journal arsi nuring karsa s891302009

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OPTIMIZING MIND MAPPING TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ THINKING SKILL
FOR READING COMPREHENSION
(A Classroom Action Research at IKIP PGRI Madiun in Academic Year
2013/2014)
ArsiNuring Karsa1, Dewi Rochsantiningsih2, Hersulastuti2
English Department Graduate School FKIPSebelasMaret University
arsikarsa@gmail.com
Abstract
This article aims to describe 1) whether and to what extent the optimizing of
Mind Mapping can improve students’ thinking skill in reading comprehension;
2) the difficulties of the implementation of Mind Mapping to improve students’
thinking skill in reading comprehension. The research findings show that Mind
Mapping can improve students’ thinking skill in reading comprehension such
as: 1) the mean score of the students’ thinking skill was increased from 80,7 to
96,6 and all of students’ scores were above the passing grade; 2) the total of
students’ right answer of each thinking skill indicator was increased such as:
part-whole relation from 192 to 228, conclusion from 141 to 192, similarities

from 172 to 200 and differences from 181 to 203; 3) in the implementation of
mind mapping, the students got some difficulties such as: the students were
confused when they cannot find supporting statements in all of their articles,
they were confused to choose the key words or shorten the sentences for the
mind mapping step 3, and they were confused to put the key words in mind
mapping step 3, It was quite difficult to find articles with the same topic but
comes from different resources that consist of the same subtopics inside it as
seen in the interview result in attachment, It was needed 2 meeting to do all
the mind mapping process that means the mind mapping technique is time
consuming.
Key words: Mind Mapping, thinking skill, reading comprehension, action
research.

be

INTRODUCTION
Reading is the key of language
teaching learning process because of the
importance of reading in order to fulfill
the need of information, knowledge and

science in our life. As Grabe (2009: 5)
says “Citizens of modern societies must

good

readers

to

be

successful.

Reading skill does not guarantee success
for anyone, but success is much harder
to come by without being a skilled
reader.” This statement implied that
anyone should read if they want to be
successful, including youngsters which
are obviously at studying age. Reading

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leads another subjects or materials in

related to thinking skill in which the

language

students need little outside knowledge

teaching

learning

process.
first,

and they should be able to guess the

students are not able to study about

rights answer of the context inside the

another subject’s material. It is difficult

exercise (Mikulecky and Jeffries, 1986:

for the students to understand and to

281). In guessing the right context inside

process

thinking skill exercise, the

Without

reading

the

the

material

information

related

to

students

subject material that they learnt without

should be able to identify the core

read it first.

words, interpret word order and their
significance to obtain the right answer.

From the elaboration above, it is
not

According to result of interview with the

underestimate reading. However, there

lecturer of reading class in IKIP PGRI

are many students neglect this activity.

Madiun on October 21st 2013, thinking

Usually they read when they are assigned

skill exercises are provided for the

by their teachers, or they read only the

students to be done before they depart

page they like such as gossip and

to reading 4 material. An interview with

entertainment news that will have no

reading 4 lecturer shows that before the

support in their academic. In short,

students study in reading 4 class, they

students tend to read only when then

have to do thinking skill test in the 3rd

they feel that the reading is interested

semester or in Reading 3 class. The goal

for them.

To be successful students,

of this test is to identify the students’

reading has to be a must. The effort of

thinking skill through a text or English

making students to make reading as

text, because in this reading 4 class, the

student habit is the thing that is now

students not only read 1 or 2 texts but in

being tried by the researcher of this

many sheets or even in a form of book. If

study to be implemented in IKIP PGRI

the students’ thinking skills are weak, it

Madiun.

can be sure that the student cannot

obvious

that

students

should

There are reading 1 up to reading

comprehend the text well, that means

4 in IKIP PGRI Madiun. In reading 4 class

the students need a special treatment.

of IKIP PGRI Madiun, the students are

This

taught about the micro skill of reading

requirement in entering reading 4 class

comprehension.

to know the students thinking skill

This

class

is

emphasizing in point 4 of Brown’s micro

exercises

provided

as

the

ability.

skills of reading comprehension. The

Thinking

skills

is

about

the

micros skill is about recognize a core of

readers’ way to think about their reading

words, and interpret word order patterns

material (Mikulecky and Jeffries, 1986:

and their significance. This micro skill is

10). Thinking skills test is a test done at

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the end of the third semester of Reading

question, they must conclude the answer

3 subject. It works as a prerequisite for

that a largest animal will need a large

entering the next reading class given in

amount of food, so if they eat a very

the fourth semester. It is necessary for

small fish, then they have to eat a lot.

students to take this test before joining

Thus, students should choose answer (B)

the reading 4 class since the thinking

eat a lot. In this question, 16 of 34

skills test shows how they understand

students in the class cannot answer it

simple

when

correctly.

students are not able to understand a

In

texts.

It

is

assumed

similarities

or

synonymy,

simple text they will not be able to

students were not able to choose the

understand the more complex texts in

correct answer of the following question:

reading 4 class. There are four indicators

Question: Some kinds of trees are always green. They
do not lose their leaves. So they are

of thinking skills. Mikulecky and Jeffries

called

(1997: 164) state that in thinking skill

a) flowers. b) lifeless.

exercises, the students should be able to

c) evergreens. d) leafless.

identify the (1) synonyms, (2) opposites,

To answer this question, students must

(3)

(4)

find the core word or key word of the

drawn conclusion based on evidence to

question. The key word is always green,

solve the problems in exercises. As a

and then the students should find the

matter of fact, many students have failed

synonymy

meeting the four indicators in thinking

evergreen. Thus, students should choose

skills in the form of thinking skill test

answer (C) evergreen. In this question,

that held in the end of Reading 3 class

12 of 34 students in the class cannot

(Intensive Reading class) in IKIP PGRI

answer it correctly.

part-whole

relationship,

and

of

always

green

that

is

Madiun. In making conclusion; students

In opposites, students were not

were not able to choose the correct

able to choose the correct answer of the

answer of the following question:

following question:

Question:

Question: Glassmaking is a very old art. The Romans

Whales are the largest animals.

and the Egyptians made glass many

But they eat very tiny fish and sea plants.
That means they must:

years ago. Now we can make special

a) eat larger fish.

kinds of glass in many different colors.

b) eat a lot.

But the art is

c) drink a lot of water.

a) the same. b) very new.

d) travel far.

b) c) beautiful. d) not old.

To answer this question students must

To answer this question, students must

first, find the key word of the question.

find the core word or key word of the

The key word are largest and tiny that

question. The key words are old art, now,

categorized as opposite of each other.

and different colors. Then the students

After finding the key word of the

should think the opposite condition that

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even now we can make glass in different

they have got from their reading. It

colors but we still use the old art. Thus,

happens because they cannot conclude

students should choose answer (A) the

what

same. In this question, 17 of 34 students

unfamiliar vocabulary and lack of ability

in the class cannot answer it correctly.

in reading between and beyond the line.

they

have

read

due

to

the

relationship,

The students’ lack of reading finally

students were not able to choose the

results a bad score in thinking skills test.

correct answer of the following question:

To

In

Part-whole

Question: Reading is a very good way to learn a new
language.

You

can

learn

Before entering the reading 4
class the researcher feels it necessary for

c) comprehension. d) word.

the students to read a lot of writings in

To answer this question, students must

English since the aim of the reading 4

find the core word or key word of the

class is the students can understand

question. The key word is language.

articles, journals, and books they read

the students should find the

that later the materials they read may be

relationship of the key word in the
answer choice.

a help in their thesis writing. According

Thus, students should

to (Mikulecky and Jeffries, 1986: 10)

choose answer (C) language. In this

“When the goal of the students is to be

question, 11 of 34 students in the class

able to read English well, then the

cannot answer it correctly.

students

The problems of the students in

discipline and intellectual development

students use for reading. From the
by

that

the

language

topics but from different sources.

because the reading is offered to them
read

foreign

three articles in English with the same

reading quality is low since they read

to

from

researcher asks students to read at least

articles without focus. As a result, their

need

results

study.” Based on this statement, the

researcher students mostly read various

they

English.”

in order to benefits from the mental

It is indicated through the less hours

October

in

language in order to read its literature or

Madiun have less motivation in reading.

in

think

foreign language study is to learn a

caused by the students of IKIP PGRI

done

should

Richards (2001; 5) supports “The goal of

doing the thinking skill exercises are

that

the

book. b) language.

a)

not

problem,

techniques for her reading 4 class.

in that

interview

this

researcher offers Mind Mapping reading

new

vocabulary. You can also learn to think

Then

overcome

To

ease their understanding toward what

it.

they are reading, students can make use

Consequently when students do not read

of mind mapping. Mind Mapping is a

a lot it affects their thinking skills.

diagram

Usually students find it difficult when

of

brainstorming

based

on

central idea or image which usually used

they have to inform what information

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organization,

problems,

and

the

2) To describe the difficulties of the

decision.

implementation of Mind Mapping in

solving

making

reading class.

(Thomas, 2006: 3).
The statement about the characters of
Mind Mapping make the researcher has a

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

strong belief that Mind Mapping is able
to

improve

students’

skill.

In this research, I use action

Therefore, the researcher is interested to

research. Action research is defined as a

conduct a research entitled “Optimizing

research and any systematic inquiry that

Mind Mapping to Improve Students’

is

Thinking

Reading

principals, school counselors, or other

Comprehension”. The implementation of

stakeholders in teaching or learning

this technique will be conducted in 4A

environment to get information about

class

using

teaching and learning process in the

Collaborative Research. Activities in the

school and the school operation (Mills

class will not just filling out the week

,2000: 6). The goal of this research is to

documents

but

develop, improve and give a positive

discussion

and

Skill

of

thinking

for

Reading

also

4

class

following

consultation

with
about

handled

effect

for

by

the

teacher,

students

researcher,

outcomes,

difficulties faced by the students. It is

teaching learning process and school

hoped that this research will make the

operation.

students to have a high motivation in
reading,

to

interact

materials

habitually,

with
to

be

There are two kinds of action

reading
able

research based on the result, those are

to

critical and practical action research

conclude the content of reading material

(Mills, 2000: 25). Critical action research

that have the same theme and combine

is aimed to liberate the knowledge

those idea of the materials in a form of

gathering. Practical action research is a

structured explanation. So this strategy

research which is emphasising in the

will make the students interact with

process of the research. This research is

reading material that they learnt in other

categorized as practical action research

subject deeply, even with every single

which has goal to improve and get

English text that comes from other

informations

science can be handled by them in the

difficulties in 4A class.

future.

about

the

students

In analyzing the quantitave data,
in this case, the writer used descriptive

Therefore, the objective of this

statistics that consist of means, highest

study are: 1) To identify whether Mind

and lowest score. This quantitative data

Mapping Strategy can improve students’

was used to compare the result of the

English thinking skill in reading subject.

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students’ Thinking Skill score in pre

interview data and documentation

thinking skill test and post thinking skill

data related to the participant’s

test. The formula can be seen as follows:

activity was displayed.

x

x

y

N

y

c. Conclusion Drawing or Verification
This

N

research

used

three

in which:

steps or techniques of collecting

x

data called data triangulation to

= means of pre thinking skill test

verify that the data gotten are valid.

scores

As

y = means of post thinking skill test

seen

in

techniques

scores

used

N = the number of students

above,

field

data

collecting

the

researcher

notes,

diary,

documentation, questionnaire and

In analyzing the qualitative data, I

interview. The step of conclusion

used interactive model As Huberman

drawing was done after the data

and Miles (in Berg, 2009:54), “… data

reduction and data display process

analysis can be defined as consisting of

have done. In this final step, the

three concurrent flows of action: data

conclusion based on the data was

reduction, data display, and conclusion

made. Based on the explanation

and verification”.

above, it could be said that to get the

a. Data Reduction

valid

This step is needed when I

the

research,

the

the data, displaying the data and

of the analyzed subject to find the

also concluding the data.

valid data to be shown in the data
display. Data reduction is used in

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

interview result where I only put the
that

in

analyzing the data, such as: reducing

data, I needed to reduce unused data

conversation

data

researcher should did three steps of

classify the data. In classifying the

important

the

can

The details of the findings are

support the data of this research.

discussed as follows.

b. Data Display
After

doing

the

data

1. Mind Mapping can improve the

reduction step, the researcher did

students’ thinking skill.

the data displaying process that

The

classify the similar useful data into

Mapping to 4A class of IKIP PGRI

one category to be displayed in

Madiun can improve the students’

order to give clear and structuring

thinking skill, it can be seen

description about the research. The

through:

field notes, diary, the test data,

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implementations

of

Mind

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b) They were confused to choose

a) The amount right answer of
each indicator was increased as

the key words or shorten the

shown in table 4.5.

sentences

for

the

mind

mapping step 3.

b) The mean score of the
students’ thinking skill was

c) They were confused to put the

increased as shown in table

key words in mind mapping

4.4.

step 3.

c)

d) It was quite difficult to find

The improvement of students’
vocabulary collection as seen

articles with the same topic but

in interview result.

comes

from

different

d) The improvements of students’

resources that consist of the

motivation in reading as shown

same subtopics inside it as

in attachment.

seen in the interview result in
attachment.

e) The implementation of Mind

e) It was needed 2 meeting to do

Mapping increased the
students’ reading experience.

all the mind mapping process

Mind Mapping made the

that means the mind mapping

students active to read and

technique is time consuming.

think more about what they

It is in line with the research

had read. This situation can be

result written by Rima Mei Dwi

seen from the observation

Novitasari

result and research diary that

stated that Mind Mapping has

the students are getting active

disadvantages related to time

in asking question, discussing,

consuming. It spends too much

consulting and responding the

time

questions as shown in

problem

attachment.

there are many steps in Mind

to

(2012:

be

66)

applied.

happened

she

This

because

Mapping.
2. The

research

difficulties
thinking

showed

during
skill

According to all of the findings, it

the

can

theteaching

using

be

Mapping

Mind

concluded
was

that

successful

Mind
in

Mapping process.

improving students’ thinking skill.

a) The students were confused

It works in improving the students

find

understanding of each indicator of

supporting statements in all of

thinking skill such as; part-whole

their articles

relation,

when

they

cannot

conclusion,

and differences.

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similarities

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1. The students were confused when

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

they

I categorized the conclusion of

key words or shorten the sentences

optimizing Mind Mapping to improve

for the mind mapping step 3.

students’ thinking skill are:
is

successful

3. They were confused to put the key

in

words in mind mapping step 3.

improving students thinking skill. It

4. It was quite difficult to find articles

can be seen from the amount of

with the same topic but comes from

right answer of each indicator that

different resources that consist of

was getting better from cycle to

the same subtopics inside it as seen

cycle as shown in table 4.4.

in the interview result in attachment.

2. The mean score of the students
thinking

skill

was

increased

5. It was needed 2 meeting to do all the

as

mind mapping process that means

shown in table 4.3.
3. The

improvement

of

the mind mapping technique is time

students’

consuming.

vocabulary collection as seen in

Besides the conclusion and the

interview result.

implication,

4. The improvements of the students’

Mapping

increased

the

of

As the teachers, we all know that

students’

students need variations in learning.
It also happens in learning reading

made the students active to read and

comprehension.

think more about what they had

it

is

an effective to be applied in their

the observation result and research

classes. The implementation of Mind

diary that the students are getting

Mapping in this research is one of

active in asking question, discussing,
responding

Therefore,

important for the teachers to decide

read. This situation can be seen from

and

also

1. For Teachers

Mind

reading experience. Mind Mapping

consulting

researcher

teaching reading. The suggestions are:

attachment.
implementation

the

proposes some suggestion related to

motivation in reading as shown in

5. The

supporting

2. They were confused to choose the

weak points. Those strong points of

Mapping

find

statements in all of their articles

this action research into strong and

1. Mind

cannot

alternative that can be used by the

the

teachers to improve the students’

questions as shown in attachment.

thinking

skill

in

reading

Meanwhile, the weak points of the

comprehension. The teachers can

implementation of Mind Mapping are:

also use this kind of Mind Mapping
in their classes. The teachers may
adopt and modify this kind of Mind

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Mapping to be applied in their

report, it is hoped that the readers

classes

will

to

teach

other

language

get

more

inspiration

in

modifying Mind Mapping to be more

skills.

useful techniques.

2. For Students
Reading is a basis for other

REFERENCES

language skills. That is why reading
becomes very important. Without

Grabe, William. (2009). Reading in Second
Language: Moving from Theory to
Practice.New York: Cambridge
University Press.

reading, the students will not able to
understand anything. Therefore, the
students need to be able to read and

Mickulecky, Beatrice. S and Jeffries,
Linda.
(1986).
Reading
Power.USA:
Addison-Wesley
Publishing Company.

comprehend their reading materials
well. But sometimes, students find
difficulties
quoting

in

what

concluding
they

have

and
read.

Mickulecky, Beatrice. S and Jeffries,
Linda. (1997). Basic Reading
Power.New York: Addison Wesley
Longman.

Applying Mind Mapping can be the
solution of their difficulties. Mind
Mapping can be act as a bridge to

Mills, G.E. (2000). Action Research: A
Guide for the Teacher Researcher.
New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

combine the articles that they have
read.
3. For Institution IKIP PGRI Madiun

Richards, J.C. & T. Rodgers.(2001).
Approaches and Methods in
Language
Teaching.Cambridge:Cambridge
University Press.

Mind Mapping is one of popular
technique that can be used in any
kind of subject materials. But doing
it in multiple steps is rare. It will be
a

good

contribution

for

the

institution if the other lecturer if
they want to make another research
about

Mind

Mapping,

especially

lecturer of IKIP PGRI Madiun.
4. For Readers
Talking about Mind Mapping is
always interesting. Thus, there are
many

researches

about

Mind

Mapping have been conducted. But,
it cannot stop us to make another
research

about

Mind

Mapping.

Therefore, by reading this research

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