B. Identification of the Problems
Based on the class observation, the researcher found several factors that influence reading achievement of eighth grade students of SMPN 9 Yogyakarta.
The factors are categorized as follows: 1.
Students’ Factor Based on the prior observation, the researcher had listed factors
influencing the reading achievement that derive from the students. Firstly, students took long time to read. When, students found unfamiliar words in the
text, some students made efforts to open their dictionary and translated the words or to ask to the teacher the meaning of the words, while some others seemed that
they were not curious to find the meaning of the words and just wait for the teacher to answer or give explanation. By this way, students took long time to
read because they tended to translate words by words. In consequence, they only know the meaning of the words, but do not get the message of the text. Secondly,
some students did not pay attention well and there were some students who tended to dominate the class activities. When, the teacher asked them to read a text, there
was still found a couple of students who did not show good interest to the activity. They read the text only when the teacher approached them, but when the teacher
left, their focus was back to the other things outside reading. Additionally, a few students who were very active tended to dominate class activities and discussions,
so it made the other students become passive and less interactive. In other words, this condition failed to give the others opportunity to participate actively in the
class, and it led the silent students became more silent. Furthermore, the peace of
the class also did not last long, because after several minutes passed some students tended to be noisy. Lastly, the students had not mastered a certain reading
strategy. The students rarely learnt a reading strategy that was why when they read, they only tended to translate unfamiliar words. They do not try to find
meaning of the words by the context. 2.
Teachers’ Factor A teacher also plays a role in determining a student’s reading achievement.
Based on the previous observation, the teacher at some points already provided sufficient efforts in teaching English. The way the teacher communicated with the
students was good, the teaching steps had been systematic, and the teacher was also well-prepared. However, when the researcher took a look at the reading
activity, there were some factors that are lacking. First, the teacher lacked to encourage the students to share their ideas and
think critically during the learning process. Mostly, only the teacher who delivered the materials and the students listen. When it came to reading, it was
mainly about reading texts and then answering some questions. After the students had finished answering the questions, if they still had some minutes left, the
teacher checked the students’ answer without determining further discussion. In this situation, the students only knew the right answers but they had no idea about
the reason why the answer was right or wrong. Next, the teacher lacked activating the students’ background knowledge
before it came to the main reading activity. In fact, it was useful to bridge the students’ existing knowledge and the content of the text discussed. So the students
would find it easier to comprehend the text. Additionally, the teacher did not introduce a particular reading strategy that could help students comprehend a text
easier. She merely asked the students to open a dictionary to find meanings of words and to get sense of a text.
3. Activities’ Factor
The activities held in the class rarely engaged the students to think critically and to share their ideas. A class discussion was sometimes conducted in
teaching reading. However, when the discussion was held, only several students were active and only the same students who dominated the class discussion. The
others just listened and were reluctant to share the ideas. In addition, mostly the reading activities were the same all the time. The students read texts and then
answer some questions. Activity that can activate the students’ background knowledge was seldom held in the class. In fact, schema activation is an effective
strategy to teach reading. In addition, the students needed activities that could help them to comprehend texts easier, and could encourage them to share ideas of the
texts to build interaction among the students.
C. Limitation of the Problems
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