CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
The implementation of experience-text-relationship method aimed to improve students’ reading comprehension through activating background
knowledge. The actions were carried out in two cycles by applying three phases of ETR method in reading. The activities included sharing experience, focusing on
texts, and drawing relationship between experience and information from the text. The actions were also designed with the use of multimedia, pictures and picture
series, games, the use of graphic organizer, and group discussion. The use of multimedia, pictures and games influenced the students’ attitude and behavior
towards reading lessons. They became more interested and enthusiastic in joining the lesson, and they became more motivated in reading the text. Next, the use of
graphic organizer helped them to organize their ideas before and after reading the text, so it made them easier to draw connection between the experience and the
content of the text. Moreover, group discussion enabled them to share experience or knowledge, to exchange what they have already known and they have not
known, and to broaden their mind with various ideas. In the first cycle, the students were introduced to the use of ETR method
in reading and in understanding meaning of words based on the context. Some students still found difficulties in applying the method and they still needed lot
assistance from the researcher. However, in the second cycle, the students started to be familiar in using ETR method, and they were led to be more independent in
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applying the three phases of the method. In the end, the results show that the reading comprehension of grade VIII C students could be improved by using ETR
method. ETR method was able to improve the students’ reading comprehension by stimulating their background knowledge and relating it to the information from
the text. The improvement was also supported by the result of reading comprehension tests that show the students’ mean score increased from 66,52 to
77,41. In addition to the improvement in reading comprehension, there were some aspects that changed after the actions including:
1. The students’ attitude and behavior towards reading lesson
The class condition before the actions were applied showed that most of the students were not interested and motivated in reading lesson. Instead of paying
attention to the lesson, they preferred having chit-chat, joking with their desk mate, and doing other activities rather than paying attention. They thought reading
lesson was boring, and they were not interested in only reading texts. However, the students’ attitude and behavior changed after the actions. Since the steps of
ETR method supported them to comprehend the text, they enjoyed joining reading lesson and they were curious to comprehend the whole text. Moreover, various
activities provided in the class also increased their enthusiasm. 2.
The students’ participation in the class discussion Previously, there were only a few active students who always participated
in the class discussion and only the same students who tended to dominate the class by actively responding, giving opinion, presenting student’s works, etc.
However, after the researcher applied ETR method, the whole class seemed more
active. They were encouraged to share their experience and knowledge, to participate in the discussions, and to make interaction with the teacher and the
others. 3.
The students’ efforts in reading class Previously, the students depended too much on dictionary. When they
faced difficulties in understanding a text, they would directly look in the dictionary to translate meanings of difficult words. After the actions, the students
became more confident in understanding meaning based on context by comparing and relating the surrounded sentences. Moreover, the students were unfamiliar
with any particular reading strategy before, but now they realized that ETR method was easy to apply and using ETR helped them to comprehend a text
easier.
B. Implications
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