THE EFFECT OF USING SEMANTIC CLUES TECHNIQUE ON THE STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN READING COMPREHENSION.
THE EFFECT OF USING SEMANTIC CLUES TECHNIQUE
ON THE STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT
IN READING COMPREHENSION
A THESIS
Submitted in the English Department of State University of Medan
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
The Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
By
ANISA
Registration Number: 2103121004
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2016
ABSTRACT
Anisa. The Effect of Using Semantic Clues Technique on the Students’
Achievement in Reading Comprehension. A Thesis. Medan. FBS UNIMED, 2016.
This study deals with the effect of using semantic clues technique on the
students’ achievement in reading comprehension. The objective was to investigate
the effect of using semantic clues technique on the students' achievement in reading
comprehension. The research was conducted by experimental design. The population
of this study was the 2014/2015 students of the Grade 7 of the Private Junior High
School of Swa Bina Karya Medan. The number of the students was 60 students as a
total sample. This sample was divided into 2 classes, experimental and control
classes. Each of the class consisted of 30 students. The data of this study was
collected by administrating a test. It was a teacher made test. The test was an essay
test which consists of 20 items. It was given to both groups, experimental and control
groups. After the data were analyzed, it was found that that tobserved was higher than
ttable (5.46 > 2.002) with df = 58 at level of significant 0.05 was 2.000. The result of
research find that there is significant effect there is significant effect of using
semantic clue on the students’ achievement in reading comprehension.
Keywords: Semantic clue, Students’ achievement, Reading comprehension
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, the writer would like to thank to the Almighty Allah SWT for
His blessings, so the writer is able to accomplish her thesis as a partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of SarjanaPendidikan at the English
Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts (FBS) in State University of Medan
(UNIMED).
During the process of writing, the writer realizes that she can’t accomplish
without support from many people. The writer would like to express her sincere
gratitude to:
Prof. Dr. Syawal Gultom, M.Pd., Rector of State University of Medan.
Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., Dean Faculty of Languages and Arts.
Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English Department, Dra.
Meisuri, MA.,the Secretary of English Department.
Nora Ronita Dewi, S,Pd., S.S.,M.Hum., the Head of Education Program
of English Department.
Prof. Amrin Saragih, M.A.,Ph.D., her Thesis Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Lince Sihombing, M.Pd, Dr. Siti Aisah Ginting, M.Pd, Rita
Suswati, M.Hum., her Thesis Examiner, Dra. Masitowarni Siregar,
M.Ed., Her Academic Consultant also her Thesis Examiner
Headmaster of SMP SWA BINA KARYA Medan and the English
Teacher who had helped her during the research in the school.
The writer’s beloved parents, Mariadi and Lusiaty. Her sister Indah
Fajar Waty, her brother Muhammad Ridwan for the support and love,
also for the rest of her biggest families for the motivation.
The writer’s beloved husband, Ridwan,SE for always support, motivated
and pushed the writer to finish this study quickly and her beautiful
daughter Nadhifa Saffa Almeera as the source of great spirit and love.
Her best 5, Halimatun Husna Rambe, Liza Insyirah, Risqa Indina, and
Angrayni Dian Novia, for all the tears that we shed together, for all the
laughter that we share together. Also for the brighter future that we will
ii
overcome together. For always stay and never leave the writer’ side during
the hardest time in the writer’s life, the writer would like to say thank you.
God bless the writer for sending these people as her best support. .
Regular A ‘2010 fellow members, for the amazing 4 years they spent
together. , and all member of Regular A, B, C, and extention class 2010 for
4 years fighting together.. Thank you for helping the writer a lot until the
last minute this thesis finished.
The member of her PPLT 2013 team in SMPN 1 Stabat for wonderful
memorable moment that we spent together on teaching practice,
Last but not least, those who cannot be mentioned one by one who have
supported the writer to finish her thesis.
Finally the writer realizes that this thesis is far from being perfect. Therefore,
the writer will happily accept constructive criticism in order to make it better. The
writer hopes that this thesis would be beneficial to everyone. Amin
Medan,
The Writer
Anisa
2103121004
iii
April 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACTS ........................................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................ ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................. vi
LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 1
A. The Background of the Study ................................................................. 1
B. The Problem of the Study ....................................................................... 4
C. The Objective of the Study ..................................................................... 4
D. The Scope of the Study ........................................................................... 4
E. The Significance of the Study ................................................................. 4
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE................................................... 5
A. Theoretical Framework .......................................................................... 5
1. Reading Comprehension ................................................................... 5
2. Factor Affecting Student’s Reading Comprehension ..................... 6
3. Context Clues ................................................................................... 7
a. Syntactic Clue .............................................................................. 9
b. Semantic Clue .............................................................................. 9
4. Using Semantic Clue in Teaching Reading Comprehension .......... 12
a. Contextual Redefenition ............................................................. 12
b. Fill in the blanks ......................................................................... 12
c. Crossword Puzzles ..................................................................... 14
d. Analogies .................................................................................. 14
e. Listen for miscues ...................................................................... 14
5. Using Syntactic Clue in Teaching Reading Comprehension .......... 15
a. Guided Reading .......................................................................... 15
b. Missing Morphemes ................................................................... 16
c. Contextual Word Attack Instructional Sequence ....................... 16
d. Metacognition– Click or Clunk.................................................. 17
e. Morphemic Analysis .................................................................. 17
6. Genre............................................................................................... 18
7. Narrative Text ................................................................................. 20
B. Conceptual Framework ......................................................................... 22
C. Hypothesis ............................................................................................. 23
iv
CHAPTER III. METHOD OF RESEARCH ................................................ 24
A. Research Design .................................................................................... 24
B. Population and Sample .......................................................................... 25
C. The Instrument of Collecting the Data .................................................. 25
D. The Procedure of the Study................................................................... 25
1. Pre- Test ......................................................................................... 25
2. Treatment ....................................................................................... 26
3. Post- Test ....................................................................................... 31
E. The Validity and Reliability of the Test ................................................ 31
1. The Validity of the Test ................................................................. 31
2. The Reliabity of the Test ............................................................. 32
F. The Technique for Analyzing Data ....................................................... 33
CHAPTER IV. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS .................................. 34
A. Data ....................................................................................................... 34
B. Data Analysis ........................................................................................ 34
C. Reliability of the Test ............................................................................ 35
D. Testing Hypothesis................................................................................ 36
E. Research Findings ................................................................................. 37
F. Discussion .............................................................................................. 37
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS ................................. 39
A. Conclusion ............................................................................................ 39
B. Suggestions ........................................................................................... 39
REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 41
APPENDICES ................................................................................................... 43
v
LIST OF TABLE
Table 3.1 Research Design............................................................................ 26
vi
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix A : The Result of Pre- and Post Tests
in the Experimental Group .................................................. 43
Appendix B : The Result of Pre- and Post Tests
in the Control Group............................................................ 44
Appendix C : Reliability of the Test ........................................................... 45
Appendix D : The Calculation of T-test ..................................................... 48
Appendix E : The Result of Students’ Score
in Experiment Group ........................................................... 51
Appendix F : The Result of Students’ Score
in Control Group .................................................................. 52
Appendix G : The Students’ Name in the in Experiment Group ............. 53
vii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
A study of a language is an interesting one to be conducted, especially if the
language is a foreign or a second language. In the process of learning it, someone will
say that it is a complex activity while others may say that it is challenging. If one is
serious then the complexity will sooner or later becomes simple, fun, and enjoyable.
In fact, in the teaching-learning process, it should be that way, i.e. fun and enjoyable;
learning English is fun. It cannot be denied that if one wants to study a language, in
this respect, one must give a special interest and attention so that it is motivating and
interesting, otherwise one will say that is it difficult to learn.
In learning English, students are expected to be able to achieve and be familiar
with the four language skills, such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. In
reading, the students are expected to be knowledge and familiar with what the teacher
has explained in the context, where as in comprehension the students are expected to
have more skills than to explain individual text or passage after comprehending them.
The purpose of reading comprehension is to get some skills in understanding the text.
Students' attempt to comprehend an English passage is often hindered by the
encounter of unfamiliar words. Such words have been recognized as a vocabulary
problem that the students face in trying to understand the passage. This is confirmed
by Nation and Coady's (2001:4) claim that word familiarity may become one of the
factors that contributes to the ease or difficulty of a certain reading passage.
To get the meaning of the unfamiliar words the students usually turn to the
dictionary, which provides one or more definition of the words. The use of dictionary
1
2
in such a situation seems to give a practical solution, because they are expected to get
the meaning of words immediately after reading a list of definitions and picking up
one which sounds suitable. However, they should not depend on the dictionary as the
main aid to comprehension of a particular reading text since other problems may arise
when the dictionary is used as the major means of gaining vocabulary knowledge in
reading comprehension.
The first problem concerns with the students' motivation. Robinson (2002:5)
writes that believes looking up the meaning of the words in the dictionary frequently
may be quite ineffective since it obstructs the flow of comprehension process which is
going on in the students' mind. In the long run, they will lose interest in what they are
reading, and this can be harmful for their motivation to read further. Another problem
relates to the definitions presented in the dictionary. Nagy (2008:76) finds that many
definitions are simply not very good, inaccurate, or not appropriate to the reading
selections. Moreover, the definitions deal only with superficial level of word
knowledge, and therefore they cannot guarantee thorough comprehension of the
reading texts containing the words which are defined. The words in the reading texts
are presented in a context, and occasionally the definitions supplied by the dictionary
do not match this context. Therefore, context should be taken into account in
determining the meaning of words.
The students employ context clues to figure out the meaning of the unfamiliar
words in a reading text. What they should do when employing context clues is to
make use of surrounding information to identify the unknown meaning of words. It is
essential that this vocabulary strategy be applied, in addition to the use of dictionary.
Grellet (1990:45) even suggests that the students be encouraged to make an intelligent
3
guess at the meaning of the words they do not know rather than look them up in the
dictionary.
Context clues have role in teaching reading. Through context clues, a
sentence, paragraph, or passage can be hinted to make the students understand the
meanings of new or unfamiliar words. Learning the meaning of a word through its use
in a sentence or paragraph is the most practical way to build vocabulary, since a
dictionary is not always available when a reader encounters an unknown word.
Students must be aware that many words have several possible meanings. Only by
being sensitive to the circumstances in which a word is used can the students decide
upon an appropriate definition to fit the context.
Students should rely on context clues when an obvious clue to meaning is
provided, or when only a general sense of the meaning is needed for the reader’s
purposes. Context clues should not be relied upon when a precise meaning is required,
when clues suggest several possible definitions, when nearby words are unfamiliar,
and when the unknown word is a common one that will be needed again; in these
cases, a dictionary should be consulted.
Basically there are two types of context clues, namely, semantic clues and
syntactic clues. In figuring out the unknown meaning of a word by means of semantic
clues, the students should rely on the meaning of the words surrounding it as clues. If
they make use of syntactic clues, they are supposed to apply their knowledge about
grammar.
4
B. The Problem of the Study
The problem of in this study is formulated as : "Is there any significant effect
of using semantic clues technique on the students' achievement in reading
comprehension?"
C. The Objective of The Study
With reference to the problem mentioned before, the objective of this study is:
“to investigate the effect of using semantic clues technique on the students'
achievement in reading comprehension.
D. The Scope of the Study
This study deals with the analysis of the effect of using semantic clues
technique on the students' achievement in reading comprehension. The researcher
limits her study on the reading of narrative text.
E. The Significance of the Study
Findings of this study are expected to be useful for,
1. English teachers who want to enlarge the students' achievement to get the meaning
of the reading text through mastering semantic clues,
2. English students who be able to use semantic clue to overcome their difficulties in
reading comprehension especially narrative text can help them through identifying
the words, sentences, figurative meaning, synonym and antonym, and
3. other researchers who want to do further research related studies.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusion
It was found that t-observed is greater than the value of t-table. Therefore the
alternative hypothesis was accepted. In other words, this means that the H0 was
rejected and the Ha was accepted. So that, this study can be concluded that there is a
significant effect of using semantic clues technique on the students' achievement in
reading comprehension.
B. Suggestions
In line with the conclusion, suggestions are staged as the following.
(1). English teachers should teach English reading comprehension
by using
semantic clue to make the students can guess the reading material based on
the context of the passage. So when the students read a text, they often guess
word meaning without consulting a dictionary.
(2). Students, it is useful to apply semantic clues because it helps the students to
find unfamiliar word without using dictionary.
(3). Students can improve their achievement in reading comprehension by
semantic
clue
through
definition,
examples,
synonym,
experience,
description, comparison or contrast, and reflection of intent, mood, tone or
setting.
39
40
(4). English Department, it is useful to develop the national education especially
in English department.
REFERENCES
Arikunto, S. 2003. Prosedur Penelitian : Suatu Pendekatan Praktik. Jakarta: Rineka
Cipta.
Ary, D. 1979. Introduction to Research in Education. New York : Holt, Rinehart and
Winston.
Badger, R. and White, G. 2000. A process genre model for teaching -writing. English
Language
Teaching
Journal
54,
2,
pp.
Available
in
http://www.baleap.org.uk/pimreports/2002/heriotwatt/badger.html
Derewianka, B. 2004. Exploring How Texts Work. Primary English Teaching
Association: Australia.
Eskey, G. 1996. Second Language Reading Research, TESOL Quarterly, Vol 28.
Eve, C et al. 1990. Direct Instruction Reading. Ohio: Merril Publishing Co.
Grabe, W and Stoller, F. 2002. Teaching and Researching Reading. Malay: Longman.
Grellet, F. 1990. Developing Reading Skills: A Practical Guide to Reading
Comprehension Exercises. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Gerrot, L and Wignell, P. 1994. Making Sense on Functional Grammar. Sydney:
Longman.
Harris, A.J. and E.R. Sipay. 1980. How to Increase Reading Ability. New York:
Longman.
Harrison. 1983. Research. London: Heinemann International.
Heilman, A, Blair, T, and Rupley, W. 2004. Principles and Practices of Teaching
Reading. Ohio: Charles E merril.
Hyland, K. 2002. Teaching and Researching Writing. London: Pearson education
Limited.
Ittzes, K. 1991. Lexical Guessing in Isolation and Context. Journal of Reading, 34:5.
Miller, W. H. 1993. Complete Reading Disabilities Handbook. New York:
The Center for Applied Research in Education.
Nation, P. and J. Coady. 2001. Vocabulary and Reading. London: Longman.
Nagy, W.E. 2008. Learning Words from Context. Reading Research Quarterly, 20:2.
41
42
Nuttal, C. 1980. Teaching Reading Skill in a Foreign
Language. London: Heinemann Educational Book.
Reutzel, D. R., & Cooter, R. B. 2003. Strategies for Reading Assessment and
Instruction: Helping Every Child Succeed (2nd ed.). New Jersey. MerrillPrentice Hall. Upper Saddle River.
Turner, T. 1988. Comprehension: Reading for Meaning. London: Scott, Foresman.
Otto, W. 1999. How to Teach Reading. New York: Aldison Wesley.
Robinson, H.A. 2002. Teaching Reading and Study Strategies: The Content Areas.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Siahaan, S and Shinoda, K. 2008. Generic Text Structure. Jakarta: Gramedia.
ON THE STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT
IN READING COMPREHENSION
A THESIS
Submitted in the English Department of State University of Medan
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
The Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
By
ANISA
Registration Number: 2103121004
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2016
ABSTRACT
Anisa. The Effect of Using Semantic Clues Technique on the Students’
Achievement in Reading Comprehension. A Thesis. Medan. FBS UNIMED, 2016.
This study deals with the effect of using semantic clues technique on the
students’ achievement in reading comprehension. The objective was to investigate
the effect of using semantic clues technique on the students' achievement in reading
comprehension. The research was conducted by experimental design. The population
of this study was the 2014/2015 students of the Grade 7 of the Private Junior High
School of Swa Bina Karya Medan. The number of the students was 60 students as a
total sample. This sample was divided into 2 classes, experimental and control
classes. Each of the class consisted of 30 students. The data of this study was
collected by administrating a test. It was a teacher made test. The test was an essay
test which consists of 20 items. It was given to both groups, experimental and control
groups. After the data were analyzed, it was found that that tobserved was higher than
ttable (5.46 > 2.002) with df = 58 at level of significant 0.05 was 2.000. The result of
research find that there is significant effect there is significant effect of using
semantic clue on the students’ achievement in reading comprehension.
Keywords: Semantic clue, Students’ achievement, Reading comprehension
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, the writer would like to thank to the Almighty Allah SWT for
His blessings, so the writer is able to accomplish her thesis as a partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of SarjanaPendidikan at the English
Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts (FBS) in State University of Medan
(UNIMED).
During the process of writing, the writer realizes that she can’t accomplish
without support from many people. The writer would like to express her sincere
gratitude to:
Prof. Dr. Syawal Gultom, M.Pd., Rector of State University of Medan.
Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., Dean Faculty of Languages and Arts.
Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English Department, Dra.
Meisuri, MA.,the Secretary of English Department.
Nora Ronita Dewi, S,Pd., S.S.,M.Hum., the Head of Education Program
of English Department.
Prof. Amrin Saragih, M.A.,Ph.D., her Thesis Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Lince Sihombing, M.Pd, Dr. Siti Aisah Ginting, M.Pd, Rita
Suswati, M.Hum., her Thesis Examiner, Dra. Masitowarni Siregar,
M.Ed., Her Academic Consultant also her Thesis Examiner
Headmaster of SMP SWA BINA KARYA Medan and the English
Teacher who had helped her during the research in the school.
The writer’s beloved parents, Mariadi and Lusiaty. Her sister Indah
Fajar Waty, her brother Muhammad Ridwan for the support and love,
also for the rest of her biggest families for the motivation.
The writer’s beloved husband, Ridwan,SE for always support, motivated
and pushed the writer to finish this study quickly and her beautiful
daughter Nadhifa Saffa Almeera as the source of great spirit and love.
Her best 5, Halimatun Husna Rambe, Liza Insyirah, Risqa Indina, and
Angrayni Dian Novia, for all the tears that we shed together, for all the
laughter that we share together. Also for the brighter future that we will
ii
overcome together. For always stay and never leave the writer’ side during
the hardest time in the writer’s life, the writer would like to say thank you.
God bless the writer for sending these people as her best support. .
Regular A ‘2010 fellow members, for the amazing 4 years they spent
together. , and all member of Regular A, B, C, and extention class 2010 for
4 years fighting together.. Thank you for helping the writer a lot until the
last minute this thesis finished.
The member of her PPLT 2013 team in SMPN 1 Stabat for wonderful
memorable moment that we spent together on teaching practice,
Last but not least, those who cannot be mentioned one by one who have
supported the writer to finish her thesis.
Finally the writer realizes that this thesis is far from being perfect. Therefore,
the writer will happily accept constructive criticism in order to make it better. The
writer hopes that this thesis would be beneficial to everyone. Amin
Medan,
The Writer
Anisa
2103121004
iii
April 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACTS ........................................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................ ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................. vi
LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 1
A. The Background of the Study ................................................................. 1
B. The Problem of the Study ....................................................................... 4
C. The Objective of the Study ..................................................................... 4
D. The Scope of the Study ........................................................................... 4
E. The Significance of the Study ................................................................. 4
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE................................................... 5
A. Theoretical Framework .......................................................................... 5
1. Reading Comprehension ................................................................... 5
2. Factor Affecting Student’s Reading Comprehension ..................... 6
3. Context Clues ................................................................................... 7
a. Syntactic Clue .............................................................................. 9
b. Semantic Clue .............................................................................. 9
4. Using Semantic Clue in Teaching Reading Comprehension .......... 12
a. Contextual Redefenition ............................................................. 12
b. Fill in the blanks ......................................................................... 12
c. Crossword Puzzles ..................................................................... 14
d. Analogies .................................................................................. 14
e. Listen for miscues ...................................................................... 14
5. Using Syntactic Clue in Teaching Reading Comprehension .......... 15
a. Guided Reading .......................................................................... 15
b. Missing Morphemes ................................................................... 16
c. Contextual Word Attack Instructional Sequence ....................... 16
d. Metacognition– Click or Clunk.................................................. 17
e. Morphemic Analysis .................................................................. 17
6. Genre............................................................................................... 18
7. Narrative Text ................................................................................. 20
B. Conceptual Framework ......................................................................... 22
C. Hypothesis ............................................................................................. 23
iv
CHAPTER III. METHOD OF RESEARCH ................................................ 24
A. Research Design .................................................................................... 24
B. Population and Sample .......................................................................... 25
C. The Instrument of Collecting the Data .................................................. 25
D. The Procedure of the Study................................................................... 25
1. Pre- Test ......................................................................................... 25
2. Treatment ....................................................................................... 26
3. Post- Test ....................................................................................... 31
E. The Validity and Reliability of the Test ................................................ 31
1. The Validity of the Test ................................................................. 31
2. The Reliabity of the Test ............................................................. 32
F. The Technique for Analyzing Data ....................................................... 33
CHAPTER IV. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS .................................. 34
A. Data ....................................................................................................... 34
B. Data Analysis ........................................................................................ 34
C. Reliability of the Test ............................................................................ 35
D. Testing Hypothesis................................................................................ 36
E. Research Findings ................................................................................. 37
F. Discussion .............................................................................................. 37
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS ................................. 39
A. Conclusion ............................................................................................ 39
B. Suggestions ........................................................................................... 39
REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 41
APPENDICES ................................................................................................... 43
v
LIST OF TABLE
Table 3.1 Research Design............................................................................ 26
vi
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix A : The Result of Pre- and Post Tests
in the Experimental Group .................................................. 43
Appendix B : The Result of Pre- and Post Tests
in the Control Group............................................................ 44
Appendix C : Reliability of the Test ........................................................... 45
Appendix D : The Calculation of T-test ..................................................... 48
Appendix E : The Result of Students’ Score
in Experiment Group ........................................................... 51
Appendix F : The Result of Students’ Score
in Control Group .................................................................. 52
Appendix G : The Students’ Name in the in Experiment Group ............. 53
vii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
A study of a language is an interesting one to be conducted, especially if the
language is a foreign or a second language. In the process of learning it, someone will
say that it is a complex activity while others may say that it is challenging. If one is
serious then the complexity will sooner or later becomes simple, fun, and enjoyable.
In fact, in the teaching-learning process, it should be that way, i.e. fun and enjoyable;
learning English is fun. It cannot be denied that if one wants to study a language, in
this respect, one must give a special interest and attention so that it is motivating and
interesting, otherwise one will say that is it difficult to learn.
In learning English, students are expected to be able to achieve and be familiar
with the four language skills, such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. In
reading, the students are expected to be knowledge and familiar with what the teacher
has explained in the context, where as in comprehension the students are expected to
have more skills than to explain individual text or passage after comprehending them.
The purpose of reading comprehension is to get some skills in understanding the text.
Students' attempt to comprehend an English passage is often hindered by the
encounter of unfamiliar words. Such words have been recognized as a vocabulary
problem that the students face in trying to understand the passage. This is confirmed
by Nation and Coady's (2001:4) claim that word familiarity may become one of the
factors that contributes to the ease or difficulty of a certain reading passage.
To get the meaning of the unfamiliar words the students usually turn to the
dictionary, which provides one or more definition of the words. The use of dictionary
1
2
in such a situation seems to give a practical solution, because they are expected to get
the meaning of words immediately after reading a list of definitions and picking up
one which sounds suitable. However, they should not depend on the dictionary as the
main aid to comprehension of a particular reading text since other problems may arise
when the dictionary is used as the major means of gaining vocabulary knowledge in
reading comprehension.
The first problem concerns with the students' motivation. Robinson (2002:5)
writes that believes looking up the meaning of the words in the dictionary frequently
may be quite ineffective since it obstructs the flow of comprehension process which is
going on in the students' mind. In the long run, they will lose interest in what they are
reading, and this can be harmful for their motivation to read further. Another problem
relates to the definitions presented in the dictionary. Nagy (2008:76) finds that many
definitions are simply not very good, inaccurate, or not appropriate to the reading
selections. Moreover, the definitions deal only with superficial level of word
knowledge, and therefore they cannot guarantee thorough comprehension of the
reading texts containing the words which are defined. The words in the reading texts
are presented in a context, and occasionally the definitions supplied by the dictionary
do not match this context. Therefore, context should be taken into account in
determining the meaning of words.
The students employ context clues to figure out the meaning of the unfamiliar
words in a reading text. What they should do when employing context clues is to
make use of surrounding information to identify the unknown meaning of words. It is
essential that this vocabulary strategy be applied, in addition to the use of dictionary.
Grellet (1990:45) even suggests that the students be encouraged to make an intelligent
3
guess at the meaning of the words they do not know rather than look them up in the
dictionary.
Context clues have role in teaching reading. Through context clues, a
sentence, paragraph, or passage can be hinted to make the students understand the
meanings of new or unfamiliar words. Learning the meaning of a word through its use
in a sentence or paragraph is the most practical way to build vocabulary, since a
dictionary is not always available when a reader encounters an unknown word.
Students must be aware that many words have several possible meanings. Only by
being sensitive to the circumstances in which a word is used can the students decide
upon an appropriate definition to fit the context.
Students should rely on context clues when an obvious clue to meaning is
provided, or when only a general sense of the meaning is needed for the reader’s
purposes. Context clues should not be relied upon when a precise meaning is required,
when clues suggest several possible definitions, when nearby words are unfamiliar,
and when the unknown word is a common one that will be needed again; in these
cases, a dictionary should be consulted.
Basically there are two types of context clues, namely, semantic clues and
syntactic clues. In figuring out the unknown meaning of a word by means of semantic
clues, the students should rely on the meaning of the words surrounding it as clues. If
they make use of syntactic clues, they are supposed to apply their knowledge about
grammar.
4
B. The Problem of the Study
The problem of in this study is formulated as : "Is there any significant effect
of using semantic clues technique on the students' achievement in reading
comprehension?"
C. The Objective of The Study
With reference to the problem mentioned before, the objective of this study is:
“to investigate the effect of using semantic clues technique on the students'
achievement in reading comprehension.
D. The Scope of the Study
This study deals with the analysis of the effect of using semantic clues
technique on the students' achievement in reading comprehension. The researcher
limits her study on the reading of narrative text.
E. The Significance of the Study
Findings of this study are expected to be useful for,
1. English teachers who want to enlarge the students' achievement to get the meaning
of the reading text through mastering semantic clues,
2. English students who be able to use semantic clue to overcome their difficulties in
reading comprehension especially narrative text can help them through identifying
the words, sentences, figurative meaning, synonym and antonym, and
3. other researchers who want to do further research related studies.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusion
It was found that t-observed is greater than the value of t-table. Therefore the
alternative hypothesis was accepted. In other words, this means that the H0 was
rejected and the Ha was accepted. So that, this study can be concluded that there is a
significant effect of using semantic clues technique on the students' achievement in
reading comprehension.
B. Suggestions
In line with the conclusion, suggestions are staged as the following.
(1). English teachers should teach English reading comprehension
by using
semantic clue to make the students can guess the reading material based on
the context of the passage. So when the students read a text, they often guess
word meaning without consulting a dictionary.
(2). Students, it is useful to apply semantic clues because it helps the students to
find unfamiliar word without using dictionary.
(3). Students can improve their achievement in reading comprehension by
semantic
clue
through
definition,
examples,
synonym,
experience,
description, comparison or contrast, and reflection of intent, mood, tone or
setting.
39
40
(4). English Department, it is useful to develop the national education especially
in English department.
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