112 scores in both pre test and post-test. Moreover, in comparison to the standard
deviation in achievement test I, the standard deviation in achievement test II was lower
. It could also be said that the students‘ reading scores were more homogenous. From the reasons above, it could be concluded that there was a
significant improvement in the students‘ reading comprehension after the implementation of the action, i.e. using schema activation strategy.
D. Discussion
The research focused on improving the students‘ comprehension using Schema Activation Strategy. There were some steps for implementing the
strategy in the research. They were building interest and attention, accessing prior knowledge and exploring key words, building connection between
students‘ prior knowledge and the new material, and comprehending the new material. This strategy was implemented both in Cycle I and Cycle II. The
findings of the research showed that Schema Activation Strategy was successful in improving the students‘ reading comprehension. The discussion
of the findings was written as the following. In the first step of Schema Activation Strategy, building interest and
attention, the researcher used pictures as the media, and familiar topics. Based on the findings, the use of pictures as the media i
n building the students‘ interest and attention was successful in making the students to be interested in
the lesson. It is in line with Willis 2008: 130. Furthermore, the use of familiar topic in each meeting was also successful in attracting the students
toward the lesson. This finding was in line with Hassan 2013: 240.
113 The next step was accessing prior knowledge and exploring key
words. Pictures were still used as the media. The researcher showed the picture and asked some questions related to the picture. Questioning and
answering session about the picture was effective to recall the students‘ prior knowledge toward the topic. This finding was in line with Keene and
Zimmermann in Moreilon 2007: 21. Through the pictures, the students were asked to write and mention words related to the picture. This was successful in
helping the students to explore their vocabulary related to the topic, as stated by William in Al-Issa 2006: 44.
The third step was building connection between the students‘ prior knowledge and the new material. In this step, to make the students have
awareness about the importance of relating their prior knowledge to the new material, the researcher asked the students predict the text by looking at the
title of the text and the pictures related to the text. The activity was successful in making the students to use their prior knowledge in order to predict the
content of the text. The last step was comprehending the new material. During the process
of reading, the students read the text and connected it with their background knowledge. They were asked to find the new information got from their
reading such as difficult words. In this step, the students were stimulated to relate what they had in their background knowledge to the new information in
the text. It meant that there was interactive process during reading as it is said by Brown 2001: 298-299. Furthermore, the students were also presented a
114 set of comprehension question. It was used to evaluate the students‘
understanding toward the content of the text. Comprehending the new material was the final step in Schema
Activation strategy. It was regarded to be successful as the students could accomplish the tasks well.
115
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, SUGGESTIONS
In this chapter, three points are presented. They are conclusions, implications, and suggestions. Each point is described as follows.
A. Conclusions
This research is action research. SMP N 1 Mlati was chosen as the place to conduct the research. The research had acquired both qualitative and
quantitative data related to the use of Schema Activation Strategy in improving the reading comprehension of grade VIII C students at SMP N 1
Mlati. Based on the data analyzed in this research, the use of Schema Acti
vation Strategy was effective to improve the students‘ reading comprehension. The four steps, i.e., building the students‘ interest and
attention, accessing prior knowledge and exploring key words, building connection between the students‘ prior knowledge and the new material, and
comprehending the new material, were effective to activate the students‘ schemata. As a result, those steps made the students understand the text more
easily. The uses of pictures and of Questioning and Answering session were succ
essful in relation to build the students‘ interest and attention. The activity of Questioning and Answering the detail of the pictures was effective to
access the students‘ prior knowledge. Such an activity as a vocabulary game was also effective in relati
on to explore the students‘ vocabulary. These statements refer to the fact that the students were enthusiastic in answering the
questions and in exploring key words related to the pictures and the topic.
116 Making prediction activity was also successful to build connection between
the students‘ prior knowledge and the new material. Students were able to make some predictions about the text by looking at the detail of the pictures
and the title of the text. Those activities made the students comprehend the text easier.
In relation to Cycle I, the actions were successfully done in general. In the first step, the activities could attract the students‘ attention toward the
lesson. The students‘ interest also improved. Then, in the second step, the students‘ vocabulary increased. It was because in the step, the students were
asked to mention and to write words related to the picture given and share with others. The next step was building connection between students‘ prior
knowledge and the new material. The students were helped to relate their background knowledge to the material given. Because they were able to do it
well, the students felt at ease in understanding the text. The last session, that is comprehension session, the students could do the comprehension tasks well.
However, there were some actions which could not be done well in Cycle I. Firstly, the picture in the third meeting was not clear enough in terms
of the layout. Besides, the picture was also less attractive. As a result, the students could only explore limited words and prediction from the picture.
Secondly, the pictures were not used maximally. They were not explored deeply. As a result, the detail information in the pictures could not be
delivered well to the students. Then, the activity in exploring key words was monotonous. The students were only asked to mention everything they knew
