solving the problems related to students‟ reading comprehension found in the school.
C. Subjects of the Research
This research involved the English teacher, the researcher, and the students of class VIIIC which consists of 20 students who worked cooperatively as a team
in conducting this research. The choice of the grade is based on some reasons. First, it was impossible
for the researcher to conduct the research in the seventh grade because students were still in the process of adaptation at school and they had not understood yet
about text types such as narrative. Second, it was also impossible for the researcher to take research in the ninth grade because students were in the
preparation for national examination. They had a particular schedule if the researcher involves them. Therefore, the eighth grade students were taken as the
best choice to conduct the research because they had got much input into how to comprehend texts such as narrative texts.
In particular, the researcher only took one class Class VIIIC to be the subjects of the research. In reference to the interview with the English teacher, the
class selected was the class with the most complicated problems that needed to be solved.
D. Time of The Research
The study was conducted in the second semester of the academic year of 20132014. Then, the action was conducted from February to April 2014. The
researcher carried out the actions based on the school schedule, especially the
English schedule of VIIIC class of SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Yogyakarta. The English lessons in VIIIC class SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Yogyakarta were on
Tuesday at 08.20-09.40, Thursday at 10.00-11.40, and Saturday at 10.00-11.40.
E. Procedures of The Research
This research procedure used the structural steps of action research suggested by Kemmis and McTaggart in Burns 1999:32. They explained that
action research occurs through dynamic and complementary process which involves four essentials „moments‟ including reconnaissance, planning, action,
observation, and reflection. The explanation of each follow is as follow: 1. Reconnaissance
The reconnaissance steps were done by doing an observation about the teaching-learning process of reading in SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Yogyakarta. The
steps were started by doing classroom observation, and by interviewing some students and an English teacher related to obstacles and difficulties in teaching
learning process of reading. From the result of the reconnaissance steps, it was found a lot of problems in the implementation of teaching-learning process of
reading that needed to be solved. 2. Planning
In this phase the researchers identified problems or issues and developed a plan of action inorder to bring about improvements in a specific area of the
research context. Some considered suitable techniques were selected to improve students‟ reading comprehension. The actions planned to be carried out include
implementing summarizing activities, implementing various interesting reading
tasks, giving interesting media and handout for the students, and giving reward to the students.
3. Action and Observation The action plans were agreed by the members of the research to be
implemented. They were implemented in two cycles. The first cycle was done in three meetings and the second cycle was done in two meetings. In the first cycle,
the meetings were held three times a week. The English teacher and the research member were discussed the implemented actions and analyzed the result. The
result of the discussion was used as an evaluation that would be used to improve the next meeting.
4. Reflection The reflection was done every time after the implementation of the actions.
The members in the research made the reflection. Each member contributed to the reflection on the taken actions. The successful actions were continued in the next
teaching and learning process but the unsuccessful actions were modified into the ones that were most suitable.
F. Techniques of The Data Collection
The data of this research were qualitative in nature. The researcher collected the opinions, suggestion, comments, and expectations from the research members.
The qualitative data was collected by conducting observations and interviews. Instrument used in the interviews was interview guideline. It was used to
guide the researcher in conducting the interview to get the data related to the teacher‟s behavior and also the students‟ behavior before, while, and after the
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