Applying Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) Technique to Improve Students’ Reading Comprehension in Discussion Text. (A Classroom Action Research in the Third Grade of SMA Fatahillah Jakarta)

APPLYING STUDENT TEAMS ACHIEVEMENT DIVISION

(STAD) TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE

STUDENTS’

READING

COMPREHENSION IN DISCUSSION TEXT

(A Classroom Action Research in the Third Grade of SMA Fatahillah Jakarta)

By

IIN AFRIYANTI UMAR NIM. 1110014000062

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS’ TRAINING

SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

JAKARTA

2015

Saya yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini,

Nama : Iin Afriyanti

Tempat/Tgl.Lahir : Jakarta, 27 Juli 1992

NIM : 1110014000062

Jurusan/Prodi : Pendidikan Bahsa Inggris

Judul Skripsi :Applying Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) Technique to Improve Students’ Reading Comprehension in Discussion Text. (A Classroom Action Research in the Third Grade of SMA Fatahillah Jakarta)

Dosen Pembimbing : 1. Dr. Alek, M.Pd.

2. Ummi Kulstum M.Pd.

Dengan ini menyatakan bahwa skripsi yang saya buat benar-benar hasil karya sendiri dan saya bertanggung jawab seara akademis atas apa yang saya tulis.

Pernyataan ini dibuat sebagai salah satu syarat menempuh Ujian Munaqasah.

Jakarta, 17 Desember 2014 Mahasiswa Ybs.

____________________ NIM. 1110014000062

v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the name of Allah, The Beneficent and The Merciful

All praise be to Allah the Lord of the worlds for the blessing, the strength, and the guidance to the researcher in completion of this research. Peace and blessing be upon to the Prophet Muhammad, his families, his companions, and his followers.

It is a valuable thing that the researcher finally accomplishes her ―skripsi‖

entitled ―Applying Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) Technique to Improve Students‘ Reading Comprehension in Discussion Text‖ (A Classroom Action Research in the Third Grade of SMA Fatahillah Jakarta). It is presented to

the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers‘ Training in a Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of Strata 1 (S.Pd.) in English Language Education. First, the writer would like to express the greatest gratitude to her beloved parents, Umar Ajad and Mariani, the writer‘s best part of life. Moreover, her brothers, Khairul Fahmi and Muhammad Irvan. I thank for love, support, and contributions both moral and material to the writer.

The writer also would like to express her sincere gratitude to her advisor, Dr. Alek, M.Pd. and Ummi Kulstum M.Pd. who has patiently given her valuable help, guidance, and corrections to finish this skripsi.

Furthermore, the researcher would like to give the deepest gratitude and the greatest honor to:

1. All lectures in Department of English Education for the knowledge, the motivation, and patience to the researcher during her study at State Islamic Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta University.

2. Drs. Syauki, M.Pd., the Head of Department of English Education.

3. Mr. Zaharil Anasy, M.Hum., the Secretary of Department of English

Education and the researcher‘s academic advisor.

4. Nurlena Rifa‘I, M.A., Ph.D., the Dean of Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers‘ Training.

vi

5. H. Maskuri, S.Pd. as the headmaster of SMA Fatahillah Jakarta who gave permission to do her research.

6. All of students at the third grade of science class at SMA Fatahillah Jakarta who participated in this research.

7. All of beloved friends of The Class of PBI B in Department of English Education. In addition, specially thanks to Dian Rahmati, Dhea Ghianina, Yulis Yasinta S.Pd., Windy Angraini, Wahyudi Wibisono, Yusri Nur Fadhilah, Siti Hadijah, Ari Wibowo, and Aziz Awaludin.

8. To any other persons who give contribution to the researcher and cannot be mentioned one by one.

Finally the researcher truly realizes that this ―skripsi‖ cannot be considered

as a perfect masterpiece. Therefore, it is a very precious thing for her to get suggestion and criticism which can make this better.

Jakarta, 8 Januari 2015

vii

ABSTRACT

Iin Afriyanti Umar (NIM: 1110014000062). Applying Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) Technique to Improve Students’ Reading Comprehension in Discussion Text; A Classroom Action Research in the Third Grade Students of Science Class at SMA Fatahillah Jakarta. Skripsi of English Education at Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers’ Training of State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, 2015.

The objective of this study is to improve students’ reading comprehension of

discussion text by applying STAD technique for the third grade students of SMA Fatahillah, Jakarta. The main problems that have been investigated were how the researcher improves students’ reading comprehension in discussion text through STAD technique.

The method used in this study is Classroom Action Research (CAR) method

in which to identify and to solve the problem on students’ reading comprehension.

Then, the instrument used in this study is a test including pretest and posttest and also non-test including questionnaire, and observation. In this Classroom Action Research, the researcher implements the Kurt Lewin’s design which consists of four phases. Those are planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The action hypothesis which is proposed in this research is by using Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) technique can improve students’ understanding of reading discussion text at the third grade students of Science Class at SMA Fatahillah Jakarta Selatan.

Based on the research findings, it can be said that in teaching reading of discussion text through Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) technique was successful since the criteria of success was achieved. The criterion of success of this research is 85% of students who can pass the Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) which is 75. The findings of research are: (1) Related to the test result; the result of the post-test 2 shows 13 students passed the KKM from 15 students; (2) Related to the questionnaire result, it shows student have a good improvement in learning reading of discussion text after implementing Students Team Achievement Division (STAD) technique in the teaching learning process; (3) Related to the observation result, the students were more active and interested in learning reading activity in the classroom.

viii

ABSTRAK

Iin Afriyanti Umar (NIM: 1110014000062). Applying Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) Technique to Improve Students’ Reading Comprehension in Discussion Text; A Classroom Action Research in the Third Grade Students of Science Class at SMA Fatahillah Jakarta. Skripsi, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Ilmu Tarbiyah dan Keguruan, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, 2015.

Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mendapatkan bukti empiris tentang bagaimana cara membangun pemahaman membaca siswa terhadap teks diskusi dengan menggunakan STAD tehnik untuk siswa-siswi kelas tiga di SMA Fatahillah, Jakarta. Masalah utama yang diselidiki dalam penelitian ini adalah bagaimana bisa peneliti meningkatkan kemampuan membaca teks diskusi siswa melalui STAD tehnik.

Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah Penelitian Tindakan Kelas (PTK); untuk mengidentifikasi dan mengatasi permasalahan pemahaman siswa dalam membaca teks diskusi. Kemudian instrumen yang digunakan adalahh instrumen tes yang berupa pretes dan postes, serta instrumen non-tes berupa angket, dan observasi. Adapun model Penelitian Tindakan Kelas yang digunakan menganut pada Kurt Lewin model; yang mana terdiri dari empat tahapan (perencanaan, pelaksanaan, pengamatan, dan refleksi). Hipotesis tindakan yang diajukan di penelitian ini adalah dengan menggunakan STAD tehnik dapat meningkatkan pemahaman membaca siswa terhadap teks diskusi pada kelas tiga IPA di SMA Fatahillah, Jakarta.

Berdasarkan hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa pengajaran membaca teks diskusi dengan menggunakan tehnik STAD telah berhasil, karena kriteria kesuksesan dapat dicapai. Kriteria kesuksesan peneletian ini adalah 85% persen siswa dapat mencapai nilai Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) yaitu 75. Hasil yang diperoleh dari penelitian ini adalah: (1) berdasarkan hasil tes, yaitu hasil post-test 2 menunjukan bahwa dari 15 siswa terdapat 13 siswa yang mampu mencapai Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal (KKM) (2) berdasarkan dari hasil angket siswa mengalami peningkatan yang baik dalam mempelajari teks diskusi setelah di terapkannya metode STAD dalam proses belajar mengajar; (3) berdasarkan hasil observasi di kelas didapati bahwa siswa-siswa lebih aktif dan tertarik dalam mempelajari aktivitas membaca di kelas.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Page

TITLE ... i

SURAT PERNYATAAN KARYA SENDIRI ... ii

APPROVAL... iii

ENDORSEMENT ... iv

ACKNOWLEDGE ... v

ABSTRACT ... vii

TABLE OF CONTENT ... ix

LIST OF TABLES ... xii

LIST OF FIGURES ... xiii

LIST OF APPENDICES... xiv

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1

A. Background of the study ... 1

B. Identification of the Problem ... 4

C. Limitation of the problem ... 5

D. Formulation of the Problem ... 5

E. Objectives of the Research ... 5

F. The Significance of the Research ... 5

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ... 6

A. Reading ... 6

1. The Definition of Reading ... 6

2. Reading Comprehension ... 7

3. Basic Comprehension Ability ... 8

4. Types of Reading ... 10

5. Skills Reading ... 11

6. Types of text ... 13

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B. Discussion Text ... 14

1. Understanding of Discussion Text ... 14

2. The Purposes of Discussion Text ... 16

3. The Schematic Structure of Discussion Text ... 17

4. Language Features of Discussion Text ... 19

C. Cooperative Learning ... 20

1. The Understanding of Cooperative Learning ... 20

2. The Techniques of Cooperative Learning ... 21

D. Students Team Achievement Division (STAD) ... 22

1. The Understanding of STAD Technique ... 22

2. The Advantage and Disadvantage of STAD ... 27

E. Review of Previous Study Related to Research ... 28

F. Thinking Framework ... 29

G. Action Hypothesis ... 30

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 31

A. The Aim of the Research... 31

B. The Place and Time of the Research ... 31

C. Subject of The Research... 32

D. Researcher’s role in the research... 32

E. Research method and design ... 32

F. Research Instrument ... 35

G. Data Collecting Procedures ... 36

H. Technique of Data Analysis ... 37

I. Trustworthiness ... 39

J. Technique of Drawing Conclusion ... 40

CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION ... 42

A. Finding ... 42

1. Finding pre-implementation of the CAR ... 42

2. Cycle 1 ... 46

xi

4. Finding after Implementing the CAR ... 57

B. Interpretation of the Result... 62

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ... 64

A. Conclusion ... 64

B. Suggestion ... 64

REFERENCES ... 66

xii

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 2.1 Example of Team Summary Sheet’s Table ... 25

Table 2.2 Example ofAssigning Students to Team’s Table ... 26

Table 3.1 Schedule of the research ... 31

Table 3.2 The Observation Sheet Blueprint of Students’ Activity ... 35

Table 3.3 The Blueprint of Rating Score in Observation ... 38

Table 4.1 The Students’ Result of Pre-Questionnaire ... 43

Table 4.2 The Students’ Reading Score of Discussion Text in Pre-Test ... 45

Table 4.3 Assigning Students to Team ... 47

Table 4.4 The Result of Observation Sheet at The Cycle 1 ... 49

Table 4.4 The Students’ Reading Score of Discussion Text in Post-Test 1 ... 51

Table 4.5 The Result of Observation Sheet at The Cycle 2 ... 54

Table 4.6 The Students’ Reading Score of Discussion Text in Post-Test 2 ... 56

Table 4.7 The Students’ Result of Post-Questionnaire ... 57

xiii

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 2.1 Discussion Text and Its Schematic Structure ... 18

xiv

LIST OF APPENDICES

Page

Appendix 1: Pre-Questionnaire for Students ... 70

Appendix 2: The Questionnaire After CAR ... 71

Appendix 3: The Lesson Plan of The First Meeting in Cycle 1 ... 73

Appendix 4: The Lesson Plan of The Second Meeting in Cycle 1 ... 78

Appendix 5: The Lesson Plan of The Third Meeting in Cycle 1 ... 85

Appendix 6: The Lesson Plan of The First Meeting in Cycle 2 ... 90

Appendix 7: The Lesson Plan of The Second Meeting in Cycle 2 ... 97

Appendix 8: The Lesson Plan of The Third Meeting in Cycle 2 ... 106

Appendix 9: Quiz Score Sheet ... 111

Appendix 10: Team Summary Sheet ... 112

Appendix11: The Blueprint of Pre-Test ... 113

Appendix12: The Blueprint of Post-Test 1 ... 114

Appendix13: The Blueprint of Post-Test 2 ... 115

Appendix 14: The Question of Pre-Test ... 116

Appendix 15: The Question of Post-Test 1 ... 121

Appendix 16: The Question of Post-Test 2 ... 128

Appendix 17: The Keys Answer ... 136

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the general account of the present study. It covers background of study, formulation of the problem, objective of the study, and significance of the study.

A.

Background of the Study

Reading is one of the important activities that someone has to do if she/he wants to have bright life. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that ―if we encounter a men rare intellect, we should ask him what books he read.‖ Not only that, Vera Nazarian state whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light. Moreover, Dr. Seuss indicates that the more that you read, the more think you will know.1 In short, those who read more books, the more information can be gotten, and yet by having much information, the more benefits can be picked up.

In education, reading also has an important role in improving students‘

knowledge. Because by reading, students can broaden their knowledge from the information they read. For instance, they can answer the questions that the teacher gave easily, give a definition of a term, know the latest issues, and also they can share the information they know to other friends and other people.

In line with this, reading is also one of the language skills in learning English. Jeremy harmer noted in his book that in English learning, there are four skills that should be mastered by the students. They are listening, speaking, reading, and writing.2 Since learning English is essential, as state in Perundangan tentang Kurikulum sistem Pendidikan Nasional 2013: ―Foreign language especially English is an international language which the utility in comprehending it is very

1

Goodreads, Quotes about Education, 2014, (http://goodreads.com/2014/11/07/quotes-about-education/.)

2

Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching. (New York: Longman Inc., 1989), p. 16.

important in the globalization era.‖3

So being able to read English text is also needed for success in study.

Moreover, reading skills for senior high level have to deal with many kinds of texts, and one kind of text which has to be learnt is discussion text. It is stated in Standard Competence and Basic Competence (SK, KD) both in Curriculum KTSP 2006, and Curriculum 2013. The discussion text is one of the new genre texts that will learned by the third grade of senior high. The discussion text is a type of text that gives the for and against, the positive and negative, or the good points and the bad points. The purpose of a discussion is to presents to the audience different opinions on a topic and, at the end, your opinion.

So important is reading to be mastered, yet modern authorities in the field of reading consider reading as a highly complex process.4 Many people can read, but many are unable to read critically or to use reading in solving their problems. Commonly when reading, they are just recognizing the word meaning from the printed page. Whereas, reading ability is comprised not only of the mechanical skills, such as word recognition and phrasing, but also of the ability to comprehend, to interpret and to evaluate the printed or written page.

Concerning about the importance of reading, actually, there are also many obstacles in learning Reading at schools. Generally, the problem in learning reading at school is likely to be related with the teaching and learning process. Mostly, teaching and learning process are still less interesting and tend to be teacher centered. As the researcher experienced and observed in classroom activities during Praktek Profesi Keguruan Terpadu (PPKT) in XIIth grade of Science Class at SMA Fatahillah Jakarta Selatan, there were some problems which students faced in the learning reading skill. First, most of students have a limited English vocabulary, so they always face a difficulty in comprehending the text. Second, the other students, who have a good English vocabulary, just had the ability to recognize the word but they could not draw a conclusion of what the

3

Tim Redaksi Pustaka Yustisia, Perundangan Tentang Kurikulum Sistem Pendidikan Nasional 2013, (Yogyakarta: Penerbit Pustaka Yustisia, 2013), p. 242.

4

Guy L. Bond and Eva Wagner, Teaching Child to Read, (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1969), p. 4.

author extends. Third, they tended to be lazy to answer the question individually, so they decided to cheat to their friend. Fourth, the researcher found that the teaching learning process was less interesting, so the students were noisy in class. Finally, there is prominent gap that occurred among students with higher level and student with average and lower level. Student with higher performances tend to be dominated and active during teaching and learning process. In contrast, students with average and lower performance tend to be passive and silent in teaching learning process.

In summary, there could be an underlined problem. There is the fact that

students‘ reading achievement is low due to the low of teaching strategy. However, reading has an important role for success in study. Considering the facts above, there is an urgent need to implement a strategy or technique that can help solve these problems and involve the teachers and students so that the teacher are not too dominant in the class and students can be involved in cooperative and interesting activities. By engaging students in interesting and cooperative activities, they will likely be more interested and motivated in reading. Then, the students in which consider as a high performance can share and teach other students who is categorized as an average and lower performance.

There are many alternative strategies to engage students in reading activities. One of which is Students Team Achievement Division (STAD) technique from the cooperative learning strategy, that make student active in class with use of

small group to increase their own and each other‘s ability in learning. This strategy can help the student to solve the problem in reading comprehension and overcome boredom in reading class activities.

STAD technique is one of a set of instructional techniques developed and researched by Slavin at Johns Hopkins University. Slavin stated in his book, ―Two of the oldest and most extensively researched forms of cooperative learning are Students Teams Achievement Division and Team-Games-Tournament.‖5 It also very adaptable, it has been used in mathematics, science, social studies, English,

5

Robert E. Slavin, Cooperative Learning Theory, Reasearch, and Practice, Second Edition, (Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon, 1990), p. 71.

industrial arts, and many other subjects, and at levels from second grade to college.

STAD technique is based on the idea of having students work in cooperative learning teams to learn academic objectives. However, this technique emphasizes the use of team goals and team success, which can only be achieved if all members of the team learn the objectives being taught. In other word, in Students Team Learning, the students task are not to do something as a team, but to learn

something as a team, where the team‘s work is not done until all team members

have mastered the material being studied.

Based on the explanation above, it can be interpreted that by using STAD technique, students can learn effectively within their group. The teacher can manage the time efficiently in explaining the material, since they will discuss the material deeper in their group. Moreover, the high level students will facilitate and help others in understanding the material.

In line with the statement above, this research is important to be continued

under the title ―Applying Student Team Achievement Division (STAD)

Technique to Improve Students‘ Reading Comprehension in Discussion Text‖ (A Classroom Action Research in Third Year Students of SMA Fatahillah Jakarta).

B.

Identification Of The Problem

Based on the background of the study above, there are several problems that can be identified in this research:

1. Student still have difficulty in comprehending the text because most students have limited vocabularies.

2. Students could not draw a conclusion of what the author extends because they just have the ability to recognize the word not the whole sentence. 3. Students less interest in learning English because the teacher did not apply

any kind of strategies and techniques.

4. Students with higher score tend to be dominant in the class.

5. Students are lazy to do the assessment individually because they do not understand the material.

C.

Limitation of The Problem

To avoid misunderstanding and to clarify the problem, it is important to limit

the problem. In this research, the researcher only focuses on students‘ still have

difficulty in comprehending text. The researcher intends to know whether Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) technique can help student comprehend discussion text.

D.

Formulation of the Problem

Based on the limitation of the problem, the problem of the study is formulated

as follow: ―How does the researcher improve the students‘ reading comprehension in discussion text of the third grade students at SMA Fatahillah Jakarta through Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) technique?‖

E.

The Objective of the Study

Based on the formulation above, the objective of the study is to improve

students‘ reading comprehension of discussion text for the third grade students of SMA Fatahillah, Jakarta.

F.

Significance of the Study

The result of the study is expected can give useful information for English

teachers at SMA Fatahillah in fostering students‘ reading comprehension.

Moreover, the result of the study will introduce a new activity that can be practiced by the student to improve their reading comprehension especially in discussion text. More importantly, teacher can facilitate student with technique that can involve them actively in learning reading, so they will be interested in experiencing reading and hopefully their reading comprehension will increase significantly. And the findings of this study can be used by other researcher as consideration for further study.

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CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter covers some theories related to the Research. The discussion focuses on the reading, discussion text, cooperative learning, and Students Team Achievement Division Technique.

A.

Reading

1. The Definition of Reading

Reading is a common thing in our life. In every subject of learning activities consist of reading since the lesson in the content subjects need the use of textbook, reference book and related library writing. Even in hand-writing of the teacher on the blackboard also require to be read by the students. In conclusion reading is truly a basic means of learning in all subjects.

Furthermore, there are a lot of definitions of reading. Linguists give definition about reading, their opinions about reading vary. Some of them say reading is the process to get, to understand, to catch the content of the reading. And also reading is a process to understand a written text which means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible. The definition comes from Francoise Grellet who said that ―Reading is a constant process of guessing, and what one brings to the text is often more important than what one finds in it.‖1 It is

supported by Guy L. Bond that ―Reading is the process of requiring an author‘s meaning of interpreting, evaluating and effecting upon those meaning‖.2

Reading is to get meaning defined by Guy L. Bond, also said by Mary

Finocchiaro that ―Reading is bringing meaning to and getting meaning from

printed or written material‖.3

From all that definitions can be summed up that

1

Francoise Grellet, Developing Reading Skills, (Cambridge: University Press, 2010), p. 7.

2

Guy L. Bond and Eva Wagner, Teaching Child to Read, (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1969), p. 4.

3

Mary Finocchiaro and Micheal Bonomo, The Foreign Language Learner: A Guide for Teacher, (New York: Tegent Publishing Company Inc., 1973), p. 119.

reading is a process to get meaning from a text that has read with through the process of recognition, interpretation, perception and evaluation of meaning.

2. Reading Comprehension

The essence of reading act is comprehension: it becomes a primary challenge in teaching or learning of reading skill. In order to learn or understand the massage of the author, the students are hoped to have the ability to comprehend the written textbook.

Ellen K. Closs define reading comprehension as ―the process of readers interacting and constructing meaning from text, implementing the use of prior knowledge, and the information found in the text.‖4 In some paragraphs, the topic sentence may not state the complete main idea. The topic may be stated in one sentence, and the writer's idea about the topic may be expressed in another sentence or in several sentences in the paragraph. In this case, the reader must combine ideas from several sentences to infer the complete main idea. To know that it is really expressing a complete idea, the main idea statement should always be stated in a complete sentence with a subject and verb. The statement above is also supported by Barbara Hawkins that stated ―Viewed in the past as either a top -down or bottom-up process, we now thinking reading comprehension results from

interactive variables that operate simultaneously rather than sequentially.‖5

In line with this, reading comprehension ability is the major goal of reading comprehension. There are many skills that have to be completed in order to reach

comprehension ability. As Guy and Eva said ―Comprehension is made up of a

number of basic abilities, including skill in recognizing words and their meanings, in grouping words into thought units and in giving the proper emphasis to the

thought units so that the sentences may be understood.‖6

In short, to develop

4

Ellen K. Closs, ―Teaching Reading Comprehension to Struggling and at Risk Reader: Strategies That Work‖ in The Reading Teacher. Nov. 2004. p. 272.

5

Marianne Celce-Murcia (eds.), Teaching English as A Second or Foreign Language,

(Boston: Heinle &Heinle Publisher, 1991), p. 170.

6

comprehension abilities, we have to consider many skills that related to sentences and meaning.

Meanwhile George D. Spache stated that ―Comprehension is more than

understanding the ideas conveyed by the printed word, for this ideas must be

meaningful to the reader and must be integrated with his own concepts.‖7

In other word, understanding does not mean the readers have comprehended the ideas, but when the readers can combine the ideas of the text into their own concept it can be identified as a comprehension. With comprehension readers can get the ideas from the text more useful.

In addition, Philipot and Grave said in his book that ―a number of theoretical

considerations underline the understanding of comprehension and the suggestions for promoting comprehensions. The most important of these come from cognitive psychology, the social constructivist orientation, and reader response theory. There are three concepts emerging from cognitive psychology. They are schema theory, the interactive model, and metacognition. Then, the social constructivist orientation discuss about the general concept of constructivism, social

constructivism, and the significance of context.‖8

In other word, there are many theories which become a basic foundation in interpreting and identifying the meaning of comprehension.

So the writer can sum up that reading comprehension is the activity to integrate written text that containing information into reader own concept, and to recognize of written materials, interpretation of meaning and interaction with background knowledge in order to make the ideas from the text more meaningful.

3. Basic Comprehension Ability

In this term, consideration will be given to the basic comprehensions ability needed for the many reading process. The basic comprehension ability consist of the ability to comprehending word meaning, comprehending thought units,

7

George D. Spache, Toward Better Reading, (Champaign: Garrard Publishing Company, 1963), p. 61.

8

Raymond Phillippot and Michael F. Graves, Fostering Comprehension in English Classes. (New York: The Guilford Press, 2009), pp. 5—12.

comprehending sentence sense, comprehending paragraphs, and understanding total selection.9 The explanations among them are discussed below:

a. Comprehending Word Meaning

Associating the correct meaning of a word with its printed symbol is the most basic of all comprehension abilities. The reader is categorized as someone who comprehend word meaning if the he can not only recognizing the printed symbol, but he also must select from many the exact meaning the author had in mind. Hence, word meanings are so essential to word recognition and so interrelated with word recognition. It is well, however, for the students of reading to recognize that no comprehension can take place without adequate association of word-meanings to the printed symbols that represent item.

b. Comprehending Thought Units

The most essential efficient meaningful reading is having sufficiently rapid word-recognition techniques to enable the reader to assemble words into thought units. Much of the difficulty in thought-unit reading is caused by the lack of ability to analyze the printed line into usable thought units. This is accomplished by an anticipation of the thought units which are to come through the more or less automatic use of the peripheral or marginal vision.

c. Comprehending Sentence Sense

Actually it is an additional component in basic comprehension skill, but it still needed to be taught. When reading, we must appreciate the sentence as a whole. We have to be taught to sense relationship between its parts. Sometimes we also have to accustom ourselves to sense the part of sentences of unusual order. To encourage the ability to comprehend sentences sense for the beginner reader is they should start the direct sentence in which the parts are easily located. The reader also should be introduced gradually to sentences in which connectives change the anticipated ending of the sentences.

d. Comprehending paragraph

In comprehending paragraph means that reader understanding a paragraph depends, to great extent, upon an appreciation of the interrelationship among its

9

sentence. It is taught by giving specific attention to the meaning and organization of paragraph. The reader requires exercise to find the best statement of the general meanings of paragraph is helpful.

e. Understanding total selection

Sensing the meaning of a total selection is a basic comprehension ability that depends upon discerning the interrelationship among the paragraphs and also the interrelationships among the various sections of the larger presentation. Actually, when completing the text, the writer follows an established sequence the reader should sense as he read.

In conclusion, there are many basic comprehension abilities that the reader should consider in reading the text. The ability to associating the word meaning and printed comprehending word meaning, comprehending thought units, comprehending sentence sense, comprehending paragraphs, and understanding total selection.

4. Types of Reading

a. Scanning

Scanning is the process of quickly searching reading material in order to locate specific bits of information. When you scan, you don‘t start at beginning and read through the end. Instead, you jump around in the text trying to find the information you need. You probably already scan when you search for a phone number in a telephone book, go through the TV guide looking for a program to watch, or look up a word in the dictionary.10

b. Skimming

The purpose of skimming is to gain a quick overview in order to identify the main points. When skimming, you will often skip words, sentences, and paragraphs. When you are satisfied that you have a general understanding of the

author‘s key points, you put the reading material aside. Skimming, then, serves as

a substitute for careful reading.

10

Peter Mather and Rita McCarthy, Reading and All That Jazz: Tuning up your Reading, Thinking, and Study Skills. 3rd edition. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007), p. 526.

When you are skimming, be sure to move rapidly through the material, skipping the information you are already familiar with. You may wish to read the first and the last sentences of each paragraph because that is often where the main ideas are located. Read the introduction and the summary if one is provided. When examples are given, you may want to read a few of them until you understand the concepts they are meant to illustrate. When skimming a textbook chapter, glance quickly at the title, subheadings, italicized words, boldface print, and illustrations. 11

5. Skills in Reading

a. Predictive Skill

The efficient reader predicts what he is going to read and the process of understanding the text is the process of seeing how the content of the text matches up to these predictions. In the first instance his predictions will be the result of the expectation he has. As he continues to read, however, his predictions will change as he receives more information from the text.

b. Extracting specific information

Very often the reader is involved in the use of receptive skills for the sole purpose of extracting specific information. In other words the reader may look at a piece of written language not in order to understand it all, but for the purpose of finding out only one or two facts. This skill when applied to reading is often called scanning.

c. Getting the general picture

Reader often read to something because they want to get the general picture. In other words they want to read something and as a result of their reading have a general idea of the main points of what they have read: it is the main point that they are interested in, not the detail. Indeed the skill of reading in order to get the

general picture, called skimming, presupposes the reader‘s ability to pick out the

main points and discard what is irrelevant, or what is only detail. The reader is able to skim rapidly over information that is repeated more than once.

11

d. Inferring opinion and attitude

A reader often has to be able to work out what the writer opinions and attitudes are, particularly since they are not always directly stated. The experienced reader will know, from various clues he receives while reading, whether the writer approves of the topic he is discussing, or whether his opinion of the personality he is describing is favourable or not. The ability to infer opinion and attitude is largely based on the recognition of linguistic style and its use to achieve appropriate purposes.

e. Deducing meaning from context

Even native speaker often come across words in written text that they do not understand. Most usually, however, the fact that a word is unknown to them does not cause any particular problem. Based on the context in which the word occurs the native speaker guesses its meaning. Usually, too, his guess will be right. The point is that the deducing of meaning is important for a language user who will often meet unknown words. It should be said that for a native speaker there is a point at which they are not able to deduce meaning from context where there are a great number of word that they do not understand.

f. Recognizing function and discourse patterns and markers

Native speakers know that when they read ‗for example‘ this phrase will be followed by an example. When they read ‗in other word‘ a concept will be

explained in a different way. Recognizing such discourse markers is an important part of understanding how a text is constructed. It is important to know, for example, which sentence in a paragraph is a generalization and which sentence then backs up that generalization with evidence. It is also important to be able to recognize devices for cohesion and understand how a text is organized coherently.12

12

Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching. (New York: Longman Inc., 1989), pp. 144—145.

6. Types of text

a. Authentic text

Authentic texts are those which are designed for native speakers. They are real texts designed not for language students, but for the speakers of the language in question. Any English newspaper is composed of what we would call authentic English.

b. Non-authentic text

A non-authentic text is one that has been written especially for language students, but here again there is a distinction to be made between texts written to illustrate particular language points for presentation, and those written to appear

authentic, even though there has been some language control of the ‗rough tuning‘

type. The justification for the latter is that beginner students will probably not be able to handle genuinely authentic texts, but should nevertheless be given practice in reading to texts that look authentic. The reading of such text will help students to acquire the necessary receptive skills they will need when they eventually come to tackle authentic material.13

7. The Problems of Reading

According to Jeremy Harmer in his book ―The Practice of English Language Teaching‖, there are a number of particular problems in reading. It consists of language, topic and genre, comprehension tasks, and negative expectation.14 a. Language

In the case of written text some researchers look at word and sentence length. Truly, the text with longer sentences and longer words will be more difficult to understand than those with shorter ones. If reader does not know half the words in a text, they will have difficulty in understanding a text as a whole. To be successful they have to recognize many vocabularies without consciously thinking about it. In short, it is clear that both sentence length and unknown words both

play their role in a text‘s comprehensibility.

13

Ibid., p. 146. 14

Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Third Edition, (Harlow: Longman, 2002), pp. 203 – 208.

b. Topic and Genre

Reading activities prove less successful than anticipated because the topic is not appropriate or because students are not familiar with the genre of the text. If students are not interested in a topic, or if they are unfamiliar with the text genre, they may be hard to engage fully with the activity. Their lack of engagement may be a major hindrance to success in reading.

c. Comprehension tasks

The choice of comprehension task is essential in fostering the successful of reading. Sometimes such tasks appear to be testing the students rather than helping them to understand. However, the tasks that tend to test students will not

be an appropriate way of accomplishing the students‘ improvement in this skill.

Sometimes texts or the tasks which accompany them are far too easy or far too difficult.

d. Negative expectation

Negative expectation sometime is felt by students when they are reading. They tend to think that they are not going to understand the text because it is bound to be too difficult, and they predict that the whole experience will be frustrating. Those occur due to the previous unhappy or unsuccessful experience. If, in the past, students have been given reading and listening text which are too difficult, that will color their view of the process.

B.

Discussion Text

1. Understanding of Discussion Text

Before discussing the understanding of discussion text, it is better to discuss what the understanding of text is. Manuel and John states, ―A text is defined as a product that is expressed inside of and through a system of norms that is

linguistic.‖15

It can be seen that a text is something expressed that comes from a system of norms, and it is linguistic. Meanwhile, Daniel Cottom states, ―A text is not an objective thing but rather the object constituted by conditions of meaning

15

Manuel J. Caro and John W. Murph y, The World of Quantum Culture. (Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. Inc, 2002), p. 39.

within a particular score.‖16 This statement defines that a text is more than an objective, a text is constructed through meaning. A text is valued from the meaning listed in.

There are two main categories of texts, literary and factual.17 Within these, there are various text types. Each type has a common and usual way of using language. Literary text is constructed to appeal to our emotion and imagination. There are main text types in this category such as narrative, poetic and drama.

Meanwhile, Factual present information or ideas and aim to show, tell or invite the audience. The main text types of factual text are recount, response, explanation, discussion, information report, exposition and procedure. In other word, discussion text is one types of factual text that present to the audience both sides of the topic either it is a good point or bad point.

Anderson in his book state that discussion text is a text that gives the for and against, the positive and negative, or the good points and the bad points towards a topic discussed. The purpose of a discussion text is to present to the audience different opinions on a topic and, at the end, your opinion. It can be understood that discussion text is a type of text that presents both side of the case including the positive or negative statement.

Experiencing discussion texts can help students to think clearly and

critically. It encourages students to listen and respond to others‘ opinions, and ask related question. Therefore, discussion texts make students become aware that actually the facts can be interpreted in different ways and that a variety of opinions toward an issue may be valid. In short, by learning discussion text students will be wise in facing a determined issue.

Throughout their live students will need to make decisions. Either it is a big decision or a simple one. Hence, it is important for students to develop the skills to look both of sides of an argument objectively before making a decision. Discussion text will give students opportunity to develop the skills of finding

16

Daniel Cottom. Text and Culture: The Politics of Interpretation.. (Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 1989), p. 40.

17

Mark Anderson & Kathy Anderson, Text Types in English 2, (South Yarra: Macmillan, 2003), p. 1.

information to support their arguments and emphasis the importance of anticipating arguments and responding to this.

In addition, Discussion texts are concerned with the analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of issues. In effective discussion, all points of view on an issue are considered and attitudes change when different perspectives are seen.18 It can be concluded, discussion text gives students opportunity to explore different perspective toward an issue. Students are accustomed to the ability in involving and persuading audience while evaluating the strength of different argument.

There is a summary that can be picked up based on the definition explains above. A discussion text is a text that presenting different opinion of an issue consists of argument for and arguments again. Learning discussion text related to the real life situation that students will be faced. They have to make a decision, and the skills in making decision can be learned through learning a discussion text.

2. The Purpose of Discussion Text

The purpose of discussion text is to present different opinions, view point or perspective on an issue. As Mark and Kathy Anderson stated in their book; the purpose of discussion text is to present to the audience different opinions on a topic and, at the end, your opinion.19 It means discussion text enable reader to explore different ideas both negative and positive side of an issue. It will be meaningful for reader to get important information needed before making a decision. It also can make a reader critically in facing an issue.

18

Bloke Education, Structure and Features of Discussion Text, 2014, p. 1, (http://literacy4life.wikispaces.com/file/view/Discussion+texts+Stage+2+Pt+1.pdf.)

19

Mark Anderson & Kathy Anderson, Text Types in English 1, (South Yarra: Macmillan, 2003), p. 117.

3. The Schematic Structure of Discussion Text

In constructing discussion text, there are several steps that should be considered by the author. The elements of them are also provided to guide the readers in reading the text.

a. An Introductory Paragraph

Discussion text begins with a brief introduction describing the situation. It has a statement or question about the topic.20 In this introduction will be recognized that there are two points of view. We can see the example of introductory paragraph in the part of the text by the title, ―Television: The best invention of the twentieth century?‖:

“During the twentieth century the world has witnessed the invention of many

amazing things. Television is a great invention but there are arguments for and against whether it is the best invention of the twentieth century.”

b. A Series of Paragraphs

This paragraph gives evidence, opinions, or argument for and against the topic. There are two terms in this paragraph; first is argument for and supporting evidence, second argument against and supporting evidence.

In the next few paragraphs elaborate the arguments for the issue, based on researching, surveying and interviewing experts. It is what we called argument for. Meanwhile, the next set of paragraphs describes the arguments against the issue based on researching, surveying or interviewing. It is what we called argument against.

Each paragraph should be clearly structured with a topic sentence supported by details. The supporting material could be reported speech, or supporting evidence from research or surveys.21 Here the example of argument for and argument against:

“Television was invented in the 1920’s and first came to Australia in

1956. It has played an important role in communicating news. We can learn

20

Ibid., p. 118.

21

Bloke Education, Structure and Features of Discussion Text, 2014, p. 2, (http://literacy4life.wikispaces.com/file/view/Discussion+texts+Stage+2+Pt+1.pdf.)

instantly about what is happening in the world because of television. We often see it happening such as when the Vietnam wars taking place.”

“On the other hand, there are other inventions that could be seen as more important than television. Some would argue the computer has made life easier for many people, including those in the outback, especially with email and internet connections.”

c. A Conclusion

The discussion ends by presenting a personal point of view, either for or against the topic, before concluding. The conclusion sums up both sides of the argument if they are fairly balanced, or can recommend one argument over the other if the evidence is overwhelming.22 This is the one of example of concluding paragraph in discussion text:

―It can be seen that there are reasons supporting and questioning television being considered the best invention of the twentieth century. After looking at both sides I still believe it is the best invention.”

Here is the example of discussion text and its schematic structure:

Television: The best invention of the Twentieth Century?

During the twentieth century the world has witnessed the invention of many amazing things. Television is a great invention but there are arguments for and against whether it is the best invention of the twentieth century.

Television was invented in the 1920‘s and first came to Australia in 1956. It has played an important role in communicating news. We can learn instantly about what is happening in the world because of television. We often see it happening such as when the Vietnam war was taking place

Television has also provided people with entertainment in their own homes. People in isolated areas can still feel part of the world because of television. This is especially true for those Australians who live in the outback areas. This is why many people are concerned with the possible sale of Telstra as they feel they will lose vital links with the world.

22

Ibid.

A general statement that introduces the

topic for discussion

Reasons for television being the best

On the other hand, there are other inventions that could be seen as more important than television. Some would argue the computer has made life easier for many people, including those in the outback, especially with email and internet connections.

Others would argue that many medical inventions, such as heart pacemakers which have allowed many people to lead healthy and happy lives despite a potentially crippling disease, are a more important invention.

It can be seen that there are reasons supporting and questioning television being considered the best invention of the twentieth century. After looking at both sides I still believe it is the best invention.

Figure 2.1

Discussion Text and Its Schematic Structure

Seeing the text above and schematic structure, the writer may describe that the introductory paragraph show briefly statement that describe the situation. And it recognizes the two points of view. It introduces television as a great invention during twentieth century, and it tells that there are arguments for and against which questioning whether it‘s the best invention or not.

In addition, there are some arguments for supporting the statement that television being the best invention in twentieth century. It proved based on the research, survey and interview. Then, the next paragraph elaborates the argument that against the television being the best invention. It is proved by the fact that there is also computer that has made life easier.

Furthermore, there is a conclusion paragraph that gives a final point of view, either for or against the topic. In this case, after delivering some argument for and against, the writer presenting his/her own personal perspective that the writer thinks television is still a great invention.

4. Language Features of Discussion Text

The language features usually found in a discussion text are: a. The use of generic terms related to the topic.

Reasons against television being the best

invention

Concluding comment with

b. The use of words that show a comparison or a contrast. c. The use of words that link arguments.

d. The use of general statement to make statement. e. The use of thinking verbs.

f. The use of connectives to link arguments. g. The use of quoted and reported speech. h. The use of comparative adjectives.23

C.

Cooperative Learning

1. The Understanding of Cooperative Learning.

In a classroom, especially in Indonesia‘s school, the teachers are faced with a

problem in which they should handle a class that consists of 25 to 35 students. This is one of the challenges in teaching today. Teachers are expected to teach in a way that enables students to learn materials in the classroom cooperatively.

Cooperative learning is an approach to teaching that makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and small groups of learners in the classroom. However, we cannot define all types of group work as cooperative learning. It has to be structured-organized that can make the students interact with other and they can inspire others to master the material being studied. It has been defined as follows: ―Cooperative Learning (CL) is a body of literature and research that has examined the effects of cooperation in education. CL is not general, free discussion; nor are all types of group work necessarily cooperative. Cooperative learning is carefully structured- organized so that each learner

interacts with others and all learners are motivated to increase each other‘s learning.‖24

Cooperative learning creates opportunity for students to help their group members to solve their learning problems which in small group students feel more comfortable asking for help. In cooperative learning students can work their

23

Ibid.

24

Carolyn Kessler (Ed.), Cooperative Language Learning: A Teacher’s Resource Book, (United States of America: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1992), p. 1.

aasignment together. Cooperative learning grounded in the belief in that learning is most effective when students are acctively involved in sharing ideas and work cooperatively to completeacademic tasks.

According to Roger E. W-B Olsen and Spencer Kagan in Cooperative Language Learning‘s book, ―CL provides increased interactions between students. This, in turn, increases opportunities for language practice while using those same interactions to increase comprehension of lesson material. Nonnative English speaker in CL classes show gains in language acquisition and academic achievement that are either equivalent to or superior to gains through traditional whole-class instruction.‖25

Based on the all statement above, the writer summarized that cooperative learning is a learning model which provides opportunity to interact and communicate with each other. Cooperative learning is not just putting students into group but they should learn social skill. The cooperative learning requires students to be active in the grou p and achieved the main goal of every member in the group.

2. The Technique of Cooperative Learning

There are many techniques in Cooperative Learning which can be applied by teachers in teaching-learning activities, such as; Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD), Teams-Games-Tournament (TGT), Jigsaw, Number Head Together (NHT) and Team Accelerated Instruction (TAI). Three are general cooperative learning methods adapted to most subjects and grade levels; STAD, TGT, and Jigsaw.26

The writer limits his study only in Student Teams-Achievement Division (STAD) technique as he mentioned in chapter one.

25

Ibid., p. 1

26

Steven G. McCafferty (Ed.), Cooperative Learning and Second Language Teaching,

D.

Students Teams Achievement Division (STAD) Technique.

1. Understanding of Students Teams Achievement Division (STAD) Technique.

Students Teams Achievement Division (STAD) is one of the set of instructional technique developed and researched by Slavin at Johns Hopkins University. Slavin stated in his book, ―Two of the oldest and most extensively researched forms of cooperative learning are Students Teams Achievement Division and Team-Games-Tounament.‖27

STAD technique is based on the idea of having students work in cooperative learning teams to learn academic objectives. However, this technique emphasizes the use of team goals and team success, which can only be achieved if all members of the team learn the objectives being taught. In other word, in Students

Team Learning, the students‘ tasks are not to do something as a team, but to learn

something as a team, where the team‘s work is not done until all team members

have mastered the material being studied.

STAD is also the simplest cooperative learning methods, and the most appropriate method for teachers who want to apply the Cooperative Learning for the first time in their teaching-learning activities. STAD is one of the simplest of all cooperative learning methods, and is a good model to begin with for teachers who are new to the cooperative approach.28 According to many teaching researches, it is very appropriate in teaching many subjects than other cooperative learning methods and can be used for every level education. Shlomo Sharan

writes, ―It is also very adaptable, it has been used in mathematics, science, social

studies, English, industrial arts, and many other subjects, and at levels from 2nd

grade to college.‖29

27

Robert E. Slavin, Cooperative Learning Theory, Reasearch, and Practice, Second Edition, (Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon, 1990), p. 71.

28

Ibid., p. 71. 29

Shlomo Sharan, Handbook of Cooperative Learning Methods, (Westport: Preager Publisher, 1994), p. 4.

STAD expects students learn together with other team mates in a small team

to study the subject that is presented. Shlomo Sharan states, ―These techniques are

based on the idea of having students work in cooperative learning teams to learn

academic objectives.‖30

The smartest students are expected to teach the lowest students until they understand and master the subject that is presented. They not only study to answer the task correctly but also study how to make all the group members understand and master the subject so all the group members can answer

the task correctly. The students‘ task are not to do something as a team, but to learn something as a team, where the team‘s work isn‘t done until all team

members have mastered the material being studied.31 This is done because they are not allowed helping each other in answering quizzes although they study together as a team.

In STAD, students are assigned to four-member learning teams that are mixed in performance level, sex and ethnicity.32 Students are divided into small groups consist of four to five members. The groups must be totally heterogeneous. The groups are mixed in high, average, and low levels, boys and girls, different ethnicity, and different religion. Do not allow students choose their own teams, because they will prefer to choose others like themselves. There are three concepts in Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) technique;

a. Team Rewards

Team rewards means that teams are not in competition with one another for limited rewards. All of the teams, some of them, or none of them may earn

whatever rewards are made available depending on how well the team‗s

performance matches a predetermined standard. b. Individual accountability

Individual accountability means that students have their own responsibility, because their team success is depended on individual score when they get quizzes.

30

Ibid., p. 1.

31

Ibid., p. 3.

32

c. Equal opportunities for success

It means that what students contribute to their teams is based on their improvement over their own past performance.33 It is the important steps to ensure that all students have an opportunity to contribute to their team.

In addition, there are five major components in Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) technique;34

a. Class Presentations

In a class presentation is initially introduced material in STAD. It is directly conducted by the teacher or a kind of lecture-discussion, but could include audiovisual presentations. Actually, class presentation in STAD is the same as usual teaching, the only differences is that the teacher must be clearly focused on the STAD unit. As a result, students realize they must to pay attention during the class presentation, because it will help them to do well while discussing in the team and on the quizzes, and teams score is determined by their quiz scores.

b. Teams

In team normally consists of four or five students who represent a cross-section of the class in terms of academic performance, sex, and race or ethnicity. As a team, each student has responsibility to make sure that all team members are learning, and, more specifically, to prepare its member to do well on the quizzes. The team meets and starts to study the worksheet after the teacher delivered the material. Most often, the study involves students discussing problem together, comparing answers, and correcting any misconceptions if teammates make mistakes.

In fact, in STAD technique team become the most important one. It is because at every point emphasis is placed on team members doing their best

33

Ibid., p. 4.

34

for the team, and on the team doing its best to help its member. Not only that, team also provides the peer support for academic performance that is important for learning, and it provides the mutual concern and respect that are important for such outcomes as intergroup relations, self-esteem, and acceptance of mainstreamed students.

When assigning students to team, it is important to make sure that the team represents a cross-section of the class and each of the team consist of high performer, low performer, and average performer. The high performer in this term is based on the score in the class, and not necessarily compared with national norms. The important point is do not let students to choose their own team, because they tend to choose other like themselves. Here are the steps in assigning students to team:

 Make copies of team summary sheets. Make one copy of a team summary sheet for every four and five students in the class. Here is the example of team summary sheet.

Table 2.1

Example of Table in Team Summary Sheet Team Name:

Team Member 1 2

Total Team Score Team Avarage

Team Award

 Rank Students. On a sheet of paper, rank the students in your class from high to lowest in past performance. Use whatever information to this. It may be difficult to be exact in your ranking, but do the best you can.

 Decide on the number of teams. Each team should have four members if possible. To decide how many teams you will have, divide the number of

students in the class by four. However the number of team is actually depend of the amount of the students in the class, and the teacher can decide their own number of the teams wisely.

 Assigning students to teams. In assigning students to team, balance the teams so that (a) each team is composed of students whose performance levels range from low to average to high, and (b) the average performance level of all the teams in the class is about equal. Here is the example of table in assigning students to team:

Table 2.2

The Example of Table in Assigning Students to Team

Level Range Rank Team Name

High-Performing Students

1 A

2 B

Average-Performing Students

3 A

4 B

Students 5 A

6 B

 Fill out team summary sheets. Fill in the names of the students on each team on your team summary sheet.35

c. Quizzes

The students have to take individual quizzes after experiencing one or two periods of teacher presentations and one to two periods of team practice. In this opportunity, students work their assessment individually, they are not allowed to ask and help one another during the quizzes. This is the time to prove that every student has responsible for knowing the material.

d. Individual Improvement Scores

Individual improvement score is used to give each student a performance goal if they had worked harder and perform better in their individual quizzes. The success of the team score is mostly based on individual improvement

35

score. It is because any students can contribute maximum points to his or her team in this scoring system, but no students can do so without doing his or her best work. Individual assessment score is come from the degree to which their

quizzes scores exceed their base scores. Each student is given ―base‖ score according to students‘ past performance on similar quizzes. Individual improvement score in this terms means the point that students get from the degree of individual quiz scores exceed their base scores. The rule is as follows:

1) Quiz score more than 10 points below base score = 0

2) Quiz score 10 points below to 1 point below base score = 10 3) Quiz score base score to 10 points above base score = 20 4) Quiz score more than 10 points above base score = 30 5) Perfect paper = 30

e. Team Recognition

Teams may earn certificates or other rewards if their average scores

exceed a certain criterion. Students‘ team scores may also be used to

determine up to 20 percent of their grades.

2. The Advantages and Disadvantages of STAD Technique

As the writer explained in introduction that STAD is one of the techniques in cooperative learning, it is a technique where the group work is applied. Some advantages and disadvantages can be gained when teaching using STAD.

a. Advantages of using STAD

1) By using this technique, the amount of talking for individual students increasingly

2) It promotes learner autonomy by allowing students to make their decision in the group without being told what to do by the teacher.

3) It encourages skills of cooperation and negotiation between the studerits 4) The condition of learning more relax and the students knowing more each

other than before.

b. Disadvantages

1) It takes much time to organize the group

2) The class situations become noisy so the teacher need the voice the students.

E.

Review of Previous Study Related to Research

Some studies related to the implementation of Students Team Achievement Divisions (STAD) technique proved that STAD can be used to improve students‘ knowledge in many kind of learning subject. Among which, there are three studies that the writer consider as a basic consideration in holding a research. The first is the research conducted by Jony Anto, Padmadewi, and Putra with the title ―The Effect of STAD Technique and Learning Motivation toward the Students‘ Reading Competence.‖36 They identify the effect of implementation of STAD

technique and learning motivation toward students‘ reading competence of the eight year students of SMP N 3 Ubud. Based on the result of their study showed there was a significant different effect toward students‘ reading competence between the students taught by using STAD and conventional method. The relationship between this research and the writer‘s research is the variable used. They used STAD technique and reading comprehension as variables. However, the writer in this skripsi has focusing the types of text that used in her research, that is, discussion text.

Another previous study related to research is from Alireza Jalilifar with his

paper research entitled ―The Effect of Cooperative Learning Technique on College Students‘ Reading Comprehension.‖37

Alireza investigated the impact of Students Team Achievement Division (STAD) and Group Investigation (GI),

which are two techniques of Cooperative learning, on students‘ reading

comprehension achievement. The result of his research revealed that STAD is a

36

Jony Anto, Padmadewi, & Putra. The Effect of STAD Technique and Learning

Motivation toward the Students‘ Reading Competence. Electronic Journal Program Pasca Sarjana Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha. 1, 2013.

37

Alireza Jalilifar, ―The Effect of Cooperative Learning Technique on College Students‘ Reading Comprehension‖, Thesis on Shahid Chamran University of Alwaz Iran: 2009. Unpublished.

more effective technique in improving EFL reading comprehension achievement whereas GI did not enhance reading comprehension significantly. According to Alireza team rewards, as one of the central concepts of STAD, may have a strong

impact on learners‘ performance in reading comprehension. The relationship between this research and the writer‘s research is the use of variables, cooperative learning and reading comprehension. However in this skripsi, the writer has chosen STAD as a determined technique. Then, if Alireza conduct the research in college, while the writer do the research in the third grade students of SMA Fatahillah.

The last previous study is from Rifki Hadyan which held the research by the

title ―The Implementation of The Cooperative Learning method in Teaching

Reading Comprehension.‖38 _{The research was conducted to find out whether or}

not cooperative learning improved students‘ reading comprehension.‖ The design

employed in this research was Classroom Action Research. The finding of the study showed that cooperative learning method (STAD and Jigsaw) improved the

students‘ comprehension in reading descriptive text. This research is in line with the writer‘s research both in research design and variables. However, the writer in this ―skripsi‖ has different focus. The writer focuses on STAD technique, one of types of cooperative learning method, and the type of text used is discussion text.

F.

Thinking Framework

Reading is one of the essential skills that is needed for students. By reading many books students can get much information. It can also facilitate students with a lot of sources that was gotten through book that have been written in English. However, most students face difficulty in comprehending the text. It is because they have limited vocabularies. The other students, who have a good English vocabulary, just had the ability to recognize the word but they could not draw a conclusion of what the author extends. Then, they are unmotivated in learning

38_{Rifki Hadyan, ―}

The Implementation of the Cooperative Learning Method in Teaching Reading Comprehension‖, Thesis on English Education Study Program of Indonesia University of Education: 2013. Unpublished.

reading because the teaching and learning process seems less interesting and cannot catch their attention. Nevertheless, it was not occurred to all students. There are several students who like to learn English and have a good ability in comprehending reading text.

Since the class consists of heterogonous students, the teacher is needed to apply a cooperative learning method to facilitate students to be able to learn and to discuss the material with their friend. Student Team Achievement Division (STAD) is one of the techniques from cooperative learning method. STAD technique is based on the idea of having students work in cooperative learning teams to learn academic objectives. However, this technique emphasizes the use of team goals and team success, which can only be achieved if all members of the team learn the objectives being taught. As a result, by applying STAD technique the teacher are not too dominant in the class and students can be involved in cooperative and interesting activities. So the writer interested to research the

students‘ improvement in reading comprehension through Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) technique at the third grade of Science Class at SMA Fatahillah Jakarta.

G.

Action Hypothesis

Dealing with thinking framework above, the researcher would like to propose the action hypothesis of this study as follow: by using Students Teams

Achievement Division Technique (STAD) can improve students‘ understanding

of reading discussion text at the third grade students of Science Class at SMA Fatahillah Jakarta.

31

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the aim of the research, the place and time of the

research, subject of the research, researcher’s role in the research, research

method and design, research instrument, data collecting procedures, technique of data analysis, trustworthiness, and technique of drawing conclusion.

A.

The Aim of the Research

The aim of this study is to improve the students’ reading comprehension in

discussion text for the third grade students of SMA Fatahillah Jakarta.

B.

Place and Time of the Research

1. Place of the Research

This research was conducted in SMA Fatahillah Jakatra, which is located at Jalan Raya Buncit No. 67, Kalibata Pancoran, Jakarta Selatan.

2. Time of the Research

This research was carried out for 3 months started from September, 2014 until November, 2014. The schedule is as follows:

Table 3.1

Schedule of the Research

No Activities

Month and Week

September October November

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

1 Arranging Instrument

X X

2 Pre-Observation X

3 Pre-Questionnaire X

4 Pre-test X

5 Cycle 1 X X

No Activities

Month and Week

September October November

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

7 Post-test X

8 Post-Questionnaire X

9 Report X X X X

(Adapted from Arikunto Suharsimi, 2009)

C.

Subject of the Research

The subject of the research is XII IPA students of SMA Fatahillah academic year 2014/2015. The number of XII IPA consists of 15 students.

D.

Researcher’s Role in the Research

In this research, the researcher acts in classroom action research is not only as

the researcher, but also as a teacher, a planner, and does in making pre-test, a lesson plan, post-test in each final cycles, collecting data, analyzing, and reports

the result of the study. Besides, the researcher carries out the action based upon the lesson plan has been made.

E.

Research Method and Design

1. Research Method

The research method of this study is classroom action research. This method is chosen since this study dealt with the classroom setting and the study is directed to implement the teaching technique in that specific class in order to find out solutions to the classroom problems in teaching reading.1

1

Wijaya Kusumah, Mengenal Penelitian Tindakan Kelas, (Jakarta: Malta Pritindo, 2009), p. 9.

Post-Test 2

Name : Class :

Reading section

Answer the question by choosing A, B, C, D, or E for the correct answer! Text 1

The following text is for questions 1 to 5.

Having an electric fan in the attic can help with energy savings throughout the home because the attic temperatures affect the entire house. Electric fans come with many advantages as well as disadvantages that should be considered prior to installation.

Electric fans help us feel cool. Electric fans are very cheap to operate. They require very few watts of energy and therefore are cost-effective—even in summer months. Using an electric attic fan can prevent the use of an air conditioner within a house—assuming that the outside temperature is below 82 degrees. Electric fans work to draw heat out of houses and therefore can substitute for the air conditioner.

On the other hand, using fan for too long can cause the immunity of our body to drop. Some can easily catch cold, get a fever, contact allergic rhinitis, and allergic asthma. When using an electric fan, don’t get too close to the fan. In worse case, it may result in headache, cold feeling, or even lead to other diseases.

In summer time we must need electric fan. As a result, we should use middle or low speed as much as possible. We can also put the fan at places near a door or a window when possible. This is good for air circulation by blowing cool outdoor air to indoor.

1. What is the main idea of the second paragraph? a. The benefits of electric fan.

b. The disadvantage of electric fan. c. How to use electric fan.

d. The diseases caused by electric fan. e. How to use electric fan carefully.

2. Which of the following is not the disease caused by using electric fan for too long? a. Fever.

b. Cold feeling. c. Headache. d. Allergic asthma. e. Stomachache.

3. What is the recommendation of the writer about using electric fan? a. Use high speed.

b. Don’t get too close to the fan. c. Put the fan far from the door. d. It’s better for you to use AC. e. Use the fan in winter.

4. “Using an electric attic fan can prevent the use of an air conditioner within a house” (in paragraph 2) this sentence is included into schematic structure of…..

a. Introduction. b. Argument against. c. Conclusion. d. Arguments for. e. Recommendation.

5. “Using fan for too long can cause the immunity of our body to drop” ( paragraph 3) The opposite of underlined word is….

a. Fall. c. Rise e. Crumple.

b. Collapse. d. Absorb.

Text 2

The Text is for numbers 6 to 9

Some people do not like to carry a lot of money all the time. They, choose to have a credit card as an alternative to purchase items in a shopping center. The following will present advantages and disadvantages of having credit card.

Credit cards have been accepted as efficient payment solution. When we buy something, we do not have cash at hand, we can pay by credit cards. Well, credit cards can be used to buy things online. A credit card is more convenient to carry around than cash money. When we buy an expensive thing, we do not need to carry bunches of money in our bag.

But credit cards also have disadvantages. Having credit cards will allow us to spend much money. It can make us difficult to pay their credit cards bills. Credit cards sometimes make problem when they are used to online transaction. We must be careful to use the data on their credit cards. Some credit cards have interest rate and other applicable fees. It means that we spend more than the price of the thing we buy.

From the reasons above, it can be concluded that credit cards make our life easier, but credit cards are disadvantageous if we cannot be careful and use them wisely.

6. What does the text tell about? a. How to make a credit card.

b. The benefits of having credit card. c. The use of credit cards.

d. The reasons why people usually use credit cards.

e. The advantages and disadvantages of having credit card.

7. Which of the following is not the reason why people use credit cards? a. They do not have to carry cash money.

b. They like to shop online.

c. The credit cards are convenient to carry. d. The credit cards are expensive to make. e. They can pay the things they buy easily.

8. “…… an alternative to purchase items in a shopping center.” The synonym of the underlined word is….

a. Buy. c. Pay. e. Choose.

b. Carry. d. Bring.

9. “Credit cards make our life easier, but credit cards are disadvantageous if we cannot be careful and use them wisely.” This sentence is included into schematic structure of…..

a. Introduction. c. Argument against. e. Conclusion. b. Arguments for. d. Coda.

Text 3

The following text is for numbers 10 to 13

Most Indonesian people like to work in abroad. They think that it is a good way to earn a good salary. However, is it true that working abroad makes happy?

Many workers usually send large sums of money to their families in Indonesia. Even though, they will just go home once in a year, at least they bring a lot of money back in Indonesia. Generally, they use their money to pay their children’ education or to change their life into a better life.

Yet, are migrant workers happy there? They have to leave their families. They often go home once a year to meet their parents or their children. Moreover, there are some workers who stay away from their families for such a long time. They must miss their families. Let’s watch on TV. There are some workers who are abused by their boss. Some of them are injured, or even died. Some of their families also cannot contact them.

There are good and bad things about working overseas. It would be better if our governments pay attention to them and the problem as a concern. So that, the migrant worker can do their struggle safely.

10.What is the text about?

a. The good and bad of being workers. b. The advantages of working abroad.

c. The good and bad effects of working overseas. d. The disadvantages of being migrant workers. e. The relationship between workers and government. 11.What is the main purpose of working overseas?

a. To find their families. b. To find a good job.

c. To study in a good school. d. To earn a good salary. e. To contact their parents.

12.The following sentence is included of argument against, except……… a. Some worker just go home once in a year.

c. Some worker has a long distance with their family. d. Some worker cannot be contacted by their family. e. Some worker was abused by their boss.

13.“The migrant worker can do their struggle safely.” The synonym of the underlined word is….

a. Expend. C. Ultimate. e. Sacrifice.

The Key Answers

Pre-Test Post-Test 1 Post-Test 2

1. C 2. D 3. B 4. C 5. D 6. B 7. B 8. B 9. D 10.C 11.A 12.D 13.A 14.A 15.D 16.C 17.B 18.B 19.A 20.C 1. D 2. A 3. C 4. D 5. A 6. D 7. A 8. B 9. B 10.E 11.A 12.E 13.D 14.B 15.A 16.E 17.B 18.E 19.A 20.B 1. A 2. E 3. B 4. D 5. C 6. E 7. D 8. A 9. E 10.C 11.D 12.B 13.D 14.C 15.E 16.A 17.B 18.D 19.B 20.C