LEXICAL DENSITY AND GRAMMATICAL INTRICACY OF READING MATERIALS TO THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL.
LEXICAL DENSITY AND GRAMMATICAL INTRICACY
OF READING MATERIALS TO THE TENTH GRADE
STUDENTS OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
A THESIS
Submitted as Partial Fullfilment of the Requirement
For the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
By:
RINI LESTARI
Reg. Number: 2122121034
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2016
ABSTRACT
Lestari, Rini. Registration Number: 2122121034. Lexical Density and
Grammatical Intricacy of Reading Materials to the Tenth Grade Students of
Senior High School. A Thesis. English Educational Program, State University
of Medan, 2016.
This study deals with lexical density and grammatical intricacy of English reading
texts in the textbook for the first grade of senior high school to measure the
difficulty of the text. The objectives of the study are to find out the lexical density
and grammatical intricacy which formed in the reading texts of English Alive
textbook and type of genre which has the highest both of lexical density and
grammatical intricacy. This study was conducted by descriptive method with
qualitative approach. The data of this research were the English reading texts of
English Alive textbook for senior high school grade tenth published by
Yudhistira. The result of the analysis showed that: (1). lexical density is formed
by unification of both lexical item and grammatical item which measured to find
out the proportion of information in a text while grammatical intricacy is formed
by unification of both simple clauses and complex clauses in a text which
measured to find out how intricate the text is. (2). lexical density influences the
difficulty of reading texts if it has higher proportion of lexical items than
grammatical items, While grammatical intricacy also influences the difficulty of
reading texts if it has higher proportion of complex clauses in comparison with
simple clauses. In this case the result of this study shows that both LD and GI has
high proportion which means that the texts are difficult to understand by the
students. It is suggested that further textbook writers to concern with the lexical
density and grammatical intricacy of the reading texts so that the textbook can be
used and understood by the students.
Key words: Lexical Density, Grammatical Intricacy, English Reading Texts.
i
ABSTRAK
Lestari, Rini. Nomor Induk Mahasiswa: 2122121034. Lexical Density and
Grammatical Intricacy of Reading Materials to the Tenth Grade Students of
Senior High School. A Thesis. Program Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris,
Universitas Negeri Medan, 2016.
Penelitian ini berhubungan dengan lexical density dan grammatical intricacy pada
teks yang terdapat pada buku kelas sepuluh sekolah menengah atas untuk
mengukur tingkat kesulitan pada teks tersebut. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah
untuk mengukur lexical density dan grammatical intricacy yang terdapat pada teks
bacaan di buku English Alive dan jenis teks apa yang memiliki tingkat lexical
density dan grammatical intricacy tertinggi. Penelitian inimenggunakan metode
penelitian deskriptif dengan pendekatan kualitatif. Data dari penelitian ini adalah
teks yang terdapat pada buku English alive terbitan yudhistira untuk kelas sepuluh
sekolah menengah atas. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa: (1). Lexical
density terbentuk dari perpaduan antara lexical items dan grammatical items pada
teks yang diukur untuk mengetahui kerapatan informasi yang ada pada teks,
sedangkan grammatical intricacy terbentuk dari perpaduan klausa kompleks dan
klausa sederhana yang diukur untuk mengetahui kerumitan sebuah teks. (2) lexical
density dan grammatical intricacy mempengaruhi tingkat kesulitan sebuah teks
jika teks tersebut mempunyai persentase yang tinggi terhadap keduanya, seperti
yang hasil dari penelitian ini yang menunjukkan bahsa buku English alive yang
mempunyai persentase tinggi terhadap LD dan GI yang berarti teks dalam buku
tersebut diprediksi sulit dipahami oleh siswa. Sangat disarankan untuk penulispenulis buku yang akan datang untuk fokus terhadap lexical density dan
grammatical intricacy pada teks sehingga buku tersebut dapat digunakan dan
dimengerti oleh siswa.
Kata Kunci: Lexical Density, Grammatical Intricacy, Teks Bahasa Inggris.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The writer would like to thank Allah SWT for blessing, health, chance,
and inspiration given to the writer during the completion of this final project with
title Lexical Density and Grammatical Intricacy of Reading Materials to the Tenth
Grade Students of Senior High School. Shalawat and salam for the Prophet
Muhammad who brings us from darkness to the brightness.
The writer realizes that she cannot complete this final project without the
help of others. Many people have helped the writer during the writing this final
project and it would be impossible to mention all of them. The writer wishes,
however, to give the writer sincerest gratitude and appreciation to:
Prof. Dr. Syawal Gultom, M.Pd, the Rector of State University of
Medan.
Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., the Dean Faculty of Languages and Arts.
Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English Department and
Nora Ronita Dewi, S. S., M. Hum., the Head of Education Program of
English Department.
Dr. Anni Holila Pulungan, M.Hum, the Thesis Advisor.
Dr. Zainuddin. DIP. TEFL., M.Hum, the Academic Advisor.
Dr. Rahmad Husein, M.Ed and Rita Suswati, S.Pd., M.Hum., the
Thesis Reviewers.
All the Lecturers of English Department who have taught and guided
the writer throughout the academic years that could not be mentioned one
by one.
Achmadi and Samsinur, her beloved parents who give me uncountable
love, pray, motivation, material, lesson, and all the things that they ever
gave that can make the writer understand and appreciate the meaning of
struggle in life until she achieve her Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan.
Titik Sunarti, Neny Wahyuni also Esti satiti and Teguh Prasetyo as
dearest sisters and brother for their support, love, and pray in finishing her
thesis.
Rizki Mandasari her beloved friend for unforgettable friendship and for
the time, laugh, happiness, supports, togetherness, advise and everything
that they experienced together in achieving S.Pd. The writer realizes that
nothing worth than friendship in her life.
“JD” her special person who always keep sporting her with praying and
loving. He has taught her about appreciation to the power of pray and
loves in every single moment.
iii
M.Arif her close friend for laugh and happiness in achieving S.Pd, those
thing are meaningful for her.
Eis Sri Wahyuni, M.Pd, and Mr. Pantes, the administration staff of
English Department, for her and his attention, assistance, and information.
Headmaster, Vice Headmaster and English teachers in SMA Swasta
Persiapan Stabat for time, chance, and cooperation.
All Students Class B of English Education 2012 who suddenly had
interaction and supports the writer in accomplishing all requirements for
graduation. They are actually colors the writer’s days in achieving S.Pd
There are many people whose names are not mentioned above, the writer
thanks them for their support in finishing her study, and may Allah Swt bless you
all. Finally, the writer expects this thesis be useful, especially for the writer and
generally for the readers.
Medan,
September 2016
The Writer
Rini Lestari
Reg. Number. 2122121034
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pages
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ...........................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................... v
LIST OF TABLE . .................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.............................................................. 1
A. The Background of the Study ...................................................... 1
B. The problems of the study ........................................................... 7
C. The Objectives of the Study ........................................................ 8
D. Significant of the Study ............................................................... 8
E. The Scope of the Study................................................................ 9
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURES ...................................... 10
A. Theoretical Framework............................................................... 10
1. Lexical Density ..................................................................... 10
a. Lexical Items .................................................................... 13
1). Nouns ............................................................................. 13
2). Verbs ............................................................................. 14
3). Adjectives ...................................................................... 15
4). Adverbs .......................................................................... 15
b. Grammatical Items .............................................................. 16
1). Auxiliary Verbs.............................................................. 16
2). Modals ........................................................................... 17
3). Pronouns ........................................................................ 18
4). Prepositions.................................................................... 18
5). Determiners .................................................................... 18
6). Conjunctions .................................................................. 19
7). Numerals ........................................................................ 19
2. Grammatical Intricacy ........................................................... 20
v
3. Reading ............................................................................... 24
a. Definition of Reading .................................................... 24
b. Principles of Reading..................................................... 25
4. Textbook ............................................................................. 26
a. Definition of Textbook .................................................. 26
b. Benefits of using Textbook ........................................... 27
5. Genre of Writing ................................................................. 28
a. Narrative text ................................................................. 28
b. Procedure text ................................................................ 29
c. Recount text .................................................................. 30
B. Relevant Studies ..................................................................... 31
C. Conceptual Framework............................................................ 33
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................. 34
A. Research Design ..................................................................... 34
B. Data and Source of Data ........................................................ 35
C. The Instrument for Collecting Data ....................................... 35
D. Procedure for Collecting Data ................................................ 36
E.
Technique for analyzing Data ................................................ 37
CHAPTER IV. DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS ................................... 39
A. Data ....................................................................................... 39
B. Data Analysis ......................................................................... 39
C. Research Finding .................................................................. 69
D. Discussion ............................................................................ 72
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ........................... 76
A. Conclusion ............................................................................ 76
B. Suggestion ............................................................................ 77
REFERENCES .......................................................................................... 78
APPENDIX ................................................................................................ 80
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Pages
Table 1.1 Lexical Density Score .................................................................... 5
Table 2.2 Grammatical Intricacy Measurement ............................................. 5
Table 4.1 GI Measurement of Text 1 ........................................................... 43
Table 4.2 GI Measurement of Text 2 ........................................................... 46
Table 4.3 GI Measurement of Text 3 ........................................................... 51
Table 4.4 GI Measurement of Text 4 ........................................................... 55
Table 4.5 GI Measurement of Text 5 ........................................................... 59
Table 4.6 GI Measurement of Text 6 ........................................................... 61
Table 4.7 GI Measurement of Text 7 ........................................................... 64
Table 4.8 GI Measurement of Text 8 ........................................................... 67
Table 4.9 LD and GI Result ......................................................................... 69
vii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
English has four skills to learned, those are listening, reading,
speaking, and writing. Those skills are important to be mastered without
ignoring each other. For most English as foreign language learners,
reading has the important role because by reading, they will be able to
understand the reading materials they want to learn. Basically, reading is
the ways to gain some important message and get meaning from written
text. As a skill, reading is clearly one of important language skill that
where students have to read English material for their subject. The student
often thought to be easier to obtain information from written text by
reading.
For Indonesian students, the source that they use to learn in
classroom is Textbook. Textbook take an important role in teaching
learning activity because it provides the subject that they need. Textbook
usually consists of reading text content with some genre of English text,
writing assignment, listening task and conversation with some expression.
For reading skill, usually reading materials is in form of comprehending
the text, pronouncing the words, getting new vocabulary and
understanding the language features of genre of texts.
1
2
Ur (1996: 138) in his book argues that reading means ‘reading and
understanding.’ A foreign language learners who says, ‘I can read the
words but I don’t know what they means’ is not, therefore, reading, in this
sense. It prove that many students in our country as foreign language
readers also face difficulty in reading an English text because they are
cannot mastery the vocabulary like the native speaker does. Many English
texts which they use as sources are content with vocabulary that they
cannot understand the meaning. The main points of difficult texts are the
lexical density and grammatical intricacy of the text itself. Ure (1971)
stated that Lexical density is a number of lexical items as the proportion of
running words. Furthermore, Halliday explains that Lexical item are the
major content words which carry information. They fall into four
grammatical categories; Nouns, Adjectives, some class of Adverbs, and
Main verbs. Typically, written language becomes complex by being
lexically dense; it packs a large lexical items into each clause; whereas
spoken language becomes complex by being grammatically intricate; it
built up elaborate the clause complexes.
For foreign language learners, the text which content of high
lexical items will make students got trouble to understand the text. In
addition, lexical item includes verb, noun, adjective and adverb has open
system in which one word can has more than one meaning. In other word,
the more lexical items the text has, the more difficult the text is. On the
other hand, the students are demanded to comprehend the reading text
3
because by comprehending it, the students will be able to reach the
knowledge. Because of that, the teacher need to provide appropriate
textbook content with reading text based on the students ability. Reading
text in form of grammatical configuration is not too difficult to understand.
Grammatical items are those that function as closed system in the
language. Different from lexical configuration, grammatical configuration
show that text is consist of determiner, pronoun, most preposition,
conjunction and numerals. It means that the balance between lexical items
and grammatical items in a text is really important to consider in order to
make the students mastered the reading materials in an English textbook.
The other thing that influences the difficulty of reading materials is
grammatical intricacy. If in a text there are more clause complexes than
simple clauses, it can be said that the text is more complex in the sense
that it presents more information in a tight way. Consequently, the learners
are potential to face problems to comprehend the text. Because of that,
lexical density and grammatical intricacy separated each other.
Based on the preliminary observation of the English teacher of
SMA Persiapan Stabat on April 22th 2016, the researcher found some
information by interview the English teacher. The researcher asked about
whether the reading materials in the textbook are suitable for the students
or not. The teacher said that most of students face the difficulty to
understand the text because they are lack of vocabulary. The students
usually cannot define some vocabulary or wrong to define the vocabulary
4
in the reading materials, it affects students’ reading assignment result
became bad. In addition, the teacher also said that they are not checked the
reading materials in the textbook yet, whether the reading materials are
suitable for the students or not, they just teach them following the
textbook. For an example, the researcher takes one of reading text from
English textbook they learn randomly. The researcher chooses one text
from procedure text genre.
Installing Graphics Acceleration Card
Here is the easy and practical way to install your graphics
acceleration card in your computer.
First, power off the computer and monitor, then disconnect the
display cable from the back of your computer. Next, remove the
computer cover. If necessary, consult your computer’s manual for help
in removing the cover. Remember to discharge your body static
electricity by touching the metal surface on the computer chassis. When
your computer is open, remove any existing graphics card from your
computer. If the old graphics card sticks, rock it gently form end to
end. Remember to save the screw. Or if your computer has any onboard graphics capability, you may need to disable the metal cover
form the empty expansion slot that you select. Then align your new card
with the expansion slot, and press it firmly until the card is fully seated.
Replace the screw to fasten the card in place, and replace the
computer cover. After that, plug the display cable into your card; then
turn on the computer and display device. For card with a Digital Flat
Panel (DFP) connector, connect your monitor or flat panel display or
both to the appropriate connector. Make sure all cables are securely
connected.
Finally, reboot your system.
5
The result of measurement the lexical density is shown in table
below:
Table 1.1
Lexical Density Score
No
Title
Genre
1
Installing
Graphics
Acceleration
Cards
Proced
ure
Text
Lexical
Items
132
Grammatica
l Items
78
Result
62.86%
Regarding this measurement based on Ure’s method, if the
numbers surpasses forty percent, it accounts for higher lexical density. It
means that this text is difficult to understand by the first grade students of
Senior high school.
While the result of Measurement the Grammatical Intricacy of one
paragraph in the same text is shown in table below;
Table 1.2
Grammatical Intricacy Measurement
No
1
2
3
4
Sentence
Clauses
///Replace the screw// to fasten
3
the card in place//, and replace
the computer cover.///
///After that, plug the display
3
cable into your card;// then turn
on the computer// and display
device///
///For card with a Digital Flat
4
Panel (DFP) connector,// connect
your monitor //or flat panel
display// or both to the
appropriate connector.///
///Make sure// all cables are
2
securely connected. ///
Kind of Clauses
CC
CC
CC
CC
6
The text above actually has 12 Clauses. The reason why researcher
chooses the paragraph above is because that paragraph actually doesn’t
have any simple clause. All of sentences in that paragraph consist of 12
complex clauses. It shows that the paragraph is grammatical intricate.
Based on the preliminary observation, the researcher can say that
when the students get difficulty to understand the content of the text book
especially the reading text, the students will be hard to get the knowledge
of the textbook. The proportion between the lexical items and the
grammatical items in the text certainly will determine the difficulty of the
text. Through the lexical density of the text, teacher can know whether the
text is easy or difficult for the students.
The measurement of lexical density and grammatical intricacy in
English reading text is very important because it will be the consideration
of the teacher or school to choose the available book for the students in
order to make the students learn the book easily.
B. The Problems of the Study
Problems that will discuss in this study can be stated as follows:
1. How are the lexical density and grammatical intricacy formed in the reading
texts of English alive textbook?
2. How do the Lexical density and Grammatical Intricacy influence the
difficulty level of reading materials in English alive textbook?
7
C. The Objectives of the Study
Objective of the study are stated as follows:
1. To find out how lexical density and grammatical intricacy is formed in
English alive textbook
2. To measure how lexical density and grammatical intricacy influence the
difficulty level of reading material in English Alive textbook
D. The Significant of the Study
In conducting this study, the writer hopes that this research has benefit
theoretically and practically to the readers.
Theoretically this research hopefully will be useful to enrich the
lexical density and grammatical intricacy theories. The finding in this
research can add new information to other researcher about lexical density
and grammatical intricacy found in a textbook.
Practically, this research hopefully will be useful for the teacher as
guidance to choose suitable textbook for the students and apply the result
of this study as feedback on their teaching activities; improve their
knowledge and experience in choosing appropriate book, so that the
students are better in reading skills. This research hopefully also will be
useful for the students to be more selective in choosing textbook and know
the way to reach good reading comprehension by choosing suitable
textbook for them. For the researcher, this research hopefully can improve
the writer’s knowledge about genres and lexical density in reading
materials. Last, all of those benefits of analyzing the lexical density and
8
grammatical intricacy hopefully will be useful for all educators because it
will be affect students’ ability in learning English.
E. The Scope of the Study
In this research, the writer focuses on the subject matter in
analyzing the lexical density and grammatical intricacy of the reading text
in English alive 1 text book published by Yudhistira which is used at the
tenth grade students of SMA Swasta Persiapan Stabat. Meanwhile, there
are fourteen reading texts in the textbook consist of some genre of texts
those are narrative, procedure and recount. But the researcher is analyzes 8
reading texts in the first semester only.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
A. Conclusion
After analyzing 8 texts in English Alive Textbook published by
Yudhistira for the tenth grade students of senior high school, the researcher
can conclude that;
1.
Lexical density is formed by unification of lexical item and grammatical
item which measured to find out the difficulty level in a text. While
grammatical intricacy is formed by unification of complex clauses and
simple clauses which measured to find how intricate the text is.
2. Regarding the research result which shows that all of the texts are have
high lexical density and grammatical intricacy, the researcher can explain
that the reading materials found in English alive textbook are difficult to
understand by the students. Based on theories that the researcher use as
guidance, lexical density influences the difficulty of reading texts if it has
higher proportion of lexical items than grammatical items. While
grammatical intricacy also influences the difficulty of reading texts if it
has higher proportion of complex clauses in comparison with simple
clauses.
76
77
B. Suggestion
After drawing the conclusion, the researcher presents some suggestion
as follows;
1. The textbook publishers are the place of learning tool is made. The
textbook which they make isn’t for a student only, but for thousand or
million students. Textbook they have made absolutely influence the
students’ ability in learning English. Furthermore, most of school in our
country are using textbook for their main learning tool, means that
measure whether the textbook is suitable for the students or not is
recommended thing to do by the publisher before distribute their
textbooks.
2. Teacher also takes an important role in providing an English textbook.
Choosing appropriate textbook based on students’ ability is recommended
to do because teachers are the people who understand about how the
ability of the students is. One school may have different needs from
another school.
REFERENCES
Alami, Manizheh., Sabbah, Maryam., & Iranmanesh, Muhammad. 2012. MaleFemale Discourse Difference in Terms of Lexical Density. Research
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Aritonang, Dedi Kristian. 2014. Impact of Grammatical Methapor on
Grammatical Intricacy and Lexical Density in the Text of Presidential
Debate Between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Unpublished Thesis.
Medan: English Applied Linguistic Program Postgraduate School.
Bogdan and Sari K Biklen. 1992. Qualitative Research for Education, An
Introduction To Theory And Methods. Syracuse University
Chemlinsky, Eleanor. 1989. Content Analysis: A Methodology for Structuring and
Analyzing Written Material. United States: United States General
Accounting Office
Elo & Helvi kyngas. 2007. The Qualitative Content Analysis Process. Journal of
Advanced Nursing 62(1), 107–115
Gelderen, Elly. 2002. An Introduction to The Grammar Of English. Philladelphia:
John Benjamin Publishing Company
Halliday, Michael Alexander Kikrwood. 1985. Spoken and Written Language.
England: Oxford University Press
Islam, Monjurul. 2013. An Evaluation of English Language Textbook from
Teachers’ Perspectives. International Journal of English And Education
ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:2, Issue:3
Johhanson, Victoria. 2008. Lexical Diversity And Lexical Density In Speech And
Writing: A Developmental Perspective. Lund University, Dept. Of
Linguistics And Phonetics Working Papers 53 (2008), 61-79
Khamahani, Ghaffar. 2015. A Corpus-Based Analysis Of Tehran Times And
Azeri News Headlines: Focus On Lexical Density And Readability.
International Journal Of Humanities Social Sciences And Education
(IJHSSE). Vol.2, Issue 1
Kolahi, Sholeh. 2012. A Comparative Study of the Readability of English
Textbooks of Translation and Their Persian Translations. International
Journal of Linguistics ISSN 1948-5425 2012, Vol. 4, No. 4
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Nesia, Bersyebah Herljimsi. 2011. Lexical Density of English Reading Texts for
Senior High School. Unpublished Thesis. Medan: English Language and
Literature Department State University of Medan
Pardiyono. 2007. Teaching Genre-Based Writing. Yogyakarta: Andi
Pingel, Falk. 2009. UNESCO Guidebook on Textbook Research and Textbook
Revision 2nd Revised and Updated edition. Langenhagen: United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Pratiwi, Astri Harta. 2014. Lexical Density of English Textbook of Second Year of
Senior High School. Unpublish Thesis. Semarang: English Study
Program Faculty of Humanities Dian Nuswantoro University Semarang.
Scholichatun, Siti. 2011. Content Analysis of Reading Materials in English on Sky
Textbook for Junior High School. Unpublished Thesis. Semarang:
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Siyadat, Mansoor. 2013. A Comparative Study of English Textbooks Used In
Iranian Institutes. International Journal of Asian Social Science, 2013,
3(1):150-170 150
Teddlie, Charles & Fen yu. 2007. Mixed Method Sampling a Typology with
Examples. Journal of Mixed Methods Research. Volume 1 Number 1
To, Vinh. 2013. Lexical Density and Readability: A Case Study of English
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Ur, Penny. 1996. A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge
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OF READING MATERIALS TO THE TENTH GRADE
STUDENTS OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
A THESIS
Submitted as Partial Fullfilment of the Requirement
For the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
By:
RINI LESTARI
Reg. Number: 2122121034
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
2016
ABSTRACT
Lestari, Rini. Registration Number: 2122121034. Lexical Density and
Grammatical Intricacy of Reading Materials to the Tenth Grade Students of
Senior High School. A Thesis. English Educational Program, State University
of Medan, 2016.
This study deals with lexical density and grammatical intricacy of English reading
texts in the textbook for the first grade of senior high school to measure the
difficulty of the text. The objectives of the study are to find out the lexical density
and grammatical intricacy which formed in the reading texts of English Alive
textbook and type of genre which has the highest both of lexical density and
grammatical intricacy. This study was conducted by descriptive method with
qualitative approach. The data of this research were the English reading texts of
English Alive textbook for senior high school grade tenth published by
Yudhistira. The result of the analysis showed that: (1). lexical density is formed
by unification of both lexical item and grammatical item which measured to find
out the proportion of information in a text while grammatical intricacy is formed
by unification of both simple clauses and complex clauses in a text which
measured to find out how intricate the text is. (2). lexical density influences the
difficulty of reading texts if it has higher proportion of lexical items than
grammatical items, While grammatical intricacy also influences the difficulty of
reading texts if it has higher proportion of complex clauses in comparison with
simple clauses. In this case the result of this study shows that both LD and GI has
high proportion which means that the texts are difficult to understand by the
students. It is suggested that further textbook writers to concern with the lexical
density and grammatical intricacy of the reading texts so that the textbook can be
used and understood by the students.
Key words: Lexical Density, Grammatical Intricacy, English Reading Texts.
i
ABSTRAK
Lestari, Rini. Nomor Induk Mahasiswa: 2122121034. Lexical Density and
Grammatical Intricacy of Reading Materials to the Tenth Grade Students of
Senior High School. A Thesis. Program Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris,
Universitas Negeri Medan, 2016.
Penelitian ini berhubungan dengan lexical density dan grammatical intricacy pada
teks yang terdapat pada buku kelas sepuluh sekolah menengah atas untuk
mengukur tingkat kesulitan pada teks tersebut. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah
untuk mengukur lexical density dan grammatical intricacy yang terdapat pada teks
bacaan di buku English Alive dan jenis teks apa yang memiliki tingkat lexical
density dan grammatical intricacy tertinggi. Penelitian inimenggunakan metode
penelitian deskriptif dengan pendekatan kualitatif. Data dari penelitian ini adalah
teks yang terdapat pada buku English alive terbitan yudhistira untuk kelas sepuluh
sekolah menengah atas. Hasil dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa: (1). Lexical
density terbentuk dari perpaduan antara lexical items dan grammatical items pada
teks yang diukur untuk mengetahui kerapatan informasi yang ada pada teks,
sedangkan grammatical intricacy terbentuk dari perpaduan klausa kompleks dan
klausa sederhana yang diukur untuk mengetahui kerumitan sebuah teks. (2) lexical
density dan grammatical intricacy mempengaruhi tingkat kesulitan sebuah teks
jika teks tersebut mempunyai persentase yang tinggi terhadap keduanya, seperti
yang hasil dari penelitian ini yang menunjukkan bahsa buku English alive yang
mempunyai persentase tinggi terhadap LD dan GI yang berarti teks dalam buku
tersebut diprediksi sulit dipahami oleh siswa. Sangat disarankan untuk penulispenulis buku yang akan datang untuk fokus terhadap lexical density dan
grammatical intricacy pada teks sehingga buku tersebut dapat digunakan dan
dimengerti oleh siswa.
Kata Kunci: Lexical Density, Grammatical Intricacy, Teks Bahasa Inggris.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The writer would like to thank Allah SWT for blessing, health, chance,
and inspiration given to the writer during the completion of this final project with
title Lexical Density and Grammatical Intricacy of Reading Materials to the Tenth
Grade Students of Senior High School. Shalawat and salam for the Prophet
Muhammad who brings us from darkness to the brightness.
The writer realizes that she cannot complete this final project without the
help of others. Many people have helped the writer during the writing this final
project and it would be impossible to mention all of them. The writer wishes,
however, to give the writer sincerest gratitude and appreciation to:
Prof. Dr. Syawal Gultom, M.Pd, the Rector of State University of
Medan.
Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., the Dean Faculty of Languages and Arts.
Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English Department and
Nora Ronita Dewi, S. S., M. Hum., the Head of Education Program of
English Department.
Dr. Anni Holila Pulungan, M.Hum, the Thesis Advisor.
Dr. Zainuddin. DIP. TEFL., M.Hum, the Academic Advisor.
Dr. Rahmad Husein, M.Ed and Rita Suswati, S.Pd., M.Hum., the
Thesis Reviewers.
All the Lecturers of English Department who have taught and guided
the writer throughout the academic years that could not be mentioned one
by one.
Achmadi and Samsinur, her beloved parents who give me uncountable
love, pray, motivation, material, lesson, and all the things that they ever
gave that can make the writer understand and appreciate the meaning of
struggle in life until she achieve her Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan.
Titik Sunarti, Neny Wahyuni also Esti satiti and Teguh Prasetyo as
dearest sisters and brother for their support, love, and pray in finishing her
thesis.
Rizki Mandasari her beloved friend for unforgettable friendship and for
the time, laugh, happiness, supports, togetherness, advise and everything
that they experienced together in achieving S.Pd. The writer realizes that
nothing worth than friendship in her life.
“JD” her special person who always keep sporting her with praying and
loving. He has taught her about appreciation to the power of pray and
loves in every single moment.
iii
M.Arif her close friend for laugh and happiness in achieving S.Pd, those
thing are meaningful for her.
Eis Sri Wahyuni, M.Pd, and Mr. Pantes, the administration staff of
English Department, for her and his attention, assistance, and information.
Headmaster, Vice Headmaster and English teachers in SMA Swasta
Persiapan Stabat for time, chance, and cooperation.
All Students Class B of English Education 2012 who suddenly had
interaction and supports the writer in accomplishing all requirements for
graduation. They are actually colors the writer’s days in achieving S.Pd
There are many people whose names are not mentioned above, the writer
thanks them for their support in finishing her study, and may Allah Swt bless you
all. Finally, the writer expects this thesis be useful, especially for the writer and
generally for the readers.
Medan,
September 2016
The Writer
Rini Lestari
Reg. Number. 2122121034
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pages
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ...........................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................... v
LIST OF TABLE . .................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.............................................................. 1
A. The Background of the Study ...................................................... 1
B. The problems of the study ........................................................... 7
C. The Objectives of the Study ........................................................ 8
D. Significant of the Study ............................................................... 8
E. The Scope of the Study................................................................ 9
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURES ...................................... 10
A. Theoretical Framework............................................................... 10
1. Lexical Density ..................................................................... 10
a. Lexical Items .................................................................... 13
1). Nouns ............................................................................. 13
2). Verbs ............................................................................. 14
3). Adjectives ...................................................................... 15
4). Adverbs .......................................................................... 15
b. Grammatical Items .............................................................. 16
1). Auxiliary Verbs.............................................................. 16
2). Modals ........................................................................... 17
3). Pronouns ........................................................................ 18
4). Prepositions.................................................................... 18
5). Determiners .................................................................... 18
6). Conjunctions .................................................................. 19
7). Numerals ........................................................................ 19
2. Grammatical Intricacy ........................................................... 20
v
3. Reading ............................................................................... 24
a. Definition of Reading .................................................... 24
b. Principles of Reading..................................................... 25
4. Textbook ............................................................................. 26
a. Definition of Textbook .................................................. 26
b. Benefits of using Textbook ........................................... 27
5. Genre of Writing ................................................................. 28
a. Narrative text ................................................................. 28
b. Procedure text ................................................................ 29
c. Recount text .................................................................. 30
B. Relevant Studies ..................................................................... 31
C. Conceptual Framework............................................................ 33
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................. 34
A. Research Design ..................................................................... 34
B. Data and Source of Data ........................................................ 35
C. The Instrument for Collecting Data ....................................... 35
D. Procedure for Collecting Data ................................................ 36
E.
Technique for analyzing Data ................................................ 37
CHAPTER IV. DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS ................................... 39
A. Data ....................................................................................... 39
B. Data Analysis ......................................................................... 39
C. Research Finding .................................................................. 69
D. Discussion ............................................................................ 72
CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ........................... 76
A. Conclusion ............................................................................ 76
B. Suggestion ............................................................................ 77
REFERENCES .......................................................................................... 78
APPENDIX ................................................................................................ 80
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Pages
Table 1.1 Lexical Density Score .................................................................... 5
Table 2.2 Grammatical Intricacy Measurement ............................................. 5
Table 4.1 GI Measurement of Text 1 ........................................................... 43
Table 4.2 GI Measurement of Text 2 ........................................................... 46
Table 4.3 GI Measurement of Text 3 ........................................................... 51
Table 4.4 GI Measurement of Text 4 ........................................................... 55
Table 4.5 GI Measurement of Text 5 ........................................................... 59
Table 4.6 GI Measurement of Text 6 ........................................................... 61
Table 4.7 GI Measurement of Text 7 ........................................................... 64
Table 4.8 GI Measurement of Text 8 ........................................................... 67
Table 4.9 LD and GI Result ......................................................................... 69
vii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
English has four skills to learned, those are listening, reading,
speaking, and writing. Those skills are important to be mastered without
ignoring each other. For most English as foreign language learners,
reading has the important role because by reading, they will be able to
understand the reading materials they want to learn. Basically, reading is
the ways to gain some important message and get meaning from written
text. As a skill, reading is clearly one of important language skill that
where students have to read English material for their subject. The student
often thought to be easier to obtain information from written text by
reading.
For Indonesian students, the source that they use to learn in
classroom is Textbook. Textbook take an important role in teaching
learning activity because it provides the subject that they need. Textbook
usually consists of reading text content with some genre of English text,
writing assignment, listening task and conversation with some expression.
For reading skill, usually reading materials is in form of comprehending
the text, pronouncing the words, getting new vocabulary and
understanding the language features of genre of texts.
1
2
Ur (1996: 138) in his book argues that reading means ‘reading and
understanding.’ A foreign language learners who says, ‘I can read the
words but I don’t know what they means’ is not, therefore, reading, in this
sense. It prove that many students in our country as foreign language
readers also face difficulty in reading an English text because they are
cannot mastery the vocabulary like the native speaker does. Many English
texts which they use as sources are content with vocabulary that they
cannot understand the meaning. The main points of difficult texts are the
lexical density and grammatical intricacy of the text itself. Ure (1971)
stated that Lexical density is a number of lexical items as the proportion of
running words. Furthermore, Halliday explains that Lexical item are the
major content words which carry information. They fall into four
grammatical categories; Nouns, Adjectives, some class of Adverbs, and
Main verbs. Typically, written language becomes complex by being
lexically dense; it packs a large lexical items into each clause; whereas
spoken language becomes complex by being grammatically intricate; it
built up elaborate the clause complexes.
For foreign language learners, the text which content of high
lexical items will make students got trouble to understand the text. In
addition, lexical item includes verb, noun, adjective and adverb has open
system in which one word can has more than one meaning. In other word,
the more lexical items the text has, the more difficult the text is. On the
other hand, the students are demanded to comprehend the reading text
3
because by comprehending it, the students will be able to reach the
knowledge. Because of that, the teacher need to provide appropriate
textbook content with reading text based on the students ability. Reading
text in form of grammatical configuration is not too difficult to understand.
Grammatical items are those that function as closed system in the
language. Different from lexical configuration, grammatical configuration
show that text is consist of determiner, pronoun, most preposition,
conjunction and numerals. It means that the balance between lexical items
and grammatical items in a text is really important to consider in order to
make the students mastered the reading materials in an English textbook.
The other thing that influences the difficulty of reading materials is
grammatical intricacy. If in a text there are more clause complexes than
simple clauses, it can be said that the text is more complex in the sense
that it presents more information in a tight way. Consequently, the learners
are potential to face problems to comprehend the text. Because of that,
lexical density and grammatical intricacy separated each other.
Based on the preliminary observation of the English teacher of
SMA Persiapan Stabat on April 22th 2016, the researcher found some
information by interview the English teacher. The researcher asked about
whether the reading materials in the textbook are suitable for the students
or not. The teacher said that most of students face the difficulty to
understand the text because they are lack of vocabulary. The students
usually cannot define some vocabulary or wrong to define the vocabulary
4
in the reading materials, it affects students’ reading assignment result
became bad. In addition, the teacher also said that they are not checked the
reading materials in the textbook yet, whether the reading materials are
suitable for the students or not, they just teach them following the
textbook. For an example, the researcher takes one of reading text from
English textbook they learn randomly. The researcher chooses one text
from procedure text genre.
Installing Graphics Acceleration Card
Here is the easy and practical way to install your graphics
acceleration card in your computer.
First, power off the computer and monitor, then disconnect the
display cable from the back of your computer. Next, remove the
computer cover. If necessary, consult your computer’s manual for help
in removing the cover. Remember to discharge your body static
electricity by touching the metal surface on the computer chassis. When
your computer is open, remove any existing graphics card from your
computer. If the old graphics card sticks, rock it gently form end to
end. Remember to save the screw. Or if your computer has any onboard graphics capability, you may need to disable the metal cover
form the empty expansion slot that you select. Then align your new card
with the expansion slot, and press it firmly until the card is fully seated.
Replace the screw to fasten the card in place, and replace the
computer cover. After that, plug the display cable into your card; then
turn on the computer and display device. For card with a Digital Flat
Panel (DFP) connector, connect your monitor or flat panel display or
both to the appropriate connector. Make sure all cables are securely
connected.
Finally, reboot your system.
5
The result of measurement the lexical density is shown in table
below:
Table 1.1
Lexical Density Score
No
Title
Genre
1
Installing
Graphics
Acceleration
Cards
Proced
ure
Text
Lexical
Items
132
Grammatica
l Items
78
Result
62.86%
Regarding this measurement based on Ure’s method, if the
numbers surpasses forty percent, it accounts for higher lexical density. It
means that this text is difficult to understand by the first grade students of
Senior high school.
While the result of Measurement the Grammatical Intricacy of one
paragraph in the same text is shown in table below;
Table 1.2
Grammatical Intricacy Measurement
No
1
2
3
4
Sentence
Clauses
///Replace the screw// to fasten
3
the card in place//, and replace
the computer cover.///
///After that, plug the display
3
cable into your card;// then turn
on the computer// and display
device///
///For card with a Digital Flat
4
Panel (DFP) connector,// connect
your monitor //or flat panel
display// or both to the
appropriate connector.///
///Make sure// all cables are
2
securely connected. ///
Kind of Clauses
CC
CC
CC
CC
6
The text above actually has 12 Clauses. The reason why researcher
chooses the paragraph above is because that paragraph actually doesn’t
have any simple clause. All of sentences in that paragraph consist of 12
complex clauses. It shows that the paragraph is grammatical intricate.
Based on the preliminary observation, the researcher can say that
when the students get difficulty to understand the content of the text book
especially the reading text, the students will be hard to get the knowledge
of the textbook. The proportion between the lexical items and the
grammatical items in the text certainly will determine the difficulty of the
text. Through the lexical density of the text, teacher can know whether the
text is easy or difficult for the students.
The measurement of lexical density and grammatical intricacy in
English reading text is very important because it will be the consideration
of the teacher or school to choose the available book for the students in
order to make the students learn the book easily.
B. The Problems of the Study
Problems that will discuss in this study can be stated as follows:
1. How are the lexical density and grammatical intricacy formed in the reading
texts of English alive textbook?
2. How do the Lexical density and Grammatical Intricacy influence the
difficulty level of reading materials in English alive textbook?
7
C. The Objectives of the Study
Objective of the study are stated as follows:
1. To find out how lexical density and grammatical intricacy is formed in
English alive textbook
2. To measure how lexical density and grammatical intricacy influence the
difficulty level of reading material in English Alive textbook
D. The Significant of the Study
In conducting this study, the writer hopes that this research has benefit
theoretically and practically to the readers.
Theoretically this research hopefully will be useful to enrich the
lexical density and grammatical intricacy theories. The finding in this
research can add new information to other researcher about lexical density
and grammatical intricacy found in a textbook.
Practically, this research hopefully will be useful for the teacher as
guidance to choose suitable textbook for the students and apply the result
of this study as feedback on their teaching activities; improve their
knowledge and experience in choosing appropriate book, so that the
students are better in reading skills. This research hopefully also will be
useful for the students to be more selective in choosing textbook and know
the way to reach good reading comprehension by choosing suitable
textbook for them. For the researcher, this research hopefully can improve
the writer’s knowledge about genres and lexical density in reading
materials. Last, all of those benefits of analyzing the lexical density and
8
grammatical intricacy hopefully will be useful for all educators because it
will be affect students’ ability in learning English.
E. The Scope of the Study
In this research, the writer focuses on the subject matter in
analyzing the lexical density and grammatical intricacy of the reading text
in English alive 1 text book published by Yudhistira which is used at the
tenth grade students of SMA Swasta Persiapan Stabat. Meanwhile, there
are fourteen reading texts in the textbook consist of some genre of texts
those are narrative, procedure and recount. But the researcher is analyzes 8
reading texts in the first semester only.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
A. Conclusion
After analyzing 8 texts in English Alive Textbook published by
Yudhistira for the tenth grade students of senior high school, the researcher
can conclude that;
1.
Lexical density is formed by unification of lexical item and grammatical
item which measured to find out the difficulty level in a text. While
grammatical intricacy is formed by unification of complex clauses and
simple clauses which measured to find how intricate the text is.
2. Regarding the research result which shows that all of the texts are have
high lexical density and grammatical intricacy, the researcher can explain
that the reading materials found in English alive textbook are difficult to
understand by the students. Based on theories that the researcher use as
guidance, lexical density influences the difficulty of reading texts if it has
higher proportion of lexical items than grammatical items. While
grammatical intricacy also influences the difficulty of reading texts if it
has higher proportion of complex clauses in comparison with simple
clauses.
76
77
B. Suggestion
After drawing the conclusion, the researcher presents some suggestion
as follows;
1. The textbook publishers are the place of learning tool is made. The
textbook which they make isn’t for a student only, but for thousand or
million students. Textbook they have made absolutely influence the
students’ ability in learning English. Furthermore, most of school in our
country are using textbook for their main learning tool, means that
measure whether the textbook is suitable for the students or not is
recommended thing to do by the publisher before distribute their
textbooks.
2. Teacher also takes an important role in providing an English textbook.
Choosing appropriate textbook based on students’ ability is recommended
to do because teachers are the people who understand about how the
ability of the students is. One school may have different needs from
another school.
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