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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the researcher explains the background of the study and the identification of the problems as well as the delimitation of the problem. The
formulation of the problem, the objectives of the study, and the significances of the study are also presented here.
A. Background of the Study
In Indonesia, English is taught as a foreign language, and the purpose of learning English is for communication. To communicate efficiently, learners need the
four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Of all these four skills, reading is regarded as the most necessary for students in both classroom context and real life
context. In classrooms of higher education, or university level, students need efficient reading skills to comprehend a lot of reading materials from various sources related to
their studies. Therefore, because of the expectations for academic success in all areas of learning, high-school students, as beginner of English learners, need to start to
develop their English reading comprehension abilities in order to develop themselves and become independent readers.
High-school students in Indonesia do not seem to have sufficient opportunity to develop reading abilities, since most of the time English language teaching
emphasizes on linguistic knowledge such as grammar points and vocabulary. This
may come from many causes, including classes of a large size, limited reading strategies, and the methods of teaching reading comprehension in classrooms.
Reading classes in Indonesia tend to consist of 32 students, which is in line with Government Regulation No. 74 year 2008 and Permendiknas No. 41 year 2007
stating that the minimum number of students in high-school classes is 20 students and the maximum is 32 students. In result, the learners have little opportunity for
interaction and consultation with the teacher about their reading difficulties and for assistance with their specific reading problems. In addition, students themselves are
not aware of their own difficulties in reading. They either lack of knowledge of proper strategies in reading or do not know how to apply the strategies. Moreover, the
method of teaching English reading commonly used in Indonesia is traditional method, which is based on translation from English into Indonesian and where
students straightforwardly answer questions after reading. Such traditional instruction does not seem to succeed to develop students’ ability to comprehend English texts.
Therefore, teachers need to find a proper method to based on a teach English reading which would help the students construct meaning from a text, instead of only
translating it. Based on the facts described above, the researcher attempts to improve
students’ reading comprehension through reciprocal teaching. Many engaging and involving teaching techniques need to be put into practice, reciprocal teaching is one
of which. According to Palinscar 1986, students involved in reciprocal teaching process are to check their own understanding of the material they have encountered.
The technique trains the teacher to interact and conduct two ways communication with the students as an attempt to help them comprehend texts.
The researcher believes that applying reciprocal teaching technique will help teachers lead the students to understand English texts. Therefore, the researcher will
conduct an action research to improve the teaching and learning process of reading at SMAN 1 Kasihan through the use of reciprocal teaching technique.
B. Identification of the Problem
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