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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter elaborates the research background, problem formulation, problem limitation, research objectives, research benefits and definition of the terms.
A. Background of the Study
According to Cushenbery 1985, many young people cannot reach their highest achievement because of the inability to read effectively. Furthermore,
Anderson 1999, also adds that reading is an important skill for English learners to acquire their second language. Learners will achieve greater progress and
development in other areas of learning by reinforcing their reading skill. Based on the researcher’s teaching experiences in BOPKRI 2 Senior High
School Grade X, there were students who had low motivation; sometimes they did not pay attention to the explanation and did not do the tasks. The researcher was
motivated to make the students interested in that subject: English reading and writing. Also, most of the students’ ability in reading was not good enough. This
was seen when the researcher gave a simple reading text and most of the students did not understand it because they lacked vocabulary.
There are several methods which are used in teaching reading, but only some of them can improve the ability of reading. Cooperative Integrated Reading and
Composition CIRC is one of the methods which can improve reading skill through its activities. Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition CIRC is a
comprehension program for teaching reading and writing in the upper elementary grades. CIRC is one of the methods in cooperative learning. It focuses on reading
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2 mastery in group rather than individual work. It makes students work in small group
to help others learn academic content so the students are able to discuss and argue with each other and also assess each other’s current knowledge. This method helps
the students increase their achievement and develop intergroup relation Slavin, 1995. Besides, one of the uniqueness of CIRC is reading aloud. Most of the
students are shy to read aloud, but CIRC gives more chance to the students to read aloud. It will motivate the students to be active in reading aloud. Furthermore, the
researcher believes that integrating reading and writing is one of the ways to strengthen reading skill because by writing, we can see whether the students
understand about the text or not. Besides, according to Raimes 1983, writing strengthen vocabularies that have taught and “writing give us ability to record and
communicate our experience and knowledge” Weisman, 1980, p.3. When the researcher applied CIRC method in the class, the students were
enthusiastic; they could cooperate with their friends and did the assignments. The researcher asked the students to work in group first to share and discuss the reading
text. After that, the teacher leads class discussion. The last, the students were asked to do their task by themselves. Since it worked well in BOPKRI 2 Senior High
School Grade X, the researcher decides to choose CIRC as a method to improve reading skill in BOPKRI 2 Senior High School Grade X.
According to Slavin 1995, CIRC is used to teach reading in upper elementary grade and most of the activities are group discussion, so the main
participants are students of senior high school grade X in BOPKRI 2. In this stage of age, these students are able to cooperate with their friends in group, to understand
person’s perception, and to speak accordingly Papalia, Olds, and Feldman, 2004,
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3 p.405. So, through CIRC, it is expected the students are able to improve their
reading skill. Through Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition CIRC, the
students develop their reading skill since CIRC emphasizes on group working. Besides, according to the researcher’s opinion, it is better for the students to work in
group first, after that they must work individually. Working in group helps students who have low ability to comprehend the reading text, because the students who have
high ability will help them; they will share their opinion in the group. After all of the students improve their ability through working in group they will be given tasks
which are done individually. It is also based on the principle of CIRC; in the beginning the students work in group, then they work individually by summarizing a
novel or a book. Therefore, the researcher thinks that by integrating reading and writing using Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition CIRC, the students
are able to improve their reading and writing skill. It is also stated by Pehrsson and Robinson 1985, “ An important way of helping youngsters realize and capitalize
on relationships between authors and readers is to develop reading and writing instruction as an integrated activity” p. 9.
B. Problem Formulation