IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY THROUGH COOPERATIVE INTEGRATED READING AND COMPOSITION (A Classroom Action Research at Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the Academic Year of 2009 2010)
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IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY THROUGH COOPERATIVE INTEGRATED READING AND COMPOSITION (A Classroom Action
Research at Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the Academic Year of 2009/2010)
By:
H A N D I N I
NIM: S 890908209
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
GRADUATE SCHOOL
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY
SURAKARTA
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APPROVAL
IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY THROUGH COOPERATIVE INTEGRATED READING AND COMPOSITION (A Classroom Action
Research at Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the Academic Year of 2009/2010)
By:
HANDINI
S890908209
This thesis has been approved by the Consultants of English Education of Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University Surakarta
Consultant I Consultant II
Dr. Sujoko, MA Drs. H. Tarjana, M.A
NIP. 19510912 198003 1002
Approved By:
The Head of English Education of Graduate School Sebelas Maret University Surakarta
Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd NIP. 19621231 198803 1009
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LEGITIMATION FROM THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS Title:
IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY THROUGH COOPERATIVE INTEGRATED READING AND COMPOSITION (A Classroom Action
Research at Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the Academic Year of 2009/2010)
HANDINI
S890908209
This thesis has been examined by the Board of Thesis Examiners of Graduate School of English Education of Sebelas Maret University Surakarta on September 3rd, 2010.
Board of Examiners: Signature
Chairman : Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd. ... NIP. 19621231 198803 1 009
Secretary : Dr. Abdul Asib, M.Pd. ... NIP. 19520307 198003 1 005
Members of Examiners:
1. Dr. Sujoko, M.A. ... NIP. 19510912 198003 1 002
2. Drs. Heribertus Tarjana, M.A. ... Surakarta, September 3rd , 2010
The Director of Graduate School of The Head of English Education of Sebelas Maret University Graduate School of Sebelas Maret
University
Prof. Drs. Suranto, M.Sc, Ph.D Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd
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PRONOUNCEMENT
I would like to certify that the thesis entitled “Improving Students‟ English Reading Comprehension Ability Through Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition” (A Classroom Action Research at Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the Academic Year of 2009/2010) is really my own work.
It is not plagiarism or made by others. Everything related to others‟ works is written in
quotation, the sources of which are listed on the Bibliography.
If, then, this pronouncement proves wrong, I am ready to receive any academic punishment, including the cancellation of my academic degree.
Surakarta, August, 2010
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ABSTRACT
Handini, S890908209, “Improving Students‟ Reading Comprehension Ability Through Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition” (A Classroom Action Research at Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the Academic Year of 2009/2010).
The aims of this research are to improve the students‟ reading comprehension ability using Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition technique and to know what happens when CIRC technique is used in the reading class. The problem revealed in this research was the low reading comprehension of Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih that was caused by the internal factor that was from the students themselves and from the external factors such as, the teacher and teaching techniques that were used by the teacher. The teacher in SMP N 1 Matesih never used study groups or pairs in teaching reading. The writer found out that there were gaps among the students. Only some students had good achievements and were active to follow the teaching-learning process and the others were passive. Most of them were sleepy, bored, not enthusiastic to follow the teaching and learning process. So, the interaction in the class was low.
The research was conducted from October 2009 to August 2010 in Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih. The subject of the research was 31 students consisting of 16 male students and 15 female students. The procedure of the research consisting of planning the action, implementing the action, observing the action, and reflecting the action. In collecting the data, the researcher using observation, interview, questionnaire, and the test technique. In this research, the researcher using the objective test type for both pre-test and post-test. There were two techniques in analyzing the data, they were: quantitative and qualitative analysis. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistic analysis. The qualitative data were analyzed using the framework developed by Miles and Huberman (1984) consisting of the following steps: data reduction, data display, and data verification.
The result of the research showed that Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition technique could improve students‟ reading comprehension in terms of: the achievement in reading comprehension increased, and the students were able to comprehend a text well. The
improvement of the students‟ reading comprehension ability could be seen from the mean
progress of pre-test and test. The mean score of pre-test was 54.54, the mean score of post-test 1 was 67.96, and the mean score of post-post-test 2 was 77.87. Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition technique can improve the teaching and learning process, such as: improving
students‟ motivation, increasing students‟ participation to follow the teaching and learning
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DEDICATION
This thesis is especially dedicated to:
My beloved husband, Harry Wuryanto, who always supports and encourages me to study at the Graduate School Program.
My beloved parents, who always motivate me to learn and learn.
My wonderful children, Kirana and Raihan, who always inspire me in every minute of my life.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all the researcher would like to thank Allah Subhanahu Wa ta‟aallaa,
Alhamdulillahi Robbill‟aalamiin, for only by His blessing this thesis was finally completed. The
researcher realizes that this thesis would not be achieved without the assistance from many individuals and institutions. In this opportunity the researcher would like to express her deepest gratitude to the following.
Prof. Drs. Suranto, M.Sc., Ph.D, the Director of Graduate School Sebelas Maret University; Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd., the Head of English Education Department, Graduate School, Sebelas Maret University Surakarta for the permissions. The great honor and deep gratitude to the following persons: Bapak Dr. Sujoko, MA, as the first consultant who has given plenty information she needed to know about action research. Drs. H. Tarjana, MA as the second
consultant, thank you Bapak, “You are the most critical consultant I ever had”. All lectures in
English Education Department, Graduate School, Sebelas Maret University Surakarta for all the knowledge that have been given to her. Special thanks to Dra. Rahayuningsih, M.Pd as the headmistress of SMPN 1 Matesih who has allowed her to carry out the research in her school, Suwanto, S.Pd as her collaborator who has given her suggestions, evaluations, advise, help, and support in carrying out the research, and also all teachers in SMPN 1 Matesih.
Her beloved husband, her parents, her children, and my brothers and sisters who always give spirit to finish this thesis. The writer also thanks her class of 2008 English Education who have become part of her life in the evening class.
Last but not least, to all her friends in Allah‟s way (including her beloved family in
Matesih and LPMP Banten), Alhamdulillah jazza kumullohu khoiron, also to those who are not mentioned here but give their sincere assistance to her: thank you all.
The writer realizes that this thesis is still far from being perfect. That is why she always expects criticisms and suggestions from the readers in order to make improvement. However, the writer hopes that this thesis can be useful for the readers who want to improve their reading comprehension using Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition technique .
Surakarta, August, 2010
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE ... i
APPROVAL ... ii
LEGITIMATION FROM THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS ... iii
PRONOUNCEMENT ... iv
ABSTRACT ... v
DEDICATION ... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... vii
TABLE OF CONTENT ... viii
LIST OF TABLES ... x
LIST OF FIGURES ... xi
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Statement ... 6
C. The Objective of the Study ... 6
D. The Benefits of the Study ... 7
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED THEORIES A. Theoritical Description ... 8
1. Reading Comprehension ... 8
2. The Nature of Cooperative Learning ... 17
3. Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition 24 B. Rationale... 25
C. Hypothesis ... 27
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. The Setting of the Research ... 28
B. The Subject of the Research ... 28
C. The Method of the Research ... 29
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E. The Technique of Collecting Data ... 32
F. The Technique of Analyzing Data ... 35
CHAPTER IV THE RESULT OF THE STUDY A. Introduction ... 38
B. The Preparation of Action Research ... 39
C. Implementation of Cycle 1 ... 41
1. Planning Action ... 41
2. Implementing Action ... 43
3. Observation ... 47
4. Reflection ... 48
D. Implementation of Cycle 2 ... 50
1. Planning Action ... 50
2. Implementing Action ... 51
3. Observation ... 56
4. Reflection ... 57
E. Findings ... 59
F. Discussion ... 66
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION, AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion ... 69
B. Implication ... 70
C. Suggestion ... 70
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 The Score of the Pre-test and the Score of the Post-test of Cycle 1 .. 60 Table 2 The Score of the Post-test of Cycle 1 and the Score of the Post-test
of Cycle 2 ... 61 Tabel 3 The Score of the Pre-test, the Score of the Post-test of Cycle 1, and
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LIST OF FIGURES AND GRAPHS
Figure 1 The Action Research Spiral ... 29 Graph 1 The Score of the Pre-test and the Score of the Post-test of Cycle 1 .. 60 Graph 2 The Score of the Post-test of Cycle 1 and the Score of the Post-test
of Cycle 2 ... 61 Graph 3 The Score of the Pre-test, the Score of the Post-test of Cycle 1, and
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1.a. Transcript of Interview (Pre-Action) ... 76
Appendix 1.b. The Scores of Reading in Pre-Research ... 79
Appendix 2.a. Questionnaire for Preliminary Research ... 81
Appendix 2.b. The Result of Questionnaire in Preliminary Research ... 83
Appendix 3.a. Interview Guide before Teaching Reading using CIRC ... 86
Appendix 3.b. Transcript of Interview before Teaching Reading using CIRC 88 Appendix 4.a. Blue Print of Reading Test (Try-out Instrument) ... 103
Appendix 4.b. Test Items of Try-Out ... 104
Appendix 4.c. Answer Key of Try-Out ... 119
Appendix 4.d. Validity and Reability of Try-Out Instrument ... 120
Appendix 5.a. Blue Print of Reading Test (Pre-Test Instrument) ... 125
Appendix 5.b. Test Items of Pre-test ... 126
Appendix 5.c. Answer Key of Pre-Test ... 136
Appendix 5.d. The Result of Pre-Test ... 137
Appendix 6 Syllabus ... 139
Appendix 7.a. Lesson Plan of Cyle 1 Meeting 1 ... 142
Appendix 7.b. Lesson Plan of Cyle 1 Meeting 2 ... 145
Appendix 7.c. Lesson Plan of Cyle 1 Meeting 3 ... 148
Appendix 8.a. Students‟ Worksheet of Cyle 1 Meeting 1 ... 151
Appendix 8.b. Students‟ Worksheet of Cyle 1 Meeting 2 ... 154
Appendix 8.c. Students‟ Worksheet of Cyle 1 Meeting 3 ... 157
Appendix 9.a. The Seat Position of the Students before Action ... 160
Appendix 9.b. The Seat Position of the Students on Group ... 162
Appendix 10.a. Observation Sheet of Cycle 1 Meeting 1 ... 164
Appendix 10.b. Observation Sheet of Cycle 1 Meeting 2 ... 167
Appendix 10.c. Observation Sheet of Cycle 1 Meeting 3 ... 170
Appendix 11.a. Test Items of Post-Test of Cycle 1 ... 173
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Appendix 11.c. The Result of Post-Test 1 ... 184
Appendix 12.a. Lesson Plan of Cyle 2 Meeting 1 ... 186
Appendix 12.b. Lesson Plan of Cyle 2 Meeting 2 ... 189
Appendix 12.c. Lesson Plan of Cyle 2 Meeting 3... 192
Appendix 13.a. Students‟ Worksheet of Cyle 2 Meeting 1 ... 195
Appendix 13.b. Students‟ Worksheet of Cyle 2 Meeting 2 ... 198
Appendix 13.c. Students‟ Worksheet of Cyle 2 Meeting 3 ... 201
Appendix 14.a. Observation Sheet of Cycle 2 Meeting 1 ... 204
Appendix 14.b. Observation Sheet of Cycle 2 Meeting 2 ... 207
Appendix 14.c. Observation Sheet of Cycle 2 Meeting 3 ... 210
Appendix 15.a. Test Items of Post-Test of Cycle 2 ... 213
Appendix 15.b. Answer Key of Post-Test 2 ... 223
Appendix 15.c. The Result of Post-Test 2 ... 224
Appendix 16.a. Interview Guide after Teaching Reading using CIRC ... 226
Appendix 16.b. Transcript of Interview after Teaching Reading using CIRC . 228 Appendix 17 Fieldnote ... 243
Appendix 18.a. T-test (Pre-Test and Post-Test 1) ... 263
Appendix 18.b. T-test (Post-Test 1 and Post-Test 2) ... 266
Appendix 18.c. T-test (Pre-Test and Post-Test 2) ... 269
Appendix 19.a. The Questionnaire of Positive and Negative Effects when CIRC Applied in Teaching Reading ... 272
Appendix 19.b. The Questionnaire‟s Result in Teaching Reading ... 275
Appendix 20 Transcript of Interview ... 277
Appendix 21 Sample of Students‟ Questionnaire ... 280
Appendix 22 Sample of Students‟ Pre-Test ... 340
Appendix 23 Sample of Students‟ Post-Test 1 ... 345
Appendix 24 Sample of Students‟ Post-Test 2 ... 350
Appendix 25 Sample of Students‟ Worksheets ... 354
Appendix 26 Sample of Students‟ Questionnaire (Post-Action) ... 402
Appendix 27.a. Photographs of Interview ... 496
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Appendix 27.c. Photographs of Pre-Test ... 499
Appendix 27.d. Photographs of Teaching anf Leraning Process ... 500
Appendix 27.e. Photographs of Post-Test 1 ... 504
Appendix 27.f. Photographs of Post-Test 2 ... 505
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Title : Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension Ability Through Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (A Classroom Action Research at Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the Academic Year of 2009/2010) by Handini, S890908209
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
Language is basic for human, especially for communication. We express our feelings, thought and stimulate action and reaction through language. It becomes a mean of communication in its role and function. People can not live without languages. They interact and communicate with others in the society in order to fulfill their needs by means of a device called language. Language and human being are two un-separated components. It is a means of communication for individuals that brings them into relationship with their environment. It is defined as a system for encoding and decoding information. Language is used to communicate and to say things to each others, and to express communication needs. Language also has functions to communicate general attitude towards life and others.
Without language, there would be no progress, no civilization, and no culture. So, it is inevitable that people should study language because people can get information about some subject and develop science and technology by using a language.
One of the languages that has an important function in international communication is English. It becomes popular than other languages. Most fields of life in the world, such as education, sport, science, medicines and technology use English. In Indonesia, English serves as a foreign language. It is taught in schools because it is the most dominant foreign language and also the first foreign language.
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Considering the importance of English, the government of Indonesia has put English in a school curriculum. It becomes a compulsory subject that is taught from elementary school to university. Among foreign languages, English has a special position because it is the only foreign language that is used as an international communication around the world. By learning English, the students of Indonesia are hoped to be able to communicate in English.
English covers four language skills namely reading, listening, speaking, and writing. Learning English means learning the four language skills (Widdowson, 1978: 1). Listening and reading are called receptive skills while speaking and writing are called productive ones. In learning English, Indonesian learners still find difficulties. Those difficulties are partly caused by different systems between Indonesia and English, such as vocabulary, grammar, culture, and so on. The differences of the systems create many problems in learning English language.
English and Indonesian languages also have a different grammatical system or rule. Consequently, there is no guarantee that the students who have good understanding of Indonesian text will have good understanding of English ones automatically. It is easier to read and understand Indonesian texts than to read English ones because the students have mastered vocabulary and the structural system of Indonesian. Many Indonesian students still find difficulties in reading although English is always stated in every curriculum.
To read English texts is not easy. The students should develop their comprehensive skills in order to get information or ideas from the text. It means that the students have to learn about words, phrases, sentences, and English texts. It is difficult for students to catch the ideas of the text without understanding the text itself. Teaching reading comprehension should be designed in the particular way so that a good atmosphere in the teaching-learning process can be created and students become active in learning. Through students‟ active learning, they can share and express their opinion freely.
In the formal education, among the four language skills, reading is the most frequently taught, because reading is a means of learning in all subjects.
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Reading is one of the language skills which has important roles. Bamman (1963: 1) states that reading is truly a basic mean of learning in all subject. It means that reading is very important because in every subject, pupils learning activities involve reading. Carrell (1996: 1) states:
For many students, reading is by far the most important of the four skills in second language, particularly in English as second or foreign language. Certainly, if we consider the study of English in second year Junior High School around the world-the situation in which most English learners find themselves-reading is the main reason why students learn language.
Based on Carrell‟s statement, in English as foreign language, reading is really important than the other skills, such as speaking, writing and listening.
Reading text also provides good models for English writing. When a teacher teachs the writing skill, she or he will need to show students a model of what she or he is encouraging them to do. Reading text also provides opportunities to study language including vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, and to study the way of constructing sentences, paragaphs, and texts.
In the Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP) for Indonesian Junior High School, English teaching has a purpose to develop communicative competence in the form of oral and written language, namely reading, listening, speaking, and writing. It means that a teacher must teach students to learn to use the language. Therefore, it is expected that students should learn to use the language to communicate. The objective of teaching English in Junior High School is stressed on reading comprehension and provides the students with comprehending knowledge. It means that the abilty of reading must be followed by understanding or comprehending a text.
The students should have reading comprehension ability to build a good understanding of an English text. To attract students‟ attention in teaching reading is a hard job for a teacher. For this reason, every effort is made to build wholesome attitudes in children, to give them sense of belonging and a feeling of being accepted and respected, and to provide many success experiences. Aebersold and Field (1997: 65) also state that to become better readers, students need to be aware of how they read and what they could do to improve
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comprehension. Therefore, the use of methods and technique in a teaching- learning process that relate to the learners is necessary to be considered.
Unfortunately, Indonesian Junior High School students still found difficulties in understanding the content of English texts that they read. There were so many factors causing the low reading ability of the students. It was caused by the internal factor that was from the students themselves and from the external factors such as, the teacher and teaching techniques that was used by the teacher. In SMP Negeri 1 Matesih, the researcher found that the students‟ reading comprehension was low. It was indicated by the low scores of the reading comprehension ability. This was caused by students‟ problems, especially, in understanding vocabularies, finding main ideas, finding detail information, and so on. Dealing with the problems, the writer found that the teaching technique that was used by the teacher was the main factor causing the students‟ difficulties in comprehending a text. The researcher noticed that the way the teacher taught reading was not encouraging students to be active. During the lesson the teacher just read the written text without knowing whether the students got the information or not. Besides that, the teacher in SMP N 1 Matesih never used study groups or pairs in teaching reading. The writer found out that there were gaps among the students. Only some students have good achievements and are active to follow the teaching-learning process and the others were passive. Most of them were sleepy, bored, not enthusiastic to follow the teaching and learning process. So, the interaction in the class was low. Therefore, the teacher should seek appropriate ways in teaching reading.
Based on the explanation above, the writer applied Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) method in teaching reading comprehension to Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih. Arends (2004: 356) states that Cooperative Learning is a teaching method that makes maximum use of cooperative activities involving pairs and small group of learners in the classroom. Within cooperative learning groups the students discuss the material to be learned with each other, help and assist each other to understand it, and encourage each other to work hard. Cooperative learning groups may be used to teach specific content (formal
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cooperative learning group), to ensure active cognitive processing of information during a lecture or demonstration (informal cooperative learning group), and to provide long term support and assistance for academic progress (cooperative base group) (Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec, 1993: 6). Kessler (1992: 8) also states that cooperative learning offers good learning strategy in which warm atmosphere at the class can be created. In cooperative learning, there are five key elements, they are positive interdependence, face to face promotive interaction, individual accountability, social skills, and group processing. By applying CIRC, students will learn by themselves, learn more, feel more confident, feel more dedicated, enjoy the class, teach each other, and become independent learners. By using CIRC in teaching and learning, the students can also use their own knowledge and share their knowledge with their friends. CIRC is a teaching method that can form groups of students. There are some steps in conducting CIRC (Steven and Slavin, 1995), as follow: (1) Preparing the material that would be used in the learning process and dividing the learning material into some parts. (2) Warming up the class and giving some questions dealing with the topic. If the students do not know about the topic, the researcher will give short explanation. (3) Asking the students to make a study group which consists of four to five students in each groups (heterogeneous learning teams). They will learn about the reading material. (4) Giving a text to each of group. They would share information, solve the problems, read to each other and do the task given by the teacher. (5) Explaining some points of the material if the students have some difficulties. (6) Asking each group to presents or reads the result of their discussion. (7) Concluding.
All the background above supports the researcher to conduct Classroom Action Research in implementing Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition in order to improve the students‟ reading comprehension. Steven and Slavin (1995: 6) state that CIRC Reading and CIRC Writing are usually used together, but can be used as separate reading and writing programs. Based on the problems of the research in SMP Negeri 1 Matesih, the researcher just focus on reading comprehension. From this idea, the writer determines the topics of this
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research under the title: “Improving Students‟ English Reading Comprehension Ability Through Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition”(A Classroom Action Research at Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the Academic Year of 2009/2010 ).
B. Problem Statements
Based on the background of the study, the writer formulates the problems as follows:
1. Can Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition method improve
students‟ reading comprehension ability at Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1
Matesih in the Academic Year of 2009/2010?
2. How is the teaching learning process when Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition is used to improve students‟ reading comprehension ability at Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the Academic Year of 2009/2010?
C. The Objective of the Study
Based on the problem statement above, the objective of the study are: 1. To find out whether Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition
method can improve students‟ reading comprehension ability at Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the Academic Year of 2009/2010.
2. To find out the teaching learning process when Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition is used to improve students‟ reading comprehension ability at Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the Academic Year of 2009/2010.
D. The Benefit of the Study
The writer hopes that the result of the study will provide some contribution to improve the quality of the English language teaching and learning.
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1. For the students
The result of the research will make the students realize that reading is an important thing in learning a language. It can also encourage them to be active in learning by which they will be able to improve their reading comprehension ability.
2. For the teachers
The result of the study can be used as a reference in developing the learning quality and improving the method of learning which is appropriate to the condition in the class.
3. For the school
The result of this study is expected to give some contribution to the school in teaching reading at Junior High School.
4. For other researchers
The writer expects that the result of this study can be used as a reference and as a starting point by other researchers in developing further research about Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition.
5. For the government
The result of this study can give some consideration in making some education decisions in Indonesia. The government should give regular training
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED THEORIES
A. Theoritical Description 1. Reading Comprehension a. The Notion of Reading
Before discussing the definition of reading comprehension, the researcher would like to explain about the notion of reading. Reading is a very important thing in the world education. Everyone can learn anything because he or she can read some books. It is an essential skill for learners of English since reading skills in English help learners to make progress in other areas of language learning. However, the average foreign language learners‟ reading ability is well below that of the first language. Consequently, this can impede progress in foreign language reading.
When someone is a student, he/she cannot separated from reading activity. If someone wants to be good students, they should develop their reading skills. They are demanded to read more books to get real information, new finding to another knowledge. It is true that they read what they want to read, if they need something to solve their problems.
The word „reading‟ comes from the word read. In Oxford Learner‟s
Pocket Dictionary, the word „read‟ means you read printed or written words, symbols or diagrams when you look at and then understand them. While,
„reading‟ means the activity of looking at and understanding printed words in
books and other publication. Some experts have their own definition of reading. In this case some definitions of reading will be discussed. Davies (1995: 1) gives the definition that reading is a private activity. It is a mental or cognitive process which involves a reader in trying to follow and respond to a message from a writer to the reader who distances in space and time.
Grellet (1992: 8) states that reading is an active skill. It constantly involves guessing, predicting, checking and asking oneself question.
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Kustaryo (1988: 2) states that reading is the combination of word recognition, and intellect, and emotion interrelated with prior knowledge to understand the message communicated.
Nuttal (1982) in Simanjuntak (1988: 4) defines reading as the meaningful interpretation of printed or written verbal symbols. It means that reading is a result of the interaction between the perception of graphic symbols that represent language and the reader‟s language skills, cognitive skills, and knowledge of the world. In this process the reader tries to recreate the meanings intended by the writer.
Wiratno (2003: 162) states that based on the way of reading, reading activity is divided into two points of view. First, reading is dissolved the text to get understanding to its content. Second, reading is pronouncing the text orally. Moreover, Wallace (1996: 4) adds that reading is interpreting which means reacting to a written text as a piece of communication; in other words, we assume
some communicative intent on the writer‟s part in which the reader has some
purposes in attempting to understand.
Based on all the definitions of reading above, it can be concluded that reading involves some processes that are used to get the meaning and ideas from the written text which is symbolized in written or printed language. It is an active and communicative process, that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in comprehension. It is a means of communication between the reader and the writer.
b. The Notion of Reading Comprehension
In reading comprehension, there should be an interaction between the reader and the writer. Adam (1990) in Howell (1993: 182) states that reading comprehension is an interactive process through which the reader uses code, context analysis, prior knowledge, vocabulary to understand the text. Meanwhile Burns (1990: 151) states that the basic comprehension units in reading are words, sentences, paragraphs, and whole selections. These units combine to form all
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written material students encounter.
Kustaryo (1988: 11-12) states that reading with comprehension means understanding what has been read. It is an active, thinking process that depends not only on comprehension skills but also on the students‟ experiences and prior knowledge. Comprehension involves understanding the vocabulary seeing the
relationship among words and concepts organizing ideas, recognizing the author‟s
purpose, making judgments, and evaluating.
Reading comprehension means techniques for improving students‟ success in extracting useful knowledge from text (http://www.wikipedia. org/wiki/comprehension. meaning)
Grellet (1992: 3) states that reading comprehension is understanding a written text and extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible. The ultimate goal in reading is to make the meaning from text and to comprehend the information that is conveyed in the text.
Based on the definition of reading comprehension above, it can be concluded that reading comprehension is a thinking process to get understanding from what has been read and to get information that the reader needs as efficiently as possible. In this process, the reader emphasizes the important of prior knowledge and reading skills in order to find information in the text.
c. Level of Comprehension
To understanding meaning or message resulted from reading is called reading comprehension. Different types of reading comprehension are often
distinguished, according to the reader‟s purposes in reading and the types of
reading used.
Based on the level of comprehension, Burns (1990: 177) divided reading into four types: literal reading, interpretive reading, critical reading, and creative reading.
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1) Literal reading
It involves acquiring information that is directly stated in a selection and also prerequisite for higher levels understanding. The examples of the skills are the
ability to restate the author‟s material. In other words, the basic of literal
comprehensive is recognizing stated main ideas, detail causes and effect, and sequence. It is important to understand vocabulary, sentence meaning and paragraph meaning thoroughly.
2) Interpretive reading
Interpretive reading involves reading between the lines or making inferences. It is the process of deriving ideas that are implied rather than directly stated. Skills for interpretive reading include:
a) Inferring main ideas of passage
b) Inferring causes and effect relationship c) Inferring referents of pronoun
d) Inferring referents of adverbs e) Inferring omitted words
f) Detecting the author‟s purpose and
g) Drawing conclusion 3) Critical reading
Critical reading is evaluating written material, comparing the ideas discovered with known standard and drawing conclusions about their accuracy, appropriateness, and timeless. The critical reader must be an active reader, questioning, searching for facts and suspending judgment until he or she has considered all of the material.
4) Creative reading
It involves going beyond the material presented by the author. It requires readers to think as they read and use their imagination.
Based on the theories above, it can be concluded that to comprehend well, readers must have literal comprehension, interpretive comprehension, critical comprehension, and creative comprehension. In this research, the writer used the level of comprehension according to Burns (1990: 177). The researcher did not
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discuss four levels of comprehension but only discuss two levels, (literal and interpretive comprehension) because the texts for SMP students covers literal and interpretive comprehension.
Based on the curriculum of SMP and level of comprehension above, the researcher can get some indicators required to the students, they were: literal comprehension (finding details information, identifying language feature, identifying generic structure, and identifying word meaning/vocabulary) and interpretative comprehension (identifying main ideas, identifying referents, and identifying the author‟s purpose).
d. The Process of Reading
Reading is not a single but a complex process. Davies (1995: 58) defines the process of reading into two models. They are bottom-up model and top-down model.
1) Bottom-up model
Eye look-identified and sound out words recognized-words allocated to grammatical class and sentence structure-sentence give meaning, meaning leads to thinking.
This model reflect certain approaches to the teaching of reading, in which the sequence of instruction is intended to reflect the assumed sequence of processing, from letters to sounds, to words, to sentences and finally to meaning and to thinking.
2) Top-down model
The processing sequence of top-down model is almost the reverse of the model above. This model is illustrated below:
Eye-look-thinking and prediction about meaning-sample sentences as a whole to check further look at words-if still uncertain study letters back to meaning predictions.
This model includes thinking and meaning at a very early stage, and the processing sequence proceeds from prediction about meaning to attention of progressive smaller units.
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e. The Factors Influencing Reading Comprehension
Dallman (1982: 165) points out the factors influencing the reading comprehension, they are:
1) External Factors a) Difficulty of material
Difficult material that is beyond the student‟s level is one of the major causes
of lack comprehension. b) Intelligence
A students ability to comprehend in reading is sometimes limited by his mental abilty enabling him to carry. The intelligence of the reader will influence the capacity of the reader in comprehending passage.
c) Environment
The extent of the environment affects comprehension varies with individuals.
d) Teacher‟s method
Methods of teaching that concentrate on the recognation of individual words
without neglecting attention to meaning assist the students‟ quality in
comprehending the text. 2) Internal Factors
a) Motivation
Motivation is one of the important factors of learners in reading comprehension.
b) Self-esteem
Sefl-esteem has important role in developing reading comprehension. It is a human being personality that is active, highly confident.
c) Self-actualization
Self-actualization is one of the basic physical needs, students have a feeling to create and improve their ability in reading to be best.
f. The Types of Reading
As had already been examined that in real life, the purposes of reading is constantly vary. Therefore, when facing a certain exercise the teacher should
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make a variation of the question and the activities according to the type of the text and the purposes in reading it. For example, reading on a page of certain advertisement. It would need different skills in comprehending of every single advertisement rather than facing a general book of reading. The different skills of the reading are related to the ways of reading. Grellet (1981:4) suggests some ways of reading. The main ways of reading are as follows:
1) Skimming
Skimming consists of quickly running eyes across the whole text (an essay, article, a chapter) to get the guess. Skimming gives the readers advantage of being able to predict the purpose of the passage, the main topic, or message, and possibly some of the developing or supporting ideas.
2) Scanning
Scanning is quickly going through a text to find a particular peace of information. Scanning exercise may ask students to look for names or dates, to find a definition of a key concept, or to list number of supporting details. The purpose of scanning is to extract certain specific information without reading through the whole text.
3) Extensive reading
Extensive reading is reading a longer text, usually for ones own pleasure. This is fluency activity, mainly involving global understanding.
4) Intensive reading
Intensive reading means reading a shorter text, to extract some specific information. This is more an accuracy activity.
The different ways of reading are not mutually exclusive. For instance, someone often skim through a passage to see what it is about before deciding whether it is worth scanning for a particular paragraph for the information that is looking for.
From the explanations above, the researcher concludes that to be a good reader in reading comprehension, readers must develop and used different reading strategies.
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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 his/her 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
Reading 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
Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec (1993: 6-8) state that there are three kinds of cooperative learning, namely:
1) Formal cooperative learning
Formal cooperative learning is students working together, for one class period to several weeks, to achieve shared learning goals and complete jointly specific tasks and assignments (such as decision making or problem solving, completing a curriculum unit, writing a report, conducting a survey or experiment, or reading a chapter or reference book, learning vocabulary, or answering questions at the end of the chapter). Any course requirement or assignment may be reformulated to be cooperative. In formal cooperative learning groups, teachers: a) specify the objectives for the lesson. In every lesson there should be an academic objective, specifying the concepts and strategies to be learned, and social skill objective, specifying the interpersonal or small group skill to be used and mastered during the lesson. b) Make a number of preinstructional decisions. A teacher has to decide on the size of the groups, the method of assigning students to groups, the roles students will be assigned, the materials needed to conduct the lesson, and the way the room will be arranged. c) Explain the task and the positive interdependence. A teacher clearly defines the assignment, teaches the required concepts and strategies, specifies the positive interdependence and individual accountability, gives the criteria for success, and explains the expected social skills to be engaged in. d) Monitor students‟ learning and intervene within the groups to provide task
assistance or to increase students‟ interpersonal and group skills. A teacher
systematically observes and collects data on each group as it works. When it is needed, the teacher intervenes to assist students in completing the task accurately and in working together effectively. e) Assess students‟ learning and help students process how well their groups functioned. Students‟ learning
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is carefully assessed and their performances are evaluated. Members of the learning groups then process how effectively they have been working together. 2) Informal cooperative learning
In informal cooperative learning students work together to achieve a joint learning goal in temporary, ad-hoc groups that last from a few minutes to one class period (Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec 1992; Johnson, Johnson, and Smith 1991). During a lecture, demonstration, or film, informal cooperative learning can be used to a) focus students attention on the material to be learned, b) set a mood conductive to learning, c) help set expectations as to what will be covered in a class session, d) ensure that students cognitively process the material being taught, and e) provide closure to an instructional session. During direct teaching, the instructional challenge for the teacher is to ensure that students do the intelectual work of organizing material, explaining it, summarizing it, and integrating it into existing conceptual structures. Informal cooperative learning groups are often organized so that students engaged in three to five minute focused discussions interspersed throughout a lecture. 3) Cooperative base groups
Cooperative base group is a long term, heterogeneous cooperative learning groups with stable membership. The purposes of base group are to give the support, help, encouragement, and assistance. Each member needs to make academic progress (attend class, complete all assignments, learn) and develop cognitively and socially in healthy ways. Base groups meet daily in elementary school and twice a week in secondary school (or whenever the class meets). They are permanent (lasting from one to several years) and provide the long term caring peer relationships necessary to influence members consistently to work hard in school. They formally meet to discuss the academic progress of each member, provide help and assistance to each other, and verify that each member is completing assignments and progressing satisfactorily through the academic program. Base groups may also responsible for letting absent group members know what went on in class when they miss a session. Informally, members interact every day
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within and between classes, discussing assignments, and helping each other with homework. The use of the base groups tends to improve attendance, personalize the work required and the school experience, and improve the quality and quantity of learning. The larger the class or school and the more complex and difficult the subject matter, the more important it is to have base group.
d. The Basic Elements of Cooperative Learning
In order for a lesson to be cooperative, five basic elements are essential and need to be included (Johnson and Johnson, 1989; Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec 1993: 8-10). The five essential elements are as follows:
1) Positive interdependence
Positive interdependence is the perception that you are linked with others in a way so that you cannot succeed unless they do, that is, their work benefits you and your work benefits them. It promotes situation in which students work together in small groups to maximize the learning of all members, share their resources, and provide mutual support, and celebrate their joint success. Positive interdependence is the heart of cooperative learning. Students must believe that they sink or swim together. For a learning situation to be cooperative, students must perceive that they are positively interdependent with other members of their learning group. At the same time they need to understand the social identity of classmates and respect them as collaborators and friends.
2) Individual accountability
Individual accountability exists when the performance of each individual student is assessed and the results are given back to the group and the individual. It is impotant that the group knows who needs more assistance, support, and encouragement in completing the assignment. It is also important
that group members know that they cannot “hitch-hide” on the work of others.
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individual in his or her right. Students learn together so that they can subsequently perform higher as individuals. To ensure that each member is strengthened, students are held individually accountable to do their share of the work. Common ways to structure individual accountability, include: a) giving an individual test to each students, b) randomly selecting the student‟s product to represent the entire group, or c) having each student explain what they have learned to a classmate.
3) Face to face promotive interaction
In establishing a positive interdependence, teachers need to maximize the
opportunity for students to promote each other‟s success by helping, assisting,
supporting, encouraging, and praising each other‟s efforts to learn. There are
cognitive activities and interpersonal dynamics that only occur when students
get involved in promoting each other‟s learning. This includes orally
explaining how to solve the problems, discussing the nature of the concepts
being learned, teaching one‟s knowledge to classmates, and connecting present with past learning. Accountability to peers, ability to influence each other‟s
reasoning and conclusions, social modeling, social support, and interpersonal rewards all increase as the face to face interaction among group members increase. In addition, the verbal and nonverbal responses of other group members provide important information concerning a student‟s performance. Silent students are uninvolved students who are not contributing to the learning of others as well as themselves. Promoting each other‟s success results in both higher achievement and in getting to know each other on a personal as well as a professional level. To obtain meaningful face to face interaction the size of groups needs to be small (2 to 4 members). Finally, while positive interdependence creates the conditions for working together, it is the actual face to face interaction in which students work together and promote each others success that the personal relationships are formed that are essential for developing pluralistic values.
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4) Social Skills
The success of a cooperative effort requires the contribution of interpersonal and small group skills. Placing socially unskilled individuals in a group and telling them to cooperate does not guarantee that they will be able to do so effectively. Persons must be taught the social skills for high quality cooperation and be motivated to use them. Leadership, decision-making, trust-building, communication, and conflict-management skills have to be taught just as purposefully and precisely as academic skills. Finally, social skills are required for interacting effectively with peers from other cultures and ethnic groups. 5) Group Processing
Group processing exists when group members discuss how well they are achieving their goal and maintaining effective working relationships. Groups need to describe what member actions are helpful and unhelpful and make decisions about what behaviors to continue or change. Students must also be given the time and procedures for analyzing how well their learning groups are functioning and the extent to which students are employing their social skills to help all group members to achieve and to maintain effective working relationships within the group. Such processing: a) enables learning groups to focus on group maintenance, b) facilitates the learning of skills, c) ensures that members receive feedback on their participation, and d) reminds students to practice collaborative skills consistently. Some of the keys to successful processing are allowing sufficient time for it to take place, making it specific rather than vague, maintaining student involvement in processing, reminding students to use their social skills while they process, and ensuring that clear expectations as to the purpose of processing have been communicated. Finally, when difficulties in relating to each other arise, students must engage in group processing and identity, define, and solve the problems they are having working together effectively.
So, in order to effectively use cooperative learning, teachers must understand the nature of cooperation and the essential components of a well-structured cooperative lesson. They also understanding what positive
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interdependence, promotive interaction, individual accountabilty, social skills and group processing. They have to a) adapt cooperative learning to their unique circumstances, needs, and students and b) fine-tune their use of cooperative learning to solve problems students are having in working together.
3. Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition
a. Review on Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition
Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) is developed at the Johns Hopkins University by Dr. Robert Slavin and colleagues. Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition is a comprehensive reading and writing program for students in grade 2 through 8 (Steven, et al., 1987). Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition uses a single text that everyone reads. Slavin (2005: 24) states that in CIRC reading, students are taught in reading groups then return to mixed ability team to work on a series of cognitively engaging activities, such as reading to one another (reading partner), making predictions about the text, summarizing text/ stories, and vocabulary. Students work in teams to master the main idea and other comprehension skills. CIRC reading and CIRC language art/writing provide a structure for teacher to each and students to learn which helps all students become more effective readers and writers.
(http://www.ed.gov/pubs/EPTW/eptw4/eptw4c.html). Steven and Slavin (1995:
6) state that CIRC Reading and CIRC Writing are usually used together, but can be used as separate reading and writing programs.
b. Steps of Conducting of Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition In CIRC, all groups work cooperatively on program related activities. There are some steps in conducting CIRC, as follow:
1) Preparing the material that will be used in learning process. The researcher divides the learning material into some parts.
2) Warming up the class and giving some questions dealing with the topic. If the students do not know about the topic, the researcher will give short explanation.
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3) Asking the students to make study group which consist of four to five students in each group (heterogeneous learning teams). They will learn about the reading material.
4) Giving a text to each of group. They will share information, solve the problems, read to each other and do the task given by the teacher .
5) Explaining some points of the material if the students have some difficulties. 6) Asking each groups to present or read the result of their discussion.
7) Giving conclusion and states the topic for the next meeting
B. Rationale
Reading is a essential factor that influences one‟s activities in communication. Reading builds communication with people around us. For the students reading is a means of learning all subjects. Reading is really important than the others language skills. Reading English texts is useful, such as: for pleasure, study purpose, careers, and so on. It also provides good model for good writing. Moreover, by reading a text one will have a chance to study a language, such as: vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, and the way of constructing sentences, paragraphs, and texts.
The objective of teaching English in junior high school is stressed on reading skill. Students are taught to comprehend written English text. Therefore, teacher has a responsibility to make students easier in comprehending written text and facilitating them in order to get well comprehension. It is difficult for students to comprehend a foreign language text, since their mother tongue is different systematically with a foreign language. The researcher observed and recognized that students‟ reading comprehension of the Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the academic year of 2009/2010 was still low and far from the expectation. The writer found out that there were gaps among the students in the class. Only some students who have a good achievement and are active follow the teaching-learning process and the others were passive. Most of them were sleepy, bored, and not enthusiastic to follo the teaching-learning process. So, the interaction in the class was low. Their ability was still far from the expectation,
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and most of them still found troubles and difficulties in understanding or comprehending a text, especially in understanding vocabularies, finding main ideas, referents, finding detail information, author‟s purpose, etc.
Teacher also had a contribution to students‟ difficulties. The teaching-learning process shown that it was monotonous. The teacher in the school never uses study group or pairs, the way the teacher taught reading was not encouraging students to be active, the teacher dominated the class, and during the lesson, the teacher just reads the written text without knowing whether the students got the information or not.
To overcome those problems, the researcher used Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition as an alternative technique. The rational of using this technique was to make the students active in learning. If the students were always active in the classroom, they would be able to do the works effectively.
By applying CIRC, students would learn by themselves, learn more, feel more confident, feel more dedicated, enjoy the class, teach each other, and become independent learners. By using CIRC in the teaching and learning, the students can use their own knowledge and share their knowledge with their friends. Besides that, they could interact with each other to solve problems. It would also help weaker students in learning. Related with reading comprehension, CIRC was a teaching method where students could work together in small group to help each other.
Based on the explanation above, it can be assumed that CIRC method can
improve students‟ reading comprehension.
C. Hypothesis
Considering the theory of Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition in reading comprehension, the hypothesis of this study was: Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition can improve the students‟ achievement in reading comprehension ability.
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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. The Setting of the Research
The research carried out at SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the academic year of 2009/2010. The school is located on Jl. Matesih-Tawangmangu No. 1. SMP Negeri 1 Matesih uses Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan as the basis of teaching and learning process. Instructional process is done in six days from Monday up to Saturday. The students start to learn at 07.00.
This research was conducted for 11 months from October 2009 to August 2010. It included the pre-research, action, and activities after the action or writing the thesis report.
B. The Subject of the Research
The subject of the research was Class VIIIA of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih in the academic year of 2009/2010. The number of the students was 31. The researcher purposely took the class to be researched because it was very interesting and challenging.
The researcher was really curious with the condition and situation in the class, because there was a problem in their reading comprehension. Besides that, the students of Class VIIIA come from different economical background. Most of them come from the average to low economical level. Actually, there were some students who have high ability but they were still passive during the English lesson. The teacher in the school never uses study group or pairs, especially in teaching reading comprehension. The researcher conducted the study through the teaching and learning process by implementing Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition.
C. The Method of the Research
Method is system or way doing something. Every research needs some methods, which depend on the aim of the research and the nature of the topic.
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In this research, the researcher conducted the research using classroom action research. Kemmis (1983) in Hopkins (1993: 44) states that action research is a form of self-reflection enquiry undertaken by participants in social (including educational) situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of (a) their own social or educational practices; (b) their understanding or these practices; and (c) the situations in which these practices are carried out. Another definition comes from Mills (2000: 5) who states that: action research is a systematic inquiry done by teacher or other individuals in teaching or learning environment to get the information about and subsequently improve the way particular school operate, how they teach, and how well their students learn.
From the definition above, it can be concluded that the action research is the systematic study attempting to overcome real problems and intended to change things to be better than before. In this study, the classroom action research is to overcome the students‟ reading problem and to change the students‟ reading comprehension to be better than before.
In this classroom action research, the researcher used the action research spiral based on Kemmis and Taggart (1988) in Hopkins (1993: 48). The model can be illustrated as follows:
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Figure 1 The Action Research Spiral (based on Kemmis and Taggart 1988: 14) Figure 1 clearly displays that action research consists of planning, Figure 1
Figure 1clearly displays that action research consists of planning, action, observation, and reflection before revising the plan.
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D. The Procedure of the Study
In this classroom action research, the writer used a model developed by Kemmis and Mc. Taggart. There were four steps in action research, they were: planning, action, observation, and reflection. The procedures of the action research in this research were as follows:
1. Planning
In this step, the researcher helped by a collaborator prepared everything before the teaching and learning process. The researcher and the collaborator prepared everything related to the action as follows:
a. Preparing the material, and designing the steps in doing the action. The researcher and the collaborator also designed each cycle in four meetings. b. Preparing teaching aids.
c. Preparing the instruments. d. Making lesson plan.
e. Designing student‟s worksheets.
f. Designing an observation sheet, etc. 2. Action
The researcher prepared some steps in action, they were as follows: a. Giving a pre-test
b. Teaching reading using Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition c. Giving a post-test
In this research, the researcher was sharing ideas with her collaborator about all activities in teaching-learning process.
3. Observation
The researcher and her collaborator observed all activities in the teaching and learning process while Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition technique was being caried out in teaching reading. The researcher and her collaborator observed how the process of the teaching-learning runs. The researcher and the collaborator also monitored and wrote the responses of the pupils in the class. In this step, the researcher was helped by the teacher as the collaborator to give some inputs, such as: evaluate the teacher‟s teaching,
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offered suggestion on the best way to teach, helped her to create students‟ motivation in learning language, and also gave big contribution in every step of the research. The teacher noted events happening in the teaching-learning process.
4. Reflection
In this step, the researcher analyzes what have been going on in the classroom. If the researcher finds some difficulties unsolved during the teaching learning process, the researcher prepares the replanning steps. The researcher reflects on these effects as the basis for further planning, subsequent critically inform action and so on, through a succession of stages. The researcher tries to formulate the conclusion of the previos steps. The result of the observation was analyzed and evaluated. From these, it can be
known whether the students‟ reading comprehension improved or not. The
writer‟s reflection was done by discussing it with her collaborator. From the
result above, the next cycle can be resolved and designed.
E. The Technique of Collecting Data
The method of collecting the data was very urgent in the investigation. In this action research, to collect the data accurately, the researcher used some techniques, they were: observation, interview, questionnaire, and test.
1. Observation technique
In this research, the researcher used an observation to collect the data. It is a technique of collecting data by closely watching and noticing class events or happenings, or interaction, either as a participant in the class or as an
observer of another teacher‟s observation. In this research, the researcher also
uses the real situation of the teaching and learning process.
In this study, she observed the students activities while the teaching learning process occured. This observation was also conducted by the collaborator. In this case, the collaborator also gave contribution in giving the
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ideas, opinions, and shared the experiences actively in all steps in the classroom action research.
2. Interview technique
In this research, the researcher interviewed the students of class VIIIA SMP Negeri 1 Matesih. The number of the students was 31. The researcher did not interview all the students but only some of them.
The researcher held the interview in two phases. The first phase was held before teaching reading using CIRC and the second phase was held after teaching reading using CIRC. The purpose of the interview in the first phase
was to know the students‟ problems before teaching reading using CIRC and
the purpose of the interview in the second phase was to know the students‟ opinion about the implementation of teaching reading using CIRC.
Before interviewing the students, the writer arranged the interview guide. The interview guide was used to focus the topic of interview. The researcher wrote the result of the interview as a transcript of the interview. 3. Questionnaire technique
Questionnaire is a written set of questions used to gain responses in non-face-to-face situations. In this research, the writer used questionnaire twice. The first was in the preliminary study, and the second was after implementing CIRC in teaching reading.
4. Test technique
In this study, the researcher used a written test to measure the students‟ achievement in reading comprehension. The researcher gave a pre-test and a post-test in order to know the students‟ reading comprehension before and after being taught using Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition. In this research, the researcher used the objective test type for both the pre-test and the post-test. The result of the test was analyzed to know the students‟ achievements in reading comprehension. The result can indicate whether the implementation of Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition model was effective or not.
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crowded at the beginning; the teacher got difficulty to monitor the students; and they still used their mother tongue when in groups.
B. Implication
The result of the research shows that CIRC technique can improve students‟ reading comprehension ability, especially at Class VIII of SMP Negeri 1 Matesih. Based on the result of the research, it implied that English teachers were recommended to apply CIRC technique to improve the students‟ reading comprehension ability for some reasons. Firstly, CIRC technique is cooperative learning rather than competitive. Secondly, CIRC technique is student centered. Thirdly, CIRC technique make the students can work together and share ideas with their friends in small groups. At last, it also enhance the students‟ motivation in studying reading text.
C. Suggestion
Having conducted the classroom action research entitled “Improving Students‟ Reading Comprehension Ability Through Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition”, the researcher would like to give some suggestions as follows:
1. For the teachers
a. The teacher should be able to recogize the students‟ potencies and problems to choose the right technique to apply in the reading class.
b. The teacher should give a chance to the students to learn English cooperatively, especially CIRC technique. By using the method, they feel that they have friends to share and solve their problems. So, they have not feel alone and bored.
c. The teacher should be as a facilitator not as an instructor, so she or she should not dominate the class.
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2. For the students
a. The students should be aware that comprehending the reading text is not difficult if they have motivation to learn it and are involved in the class.
b. Studying English, especially reading is not only in classical, they can improve their reading‟s comprehension using CIRC technique.
c. The students should realize that CIRC is as an alternative technique that can be used in understanding the reading text.
3. For the school
a. The school should give a chance to the teacher and students to conduct cooperative learning, especially CIRC technique, although the class situation was crowded and disturbs another class.
b. The school should complete all the requirements of the teaching and learning process, such as: a comfortable environment, the representative class, interesting media, and other necessary equipments, so that the teaching and learning runs well.
c. The school should conduct teacher training for improving the teacher‟s ability in teaching, especially for English teachers.
4. For other researchers
a. The writer hopes that the finding of this study will be used as a starting point to the future research.
b. The other researcher should realize that there are still many techniques of English teaching that can be taken as the object of research studies to find out the effectiveness of teaching reading.
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