Curriculum 2013.

In the matter of improving students’ reading skill, it is important to know the readability of the reading texts in the textbook. By doing this, the teacher can help students to understand a reading text. Moreover, we can see whether the reading texts in the textbook are appropriate or not with the grade level of the students. If the texts are too difficult, the students are hard to understand it and not able to follow the learning activity well.

B. The Problem of the Study

Based on background of the study above, the writer identified the problems of the study as follow:

1. How is the readability level of the reading texts in the textbook entitled Talk Active 2 for the eleventh grade Senior High School by using Flesh Reading Ease Formula and administering Cloze Test?

2. Are the reading texts readable for the eleventh grade students at SMA Swasta Galih Agung?


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C. The Objective of the Study

The objectives of the study were:

1. To find out the readability level of reading texts in the textbook entitled Talk Active 2 for the eleventh grade students Senior High School.

2. To find out whether the reading texts in that textbook are readable for the eleventh grade students at SMA Swasta Galih Agung.

D. The Scope of the Study

The scope of the study was finding out the readability of reading texts in the textbook entitled “Talk Active 2 for Grade XI Senior High School”. It applied in the second grade senior high school. The main focus was analyzing the readability of six selected reading texts in that textbook by using Flesh Reading Ease Formula and Cloze Test.

E. The Significance of the Study

The results of this study were expected to provide information practically and theoretically for English teachers.

Theoretically, the results of this study later will add some new theories and provide information for the readers in the matter of readability especially in the case of English textbook.

Meanwhile practically, the results can be source of reference for English teachers in their attempts to find out the readability of reading text for their students. Moreover, it is hoped that the results of this study can inspire other researchers to conduct studies in similar field.


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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

A. Conclusion

Based on the analysis that has been done in the previous chapter, it can be concluded:

1. There are three texts readable for the eleventh grade students by using Flesch Reading Ease Formula, they are text 3 Emperor Penguin (57.06), text 5 Should Parents Censor Their Children’s Reading Material? (63.59) and text 6 Dewi Sartika (53.47). Meanwhile, text 1 River Catfish (45.25), text 2 Marine Pollution (41.26) and text 4 Bullying and Teasing (47.51) are considered into Difficult level and appropriate for College. Among six texts, only text 3 and text 6 are appropriate for the eleventh grade students because those two texts have the score between 50 to 60 (Fairly Difficult) which is estimated for 10th - 12th grade. Whereas, text 5 is appropriate for 8th and 9th grade. The average readability score of the six texts by using Flesch Reading Ease Formula is 51.35 (Fairly Difficult) which is appropriate for 10th – 12th grade.

2. The result of students’ cloze test showed that text 6 (78.80%) has score above 60% and the judgment of the score is Independent Level which predicted to be quite easy. The students can read the text independently because it is short text with familiar topic & vocabulary for most of them. Meanwhile, text 1 to text 5 have the score between 40% - 60% and the judgment of the score is Instructional Level which predicted to be appropriate difficulty. The average of readability score of all six texts is


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59.7% (Instructional Level) and it can be concluded that the texts are appropriate for the eleventh grade students at SMA Swasta Galih Agung and the students need teacher’s assistance to comprehend the texts.

B. Suggestions

Based on the result, the writer suggests that: 1. For Teacher

It is recommended for teacher to know the readability of reading texts used in the classroom. By doing this, it is hoped the texts used match with students’ grade level in order to the activity of teaching and learning in the classroom can go well. Besides, if the texts are not readable for students, the teacher can look for the appropriate text from other sources or design their own texts for students. The easy way to find out the readability is by using readability formula. It does not spend much time. But, if the teacher wants to involve students, s/he can use cloze test. In addition, the teacher should help the students when they face difficulties to read and understand the text because the students have different ability.

2. For the Writer of Textbook

The writer of textbook is better to check the readability of reading texts they put in the textbook because the students learn reading through the reading texts provided in the textbook. The writer should know the appropriateness of the reading texts with the students’ grade.

3. For Other Researchers

It is better for other researchers to conduct the similar study to enrich the study about readability.


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REFERENCES

Alderson, J. Charles. 2000. Assessing Reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Arifin, Zamri, Halim, Zulazhan Ab., & Bakar, Kaseh Abu. 2013. The Readability of Balaghah Textbook of Malaysian Higher Certificate of Religion (Stam): A Pilot Study. Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences, 7(2), pp. 192-199.

Beard, Roger. 1990. Developing Reading 3-13, 2nd Ed. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Bormuth, John R. 1967. Cloze Readability Procedure. CSEIP Occasional Report No.1, University of California, Los Angeles, pp. 1-21.

Brown, James Dean, Janssen, Gerriet., & Trace, Jonathan. 2012. A Preliminary Study of Cloze Procedure as a Tool for Estimating English Readability for Russian Students. Second Language Studies, 31 (1), pp. 1-22.

Brown, H. Douglas. 1994. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents.

BSNP. 2007. Kegiatan Penilaian Buku Teks Pelajaran Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah. Buletin BSNP, II (1).

Budiarti, Nuraini Indah. 2014. Thesis: The Readability Level of English Reading Texts for Grade VIII Students of SMP Negeri 1 Jetis Bantul in The Academic Year of 2014/2015. Unpublished Thesis. Yogyakarta: Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta.

Cheng, Wang Wen, Hung, Lin Chien., & Chich, Lee Chung. 2011. Thinking of the Textbook in the ESL/EFL Classroom. English Language Teaching, 4 (2), pp. 91-96.

Cunningsworth, Alan. 1995. Choosing Your Coursebook. Oxford: MacMillan-Heinemann.

Darmayanti, Yuli. 2010. The Readability Level of The Reading Texts on Linked to The World: An English Textbook for Senior High School. Unpublished Thesis. Jakarta: State Islamic University “Syarif Hidayatullah”, Jakarta. Darwesh, Abdul-Jabbar Ali. 2010. Cloze Test: An Integrative Approach. Journal

of the College of Basic Education, 15 (64), pp. 105-116.

Day, Richard. 1994. Selecting a Passage for the EFL Reading Class. Forum, 32(1) pp. 20-26.

DuBay, William H. 2004. A research: The Principles of Readability. Retrieved from www.impact-information.com at 1/8/2015.


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DuBay, William H. 2007. Unlocking Language: The Classic Readability Studies. Costa Mesa: California.

Duffelmeyer, F.A. 1983. The Effect Grade Level on Cloze Test Score. Journal of Reading, 26 (5), 436.

Ernawati, Deni. 2013. Thesis: An Analysis of Readability Level of Reading Texts in Passport to the World 2 Textbook by Using Cloze Test. Unpublished Thesis. Jakarta: Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University.

Flesch, Rudolf. 1949. The Art of Readable Writing. New York: Harper & Row Publisher.

Fraenkel, Jack R., Wallen, Norman E. & Hyun, Helen H. 2012. How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Fry, Edward. 2002. Readability versus Leveling. International Reading Association, 56 (3), pp. 286-291.

Gonźalez, A.P. Bogoya. 2011. Fostering Fifth Graders’ Reading Comprehension

through the Use of Intensive Reading in Physical Science. Columbia Applied Linguistic Journal, 13 (1), pp. 35-53.

Grabe, William. 2009. Reading in a Second Language. England: Cambridge University Press.

Grabe, William. & Stoller, Fredricka L. 2001. Reading for Academic Purposes: Guidelines for the ESL/EFL Teacher. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. 3rd Edition (pp. 187-203). Boston: Heinle and Heinle ESL.

Grabe, William., & Stoller, Fredricka L. 2002. Teaching and Researching Reading. England: Pearson Education Limited.

Greenfield, Jerry. 2004. Readability Formulas for EFL. JALT Journal, 26 (1), pp. 5-24.

Harmer, Jeremy. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching 3rd Edition. England: Longman.

Huckin, Thomas N. 1983. A Cognitive Approach to Readability. Eds. Anderson. New Essays in Technical and Scientific Communication: Research, Theory, Practice. Farmingdale, NY: Baywood, Vol. 2, pp. 90-108.

Janan, Dahlia, & Wray, David. 2012. Readability: The Limitation of An Approach through Formulae. Retrieved from www.leeds.ac.uk at 23/4/2016.

Johnson, Keith. 2008. An Introduction to Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. London: Longman Publishing Group.


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K12 Reader Reading Instruction Resources. 2015. What is Reading Comprehension? Retrieved from http://www.k12reader.com at 25/3/2016

Nemati, Azadeh. 2009. Evaluation of an ESL English Course Book: A Step towards Systematic Vocabulary Evaluation. Journal of Social Science, India: Kamla-Raj, 20 (2), pp. 91-99.

Nuttall, Christine. 1996. Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. Oxford: Heinemann.

Pikulski, J.J. 2002. Readability. U.S: Houghton Mifflin, pp. 1-12.

Richards, Jack C. 2001. The Role of Textbooks in a Language Program. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, Jack C. & Schmidt, Richard. 2002. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics. London: Pearson Education.

Ricoeur, Paul. 1971. “What Is a Text:Explanation and Interpretation,” in Mythic-Symbolic Language and Philosophical Anthropology: A Constructive Interpretation of the Thought of Paul Ricoeur, by David M. Rasmussen. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.

Sarayah, Atikah. 2016. The Readability Level of Reading Texts in Advanced Learning 2 Textbook by Using Cloze Test. Unpublished Thesis. Medan: State University of Medan.

Siahaan, Sanggam. 2008. Issues in Linguistics. Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu.

Snowling, Margaret Jean, Nation, Kate, Oakhill, Jane., & Cain, Kate. 2009. Reading Comprehension: Nature, Assessment, and Teaching. York: Centre for Reading and Language.

SIL International. 1998. What is a Text? Retrieved from http://www-01.sil.org/linguistics/ at 9/5/2016.

Snow, Catherine. 2004. Reading for Understanding toward an R&D Program in Reading Comprehension. Retrieved from www.rand.org. at 21/4/2016. Sudijono, Anas. 2006. Pengantar Statistik Pendidikan. Jakarta: PT. Raja Grafindo

Persada.

Todd, Linda. 2008. Booklet: Using Cloze Test to Assess the Reading Needs of EAL Learners. New Zealand: Wellington.

Tompkins, Gail E. 2014. Reading Comprehension Factors. U.S: Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall.

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Ur, Penny. 2009. A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wagner, Graham. 1986. Interpreting Cloze Scores in the Assessment of Text Readability and Reading Comprehension. pp. 68-72. Retrieved from http://directions.usp.ac.fj at 29/8/2016


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55 A. Conclusion

Based on the analysis that has been done in the previous chapter, it can be concluded:

1. There are three texts readable for the eleventh grade students by using Flesch Reading Ease Formula, they are text 3 Emperor Penguin (57.06), text 5 Should Parents Censor Their Children’s Reading Material? (63.59) and text 6 Dewi Sartika (53.47). Meanwhile, text 1 River Catfish (45.25), text 2 Marine Pollution (41.26) and text 4 Bullying and Teasing (47.51) are considered into Difficult level and appropriate for College. Among six texts, only text 3 and text 6 are appropriate for the eleventh grade students because those two texts have the score between 50 to 60 (Fairly Difficult) which is estimated for 10th - 12th grade. Whereas, text 5 is appropriate for 8th and 9th grade. The average readability score of the six texts by using Flesch Reading Ease Formula is 51.35 (Fairly Difficult) which is appropriate for 10th– 12th grade.

2. The result of students’ cloze test showed that text 6 (78.80%) has score above 60% and the judgment of the score is Independent Level which predicted to be quite easy. The students can read the text independently because it is short text with familiar topic & vocabulary for most of them. Meanwhile, text 1 to text 5 have the score between 40% - 60% and the judgment of the score is Instructional Level which predicted to be appropriate difficulty. The average of readability score of all six texts is


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59.7% (Instructional Level) and it can be concluded that the texts are appropriate for the eleventh grade students at SMA Swasta Galih Agung and the students need teacher’s assistance to comprehend the texts.

B. Suggestions

Based on the result, the writer suggests that: 1. For Teacher

It is recommended for teacher to know the readability of reading texts used in the classroom. By doing this, it is hoped the texts used match with students’ grade level in order to the activity of teaching and learning in the classroom can go well. Besides, if the texts are not readable for students, the teacher can look for the appropriate text from other sources or design their own texts for students. The easy way to find out the readability is by using readability formula. It does not spend much time. But, if the teacher wants to involve students, s/he can use cloze test. In addition, the teacher should help the students when they face difficulties to read and understand the text because the students have different ability.

2. For the Writer of Textbook

The writer of textbook is better to check the readability of reading texts they put in the textbook because the students learn reading through the reading texts provided in the textbook. The writer should know the appropriateness of the reading texts with the students’ grade.

3. For Other Researchers

It is better for other researchers to conduct the similar study to enrich the study about readability.


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REFERENCES

Alderson, J. Charles. 2000. Assessing Reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Arifin, Zamri, Halim, Zulazhan Ab., & Bakar, Kaseh Abu. 2013. The Readability of Balaghah Textbook of Malaysian Higher Certificate of Religion (Stam): A Pilot Study. Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences, 7(2), pp. 192-199.

Beard, Roger. 1990. Developing Reading 3-13, 2nd Ed. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Bormuth, John R. 1967. Cloze Readability Procedure. CSEIP Occasional Report No.1, University of California, Los Angeles, pp. 1-21.

Brown, James Dean, Janssen, Gerriet., & Trace, Jonathan. 2012. A Preliminary Study of Cloze Procedure as a Tool for Estimating English Readability for Russian Students. Second Language Studies, 31 (1), pp. 1-22.

Brown, H. Douglas. 1994. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents.

BSNP. 2007. Kegiatan Penilaian Buku Teks Pelajaran Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah. Buletin BSNP, II (1).

Budiarti, Nuraini Indah. 2014. Thesis: The Readability Level of English Reading Texts for Grade VIII Students of SMP Negeri 1 Jetis Bantul in The Academic Year of 2014/2015. Unpublished Thesis. Yogyakarta: Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta.

Cheng, Wang Wen, Hung, Lin Chien., & Chich, Lee Chung. 2011. Thinking of the Textbook in the ESL/EFL Classroom. English Language Teaching, 4 (2), pp. 91-96.

Cunningsworth, Alan. 1995. Choosing Your Coursebook. Oxford: MacMillan-Heinemann.

Darmayanti, Yuli. 2010. The Readability Level of The Reading Texts on Linked to The World: An English Textbook for Senior High School. Unpublished Thesis. Jakarta: State Islamic University “Syarif Hidayatullah”, Jakarta. Darwesh, Abdul-Jabbar Ali. 2010. Cloze Test: An Integrative Approach. Journal

of the College of Basic Education, 15 (64), pp. 105-116.

Day, Richard. 1994. Selecting a Passage for the EFL Reading Class. Forum, 32(1) pp. 20-26.

DuBay, William H. 2004. A research: The Principles of Readability. Retrieved from www.impact-information.com at 1/8/2015.


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DuBay, William H. 2007. Unlocking Language: The Classic Readability Studies. Costa Mesa: California.

Duffelmeyer, F.A. 1983. The Effect Grade Level on Cloze Test Score. Journal of Reading, 26 (5), 436.

Ernawati, Deni. 2013. Thesis: An Analysis of Readability Level of Reading Texts in Passport to the World 2 Textbook by Using Cloze Test. Unpublished Thesis. Jakarta: Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University.

Flesch, Rudolf. 1949. The Art of Readable Writing. New York: Harper & Row Publisher.

Fraenkel, Jack R., Wallen, Norman E. & Hyun, Helen H. 2012. How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Fry, Edward. 2002. Readability versus Leveling. International Reading Association, 56 (3), pp. 286-291.

Gonźalez, A.P. Bogoya. 2011. Fostering Fifth Graders’ Reading Comprehension through the Use of Intensive Reading in Physical Science. Columbia Applied Linguistic Journal, 13 (1), pp. 35-53.

Grabe, William. 2009. Reading in a Second Language. England: Cambridge University Press.

Grabe, William. & Stoller, Fredricka L. 2001. Reading for Academic Purposes: Guidelines for the ESL/EFL Teacher. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. 3rd Edition (pp. 187-203). Boston: Heinle and Heinle ESL.

Grabe, William., & Stoller, Fredricka L. 2002. Teaching and Researching Reading. England: Pearson Education Limited.

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