The English curriculum 2006 of Vocational High School is segmented into three levels, which are Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced. Each level
represents the grade in the school. Novice level is for grade X, Intermediate is segmented for grade XI, and Advanced represents grade XII.
However, the most recent curriculum, curriculum 2013, has a different structure. The standard of competence, which would apparently be stated as main
competence, is not simply divided into novice, intermediate, and advanced terms. The main competences are formed by and related to the basic competences. The
curriculum itself is still on the way to be fully used in the country.
2. Communicative Language Teaching
The growing need of good English communication skills increases the demand for good English teaching around the world. Communicative Language
Teaching CLT could be the answer. It is a set of principles about the goals of language teaching, how learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities
that best facilitate learning, and the roles of teachers and learners. It sets as its goal the teaching of communicative competence Richards, 2006.
According to Richards 2006, communicative competence includes the following aspects of language knowledge:
a. Knowing how to use language for a range of different purposes and
functions. b.
Knowing how to vary our use of language according to the setting and the participants e.g., knowing when to use formal and informal speech or
when to use language appropriately for written as opposed to spoken communication
c. Knowing how to produce and understand different types of texts e.g.,
narratives, reports, interviews, conversations d.
Knowing how to maintain communication despite having limitations in one’s language knowledge e.g., through using different kinds of
communication strategies It shows the urgency of giving such competence to the students. In
learning a language, they need to know more than producing a sentence. When they can differentiate formal situations with informal situations, they also need to
be introduced not only formal language but also the informal one. However, the principles will not only focus on functional aspects of
language but also the structure. According to Littlewood 1981, CLT pays systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language,
combining these into a more fully communicative view. We can get that systematic attention means trying to find the proper proportion between the
functional and structural aspects of the language. The implementation of this approach, somehow, often crashes with the
teaching and learning process which is particularly exam-based. The teacher appeared to focus her goal into preparing the students to get passed the final
examination without paying her attention into the functional purposes of language should they study due to the limited time. The exam-based process obviously
leads many teachers into expecting the students to memorize instead of apply. It
may cause them to be quite good in the examination but not doing well in daily life communication both spoken and written.
The students need to study English for their examination. However, they also need to know the application of the English in daily life. Therefore, adapting
the teaching and learning of reading communicatively, CLT, as a supplement towards current approach can be used as starting point in order to improve the
quality of the teaching and learning process.
3. Reading Comprehension
