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g. Microskills for Reading Comprehension
Brown 1994: 291 proposes 14 microskills the students of English as a second or foreign language need to have in order to become efficient readers.
They are as follows: 1 Discriminating among the distinctive graphemes and orthographic patterns of
English. 2 Retaining chuncks of language of different lengths in short-term memory
3 Processing writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose. 4 Recognizing a core of words, and interpret word order patterns and their
significance. 5 Recognizing grammatical word classes nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc., systems
e.g. tense, agreement, pluralization, patterns, rules, and elliptical forms. 6 Recognizing that a particular meaning may be expressed in different
grammatical forms. 7 Recognizing cohesive devices in written discourse and their role in signalling
the relationship between and among clauses. 8 Recognizing the rethorical forms of written discourses and their significance
for interpretation. 9 Recognizing the communicative functions of written texts, according to form
and purpose. 10 Inferring context that is not explicit by using background knowledge.
11 From events, ideas, etc., described, inferring links and connections between events, deducing causes and efects, and detecting such relations as main idea,
supporting idea, new information, given information, generalization, and exemplification.
12 Distinguishing between literal and implied meanings. 13 Detecting culturally specific references and interpreting them in a context of
the appropriate cultural schemata. 14 Developing and using a battery of reading strategies, such as scanning and
skimming, detecting discourse markers, guessing the meaning of words from context, and activating schemata for the interpretation of texts.
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h. Teaching Reading Comprehension
Teaching reading is not only giving a text to the students but also building their consciousness of reading skill. In teaching reading, the teacher should know
hisher learners and their level. Besides, the teacher should know the capability of the students and their field. For example, if they are all business people, the
teacher may well want to concentrate on business texts. If they are science students, reading scientific texts may be a priority, etc.
To improve the students‟ competence in comprehending the text, the teacher
might facilitate the acquisition of microskills for reading comprehension. It might be conducted by developing a reading program which enables the students to
practice the skills intensively. To check the students‟ comprehension, the teacher
might give the students questions about the text. The amount of time given to teach reading will depend on the needs and
wants of the learner as specified in the syllabus. Based on
Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan KTSP
, the standard of competence of English reading at the eight grade students of junior high school is understanding meaning of functional
written text and simple essay in the forms of recount and narrative texts dealing with surrounding environment. Moreover, the basic competences of English
reading at this grade are reading aloud and meaningfully of functional written text and simple essay in the forms of recount and narrative texts in appropriate
pronunciation, stress and intonation dealing with surrounding environment; giving response to meaning of the simple short functional written text accurately dealing
with surrounding environment; and giving response to meaning and to rhetorical procedure of the simple essay accurately dealing with surrounding environment in
the forms of recount and narrative texts. Dealing with the standard of competence and the basic competence of
English reading above, the researcher can get some indicators required to the students, they are as folows:
1 Reading aloud and meaningfully of a short functional text 2 Identifying any information of a short functional text
3 Identifying social function of a short functional text
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4 Identifying language characteristics of recount and narrative texts 5 Identfying main idea of recount and narrative texts
6 Identifying of textual meaning of recount and narrative texts 7 Identifying rhetorical procedure of recount and narrative texts
8 Identifying communicative purpose of recount and narrative texts Based on the explanation above, the researcher concludes that reading
comprehension is the ability to understand the message from the text that they read. In teaching reading comprehension, the teacher should choose the texts
which are appropriate to the students‟ level. By knowing the students‟ level, the teacher will be easier to reach their objective. Reading comprehension is
influenced by external and internal factors. One of the external factors is teaching technique used in class. In this research, the writer chooses Cooperative Integrated
R eading and Composition to improve students‟ reading comprehension.
2. The Nature of Cooperative Learning a. The Definition of Cooperative Learning
There are many methods to make the teaching and learning process optimal. One of the method is cooperative learning. Cooperative learning is the most
natural and effective way for learner to practice talking freely in English. It can be thinking out some problems or situation together. Cooperative learning is
instructional method that students can work together in small group to help each other. It covers not only talking but also reading and writing that may be entailed
Ur, 1998: 2. Another explanation is also proposed by Arends 2004: 356. He explains
that cooperative learning method is to develop and achieve, at least, three important instructional goals, they are: academic achievement, tolerance and
acceptance of diversity. It means that cooperative method is not only a way to gain learning objective, but also a way to improve
students‟ interaction, and to make them respect each other. During the process of learning, the students are
demanded to be actively involved. The students should be able to think critically and objectively, to propose opinions, and to respect others
‟ opinion.
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Richards and Rogers 2001: 192 state that cooperative learning is a teaching method that make maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and
small group of learner in the classroom. The same opinion is stated by Kindsvatter 1996: 318 who states that cooperative learning is the most compatible to the
climate of constructivist classroom. He also states that cooperative learning takes on personal meaning by challenging group to construct their own understandings
of concepts and principles through shared group experiences. Richard and Renandya 2002: 52 states that cooperative learning is more
than just putting students in groups and giving them something to do. Cooperative learning principles and techniques are tools which teacher use to encourage
mutual helpfulness in the groups and active participant of all members. From the definition above, it can be concluded that cooperative learning is
one of the teaching methods in which the teacher gives opportunities to the students or groups of students to be actively involved to solve problems, to share
information, and to make a conclusion to achieve the goal. In this method, the teacher‟s roles are as a guide and an organizer. The
teacher should be able to motivate the students to be more active working together with their friends in their group and also motivate them to help one another. In
cooperative learning, the teaching and learning process is not teacher-centered but focused on students
‟ work activities on cooperative. So that, students able to elaborate their way of thinking, creativity, and ability to achieve the better
learning output.
b. The Benefit of Cooperative Learning
Kessler 1992:3 states that there are some benefits of cooperative learning. In cooperative learning classes are more relaxed and enjoyable than traditional
classes. Cooperative learning creates a positive learning environment for all students. Besides that, cooperative learning also helps address the need of
heterogeneous classes, diverse in home language, English language proficiency, and academic achievement. Another expert also states that there are strong effects
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of higher order understanding in creative writing, reading, and social studies Kindsvatter, 1996: 297.
c. The Types of Cooperative Learning
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