26 of correcting most of the errors made by learners while reading when they DR-TA
strategy. Another study by Odwan 2012 investigated the effect of Direct
Reading-Thinking Activity using cooperative learning on English secondary stage learners reading comprehension in Jordan. Although Odwan combined DR-TA
strategy with cooperative learning, there are some points about DR-TA strategy itself which are related to reading comprehension. He states, as the result of his
study, that learners improvement in reading comprehension may be attributed to learners skills developing ability to read the material using DR-TA strategy. It is
because during the activity learners set purposes, make predictions, read silently, and verify their predictions.
Based on those research findings, it can be assumed that DR-TA strategy contributes positively to the development of learners reading ability. Therefore,
the researcher decided to use DR-TA strategy for teaching reading in order to enhance reading comprehension of eighth learners at SMP Nurul Jadid Batam.
B. Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework of this research is made based on the theoretical review and the theories of the research. Teachers views to the
language are important aspects in language teaching. Language teachers should realize that in real life, people communicate through the language. People need to
learn language to be able to read, listen, speak, and write in the language that they
27 are learning. In practice, English instruction is defined as the teaching of language
skills namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. Reading is one of the language skills that learners should master and it
involves texts of different types. It is a skill or ability of getting information from the text. However, some eighth students problems of reading were found. Eighth
learners at SMP Nurul Jadid Batam had difficulties to retrieve information and construct meaning of a text. It could be detected from their difficulty in generating
the main idea and identifying detail information while both of those problems are included as the skills of reading. The learners also seemed to have difficulties in
vocabulary. The researcher worked collaboratively with the English teacher and the
principal of SMP Nurul Jadid Batam to discuss the learning condition and to find the significant solution to these problems. Based on the discussion, the teacher
and the researcher agreed to use DR-TA strategy learning strategy to solve learners problems in reading. DR-TA strategy is chosen because its components
promote ways to facilitate the use of reading strategies. DR-TA strategy is one of the strategies in reading that has three core steps of comprehension cycle. They
are sample of the text, make prediction, and sample of the text to confirm or correct previous predictions. These three steps are conducted in before, during and
after reading steps so that they fulfill the proper steps of reading comprehension. It will guide learners step by step in the reading process.
This framework is in line with the steps of DR-TA strategy. The first step is making predictions before reading the text. The second is reading to prove or
28 disprove the predictions and the last step is provingdisproving the predictions.
This technique requires the learners to make predictions each time they begin reading an English text. To predict the text, they need to use their background
knowledge related to the text or clues that the text provides such as the title or pictures. These predictions serve as their reading purposes since they will need to
prove or disprove their predictions after reading. As they manage to find
information from the text to prove or disprove their predictions, their understanding of the text gets better. In the literature review, all those steps that
DR-TA strategy contains are associated with learners improved comprehension. Thus, it was decided to apply DR-TA strategy to improve reading skill of the
learners. By applying DR-TA strategy, it was expected that learners reading comprehension ability will improve.
