Identification of the Problem

The first problem is how the teacher manages the class. The teacher usually acts friendly to the students. He often has a joke by using Javanese language to attract students’ attention. Moreover, he also explains the lesson by using bilingual language in order to make them understand the material easily. On the other hand, the teacher sometimes does not give more explanation about the material so that the students do not understand the material well. Moreover, the teacher does not give more example about the materials, so the students get confused to do the exercise or homework. On the other hand, he does not care about the behavior of his students during the class, as long as they do not disturb the other students. On the other hand, most of the students deliver questions in Indonesian language. They have difficulty to deliver questions in English because they lack English vocabularies and do not know how to ask questions in English. They sometimes ask and answer questions by using Indonesian even Javanese. Sometimes they get frustrated to try speaking in English because they are afraid of saying the words wrongly. Moreover, the students also get difficult in comprehending English text. They get confused to understand the idea or the content of the text. They like reading short texts rather than the long ones. They often consult on their dictionary to know the unfamiliar of difficult words from the text, but it does not help them to comprehend the text. On the other hand, they also get problems in grammar. Most of them make mistakes in writing sentences. The problems actually not only come both from teacher and students, but also from the environment. Most of the students tend to speak in Indonesian or often speak in Javanese language outside the classroom. They feel strident to speak English because their friends mock them when they do so.

C. Limitation of the Problem

Based on the observation and problems toward the teacher and some students, it can be concluded that the students get difficulties in learning reading. Mostly, the students have difficulties to understand the text. Therefore, the researcher focused the study on the efforts to help the students improving their reading comprehension ability. Based on the case above, the researcher used mind mapping as a technique to improve the students’ ability in reading comprehension. The researcher believed that using mind mapping could solve the problem of reading because it is an interesting way to learn reading. Moreover, it can also attract the students to learn reading intensively.

D. Formulation of the Problem

Based on identification and limitation of the problem, research was formulated as how can mind mapping be used to improve the reading comprehension ability of grade eight students of SMP BOPKRI 3 Yogyakarta?

E. Objective of the Study

The objective of this research is to improve the reading comprehension ability of students of grade eight SMP BOPKRI 3 Yogyakarta in the academic year of 20132014 by using mind mapping.

F. Significance of the Study

It is expected that the finding of this study will give benefits and contribution for: 1. For the teacher It can be useful information about the best way to teach their students, to increase their reading comprehension ability, to increase the material quality and to give the model of teaching. 2. For the students The method can be used to increase the ability to learn reading comprehension well. 3. For other researchers The result may become an information for those who are interested in conducting research studies using mind mapping. Moreover, it can also enrich the knowledge of teaching English, especially in improving reading ability.