The Effect of Literature Circles Strateg
THE EFFECT OF LITERATURE CIRCLES STRATEGY ON THE STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN READING COMPREHENSION AT THE EIGHTH GRADE OF SMP NEGERI 4 HURUNA IN 2015/2016 THESIS BY: YAMONI LAIA
Reg. Number: 112108099
THE EFFECT OF LITERATURE CIRCLES STRATEGY ON THE STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN READING COMPREHENSION AT THE EIGHTH GRADE OF SMP NEGERI 4 HURUNA IN 2015/2016 THESIS
Submitted the English Education Study Program in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
ABSTRACT
Laia, Yamoni, 2016, The Effect of Literature Circles Strategy on the Students’ Ability in Reading Comprehension at the Eighth Grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna in 2015/2016. Thesis Advisors (1) Drs. Ellyanus, M.Pd and (2) Yasminar Amaerita Telaumbanua, M.Pd
Key Words: Literature Circles Strategy, Students’ Ability in Reading Comprehension Reading comprehension is an activity of constructing meaning to form a
deeper understanding of a written language. It can be stated that reading comprehension is getting all the information from the text by understanding the definition of each word, sentence, and paragraph done by the students. However, the students at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna could not comprehend the content of the text well. Therefore, the researcher proposed Literature Circles Strategy to be applied in teaching reading Comprehension to the students.
The purpose of the research was to investigate whether there was a significant effect of using Literature Circles Strategy towards the students’ ability in reading comprehension at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna in 2015/2016. The researcher took the sample by using Cluster Sampling Technique. The researcher selected the sample of the research which consisted of 60 students. The researcher gives pre test to both of the groups that are control group and experimental group to find the normality and the homogeneity of the data. The data of both groups were normal and homogenous.
After the data were normal and homogenous, the researcher did the treatment to the experimental group by using Literature Circles Strategy. Then, the researcher gave post-test to both of the groups to get the result of the treatment and to examine
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all the researcher thanks to Jesus Christ, for His Holly Spirit, Love and Blessing to the researcher to finish this thesis entitled, “The Effect of Literature
Circles Strategy on the Students’ Ability in Reading Comprehension at the
Eighth Grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna in 2015/2016”. During studying in IKIP Gunungsitoli from the beginning until finishing in arranging the thesis, the researcher has been supported from many sides that always help and motivate him anytime. Hence, he wants to express his sincere appreciation and thanks to:
1. Mr. Henoki Waruwu, M.Pd., as the Rector of IKIP Gunungsitoli, who has given the authentication for the thesis.
2. Mr. Adieli Laoli, S.Pd., M.Pd., as the Dean of Languages and Arts Faculty and as examiner of research method who has given suggestion, idea, opinion to arrange
6. Mr. Kristof Martin E. Tel., S.Pd., M.Pd, as Examiner of Education, who never feels bored in giving his time when the researcher needs his opinion.
7. All of the lecturers of English Education Study Program at IKIP Gunungsitoli who had taught him well during studying at IKIP Gunungsitoli.
8. Mr. Sada’aro Laia, S.Pd, as the headmaster of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna for the occasion given in conducting the research in his school.
9. His beloved father (Alisandre Laia/passed away), mother (Fatiba Halawa) and beloved sisters/brothers (A. Yutina, A. Gamosi, A. Amira, A. Badia, I. Suma, A/I. Nofe), who always pray, support his financial, and support the researcher to finish the research and motivate him during studying in the English Education Study Program of IKIP Gunungsitoli.
10. His close friends (Fatur, Lanang, Frans) and the whole classmates in Class B that are never quit helping and supporting him. Thank you for all your pray, love and help. God bless you!
21. Students’ Ability in Reading Comprehension Post-Test in Experimental Group ................................................................................. 127
22. Mean, Standard Deviation and Variance Pre-Test in Control Group ........... 129
23. Mean, Standard Deviation and Variance Post-Test in Control Group ......... 130
24. Mean, Standard Deviation and Variance Pre-Test in Experimental Group... 131
25. Mean, Standard Deviation and Variance Post-Test in Experimental Group . 132
26. The Examining of Normality in the Pre-Test of Control Group .................. 133
27. The Examining of Normality in the Post-Test of Control Group ................. 134
28. The Examining of Normality in the Pre-Test of Experimental Group ......... 135
29. The Examining of Normality in the Post-Test of Experimental Group ........ 136
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Problem
Reading is process of understanding a lot of information from the reading text, such as; books, magazines, newspapers, letters, posters, advertisements, comics, internet, and so forth. Through reading activity, the students can identify the symbols of language and conceive the content of the text. According to Anne (2003:8), “Reading is the ability to draw meaning from the printed page and interpret this information appropriately”. It implies that reading is capability of the reader to paraphrase the information that is gotten from the reading text. Comprehending the information from the text can be done by combining the background knowledge of the reader and the content of the text.
Comprehension is a goal of reading skill. Reading without comprehension is
Reading competence of the English text is one of the skills that should be mastered by the students in the school. As poured in the competence standard of reading syllabus of Education Unit Curriculum 2006 of English subject at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna, the students are expected to be able to comprehend the meaning of written functional text and simple short essay in descriptive and recount texts related to the environs. While, the basic competence expects the students to be able to respond the meaning of the written functional text and short essay in simple descriptive and recount with utterance, stress and intonation that is acceptable related to the environs.
However, observation result at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna shows that most of the students can not comprehend the information from recount text. Since; the lack of students’ vocabulary, the lack of students’ opportunity to express their opinion when conducting the teaching-learning activity, and the students can not share the main idea which is gotten from the reading text.
is expected to find out the solution of the students’ problem in understanding the content of text.
According to the Education Unit Curriculum 2006 right now, the teacher should apply the various strategy in teaching English to the students. Besides, the teacher must create the good atmosphere and interesting strategy during the teaching- learning activity. Thereby, the students’ problem in understanding the content of English texts can be solved.
Based on the clarification about the students’ problems above, the researcher wants to help the students to overcome the problems by offering a certain strategy. The researcher promotes Literature Circles Strategy to solve the students’ problems in understanding the content of the text particularly recount text. According to Vialpando and Jane (2005:39),
Literature Circles is a strategy to learning based on the premise that talking about a piece of literature with others allow students to explore half formed ideas, to expand students’ understandings of literature through hearing
Reading Comprehension at the Eighth Grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna in 2015/2016”.
B. Identification of the Problems
Based on the background of problems, the researcher identifies some problems related to the students’ ability in reading comprehension, namely:
1. The students could not comprehend the content of recount text individually.
2. The lack of students’ vocabulary.
3. The lack of students’ opportunity to express their opinion when conducting the teaching-learning activity.
4. The students could not share the main idea which is gotten from the reading text.
C. Limitation of the Problems
In doing the research, the researcher limited himself to search about the effect
E. Purpose of the Research
The purpose of the research is to find out whether there is or not a significant effect of Literature Circles Strategy on the students’ ability in reading comprehension about personal recount text at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna in 2015/2016.
F. Research Hypotheses
The hypotheses of the research are:
H a : There is a significant effect of Literature Circles Strategy on the students’ ability in reading comprehension about personal recount text at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna in 2015/2016.
H o : There is no any significant effect of Literature Circles Strategy on the students’ ability in reading comprehension about personal recount text at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna in 2015/2016.
5. The readers, as additional knowledge of how to teach reading comprehension to the students.
H. Assumptions of the Research
In doing the research, the researcher assumes that,
1. Reading is one of the skills that should be mastered by the students in learning English.
2. Literature Circles Strategy can stimulate the students’ thought to comprehend the content of the reading text.
I. Limitations of the Research
In doing the research, the researcher has some limitations, as follows.
1. The setting of the research was SMP Negeri 4 Huruna.
2. The population of the research was the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna in
J. Key Terms Definition of the Research
To make these research terms more clearly, the researcher wants to give some explanations about the terms that are used in the research:
1. Reading comprehension is a process of constructing the deeper meaning from the reading text. It can be stated that reading comprehension is getting all the information from the text by understanding the definition of each word, sentence, and paragraph done by the students.
2. Literature Circles Strategy is a strategy that used to enhance students’ comprehension towards the content of reading text. Implementation of this strategy, it is suggested that the students are formed in group learning for understanding the content of recount text together. The members of each group work together to comprehend the content of the reading text.
3. Conventional Teaching Strategy is still the most frequently used strategy of the teacher in the school. In doing the strategy, the teacher explains the teaching
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Theoretical Framework
1. Literature Circles Strategy
a. Definition of Literature Circles Strategy
Jersey (1998:55) says, “Literature Circles Strategy is an excellent way to foster independent reading and responding within a collaborative group environment and an opportunity for students to go beyond their response journals”. It can be defined that Literature Circles Strategy is a strategy that used by the teacher to teach the content of the reading text to the students in a group form. Moreover, Jeanne (2006:239) says, “Literature circles are small discussion groups made up of four to six students who have read the same piece of literature”. It can be clarified that Literature Circles Strategy is a strategy that is used to understand the content of Jersey (1998:55) says, “Literature Circles Strategy is an excellent way to foster independent reading and responding within a collaborative group environment and an opportunity for students to go beyond their response journals”. It can be defined that Literature Circles Strategy is a strategy that used by the teacher to teach the content of the reading text to the students in a group form. Moreover, Jeanne (2006:239) says, “Literature circles are small discussion groups made up of four to six students who have read the same piece of literature”. It can be clarified that Literature Circles Strategy is a strategy that is used to understand the content of
Brunner (2011:67) states some steps of Literature Circles Strategy, as follows.
1) Direct students to choose their own reading selection. It is helpful to designate a genre or several books from which to choose.
2) Assign student groups based upon chosen reading material.
3) Encourage students to choose sticky notes, highlighting, or other forms of note-taking.
4) Tell students they will be participating in small-group discussions of the reading material at selected points within the lesson.
5) After students have read up to an agreed-upon chapter in the book. Provide class time for discussion of the reading material. Encourage students to make personal connections to the material. As the variation of the strategy, provide sample questions for student consideration. These questions can
be provided as a pre-reading or post-reading part of the strategy.
6) Explain that all students are to participate equally during the discussion.
7) The extent of the teacher’s role in the group is a professional decision made by the instructor.
Furthermore, Jersey and Boston (1998:55) state the procedure of Literature Circles Strategy implementation, as follows.
1) Tell students a little about the kinds of reading groups many adults belong to – the group chooses a book, and all the members read and discuss it.
2) Assign or allow students to choose appropriate titles of the literature or
Literature Circles may also have participants in the following roles: Summarizer
: Prepares a summary of the key points of each
reading segment.
Vocabulary Enricher : Clarifies meanings of important or unfamiliar
words.
4) Choose a reasonable time frame for students to finish reading their books.
5) As students read, encourage them to take notes or use sticky notes to mark passages that contain memorable ideas.
6) When students meet in their groups, they should run their own discussions. (In the beginning, you will probably need to prompt them with questions or comments if their ideas flounder.) Tell them to refer to all the notes they have prepared when they talk about their books, not just the roles in literature circles sheet.
7) When a group has finished a book, you might ask the members to tell the class about it. Encourage them to tell just enough to get other students interested in reading it. When all groups are finished reading, have students make new book choices and form new groups.
From the procedures above, it leads the researcher to apply the strategy in reading comprehension ability later by combining both of the procedures as follows. Here are the researcher’s activities.
1) Introducing the reading text to the students.
2) Forming groups of five or six students to read and discussed the content of the
discussion director (open-ended discussion), literary luminary (determiner of quotations or details), connector (describer the content of the text in daily life), illustrator (drawer of idea), summarizer (preparer of a summary), and vocabulary enricher (interpreter of unfamiliar words).
8) After the students have read the text, providing class time for discussion of the reading material and encouraged the students to make personal connections to the material.
9) Providing sample questions for students’ consideration.
10) Asking the members of every group to tell the class about the result of their discussion and encouraged them to tell just enough to get other students interested in reading it.
c. Advantages and Disadvantages of Literature Circles Strategy
Brunner (2011:68) states some advantages of Literature Circles Strategy, as
1) The assessment of learning may be challenging.
2) The activity may take several class periods to complete.
3) Some students may lack personal commitment to the activity.
4) Teacher preparation time may increase due to the need for familiarity of reading selections and planning discussions of several texts simultaneously.
d. Procedure of Conventional Teaching Strategy
Conventional Teaching Strategy is a traditional strategy which it more emphasizes to expository strategy. The step of Conventional Teaching Strategy is gotten from lesson plan that has been provided by the English teacher. The procedure of Conventional Teaching Strategy that the teacher often uses in teaching reading comprehension to the students, as elaborated below.
1) The English teacher entered the classroom and greets the students.
2) The English teacher asked the students’ condition.
3) The English teacher checked the students’ attendance list by calling the students’ name.
e. Advantages and Disadvantages of Conventional Teaching Strategy
According to Sinarno in Suryobroto (2009), there are some advantages in applying Conventional Teaching Strategy in teaching material to the students, namely:
1) The teacher can control the class easily.
2) Easy to organize the students’ place in the classroom.
3) It can be followed by the large students.
4) It is easy for the teachers to conduct the teaching-learning activity.
5) Make the teacher easily explain the teaching material. Besides some advantages which has been stated by Sinarno in Suryobroto (2009), there are some disadvantages in applying Conventional Teaching Strategy in teaching material to the students too, namely:
1) Execution of the method is dominant to define words by words.
2) If the method always used, it makes the teacher and the students feel bored.
to use strategy; one of them is Literature Circles Strategy as way to find out a significant effect in comprehending the reading text. As Camp (2006:49) says, “Literature Circles enhancing reading response skills trough peer discussions”. Moreover, Jersey and Boston (1998:47) say, “A Literature Circle is a temporary group formed to read and discuss books”. It can be emphasized that the strategy helps the students understand the content of the reading text collaboratively.
Additionally, Daniels (2002:27) says, “Literature circles are small groups of students interested in reading the same book or story who meet regularly to read and discuss their chosen text”. Procedure of this teaching strategy gives the chance the students to comprehend the reading text collaboratively. Thereby, this teaching strategy has close connection to the reading comprehension.
2. Reading
a. Definitions of Reading
In addition, Pang (2003:6) says, “Reading is about understanding written texts”. Moreover, Breznitz (2006:12) says, “Reading is an action of decoding and comprehension of the printed materials”. Through reading activity, the readers who read the text be able to decode and gaining the information from a written.
Therefore, it is inferred that reading is an activity to understand something well from written text by doing process that is connecting the reader’s prior knowledge and what the reader gets from the text to make sense. Reading makes the students to be successful in learning English language because in reading activity, the students can get information, new knowledge, and new fact from what has been read. Shortly, the students’ knowledge increases by reading.
b. Purposes of Reading
As a normal human being, in doing every activity, surely the humans being have the certain purpose for each activity. This case is the same as in reading. People
5) To know when or where something will take place or what is available;
6) To know what is happening or has happened (as reported in newspapers, magazines, reports);
7) For enjoyment or excitement. Furthermore, Grabe and Stoller (2002:12) state the purposes of reading as follows.
1) Reading to search for simple information and reading to skim Reading to search for simple information is a common reading ability. It is used so often in reading tasks that is probably best seen as a type of reading ability. In reading to search, we typically scan the text for a specific piece of information or a specific word. It involves, in essence, a combination of strategies for guessing where important information might be in the text and the using basic reading comprehension skills on those segments of the text until a general idea is formed.
2) Reading to learn from text Reading to learn typically occurs in academic and professional contexts in which a person needs to learn a considerable amount of information from a text. It requires abilities to:
a) Remember main ideas as well as a number of details that elaborate the main and supporting ideas in the text.
b) Recognize and build rhetorical frames that organize the information in the text.
c) Link the text to the reader’s knowledge base.
3) Reading to integrate information, write and critique texts
c. Processes of Reading
Reading is an interaction process between language and thought. This view deals with how language of the written text being read and the reader’s thought interact. Stone (2009:85) saying, “Reading is a complex, purposeful, social and cognitive process in which readers simultaneously uses their knowledge of spoken and written language, their knowledge of the topic of the text, and their knowledge of their culture to construct meaning”. In other words, reading is a process to understand the text by connecting the readers’ prior knowledge and the new knowledge of the text to get the meaning. Here, it can be said that reading is started by linguistics and end with meaning that is constructed by the students. Grabe and Stoller (2002: 31- 36), in which the models of reading consist of Metaphorical Models of Reading and Specific Models of Reading as elaborated below.
1) Metaphorical Models of Reading
a) Bottom-up Models This model suggests all reading follows a mechanical pattern in which the
This model portrays reading comprehension as a universally applicable iterative process of (a) hypothesising, (b) sampling and (c) comfirming information based on background knowledge, expectations about the text, a sampling of surface features of the text and context information from the text....
b) Interactive Compensatory Model This model argues that (a) remaders develop efficient reading processes, (b) less-automatic processes interact regularly, (c) automatic processes operate relatively independently and (d) reading difficulties lead to increased interaction and compensation, even among processes that would otherwise be more automatic.
c) Word Recognition Models This model refers to how the mind organizes information and learns from exposure to text.
d) Sample View of Reading Model This model argues that reading comprehension is composed of a combination of word recognition abilities and general comprehension abilities. when a decoding-skill measure (both as percentage scores) are multiplied, the resulting score is an accurate measure of reading comprehension.
Based on the statements above, it is concluded that reading activity can be done based on varied processes above. Therefore, the readers or the students who read the text, it is necessary to know the processes of reading. Thereby, the content of
This is a part of the successful key, which makes the teaching-learning process is running well especially in teaching reading comprehension.
Grabe and Stoller (2002:38) divides three interrelated stages the reading activities of the teacher practice in the classroom as follows.
1) Pre-reading activities In this stage, the teacher introduces the topic or the interesting topic and also gives the information for the students by giving a reason for reading and activates the background knowledge of students from the material. It can be activated by setting goals, asking questions, making prediction, teaching text structure and so on. If the students are reading an unfamiliar topic, the teacher may need to begin the reading process by building up background knowledge. This phase of reading is intended to make students are aware the reason why they have to read the text.
2) Whilst Reading Activity This stage involves the students’ understanding about the writer’s purpose,
From the statement above, the researcher concludes that three stages on the previous page, namely pre-reading activities, whilst reading, and post reading are the stages that guide the researcher and the students to make the teaching-learning process successful.
e. Reading Comprehension
1) Definition of Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension is an important way to understand something especially for students in mastering English language. According to Blanton in Peter (2008:31), “Reading comprehension is an active thinking process through which a reader intentionally constructs meaning to form a deeper understanding of concepts and information presented in a text”. It is implied that reading comprehension is process of the reader’s thinking to understand the deeper meaning of the reading text.
Furthermore, Brassel and Rasinski (2008:18) confirm reading comprehension
impair reading comprehension and can cause a student to disengage from the task of interpreting text.
From some definitions above, it is concluded that reading comprehension is an understanding activity. Clearly, what the students derive after reading the text and how they connect it with their background knowledge with the text for deriving fit meaning. Here, the students do not only read the text but they must understand the text correctly. So, the students know what the content of the text and get message from the writer’s text actually.
2) Levels of Reading Comprehension
In reading, there some comprehension levels, which can help the students to
be easier understand what they read. Smith as quoted by Otto (1979:154) dividing reading comprehension into four levels as elaborated below.
1) Literal comprehension
have to creative, not only comprehend the text but also able to apply the idea to other situation. This case makes the reader more able to solve problems, get new way for something, and able to make the new concept.
Based on the elaboration of comprehension levels, the researcher identifies literal comprehension to get the primary meaning of written text. Interpretation relates with getting ideas no explicitly stated. Critical reading is interpreting and evaluating what is read. Moreover, creative reading means applying the writer’s idea to new or other situation. Dealing with the research, the researcher chooses literal level of the levels of comprehension.
3) Syllabus of Reading of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna
Based on reading syllabus of Education Unit Curriculum 2006 of English subject at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna, the students are expected to be able to comprehend the meaning of written functional text and simple short essay in descriptive and recount texts related to the environs. While, the basic competence
The examples of recount text as follows.
My Memories
I think my first memories began when I started school at about five
years old. I lived in a suburb of Sydney. I had a happy childhood. I remember playing in a big garden. I fell from a big tree and broke my hand.
I remember I had a naughty friend named Giant-O, because he was fat. He liked hitting and pulling my head. It was so pathetic. One day I hit him over the head with my bag. His parents were very angry with me. But I didn’t feel sorry at all at that time. Nevertheless, since the Giant-O has become my good friend. It was such an unforgettable childhood.
2) Descriptive Text Descriptive text is a text that describes the features of someone, something, or
a certain place. The examples of recount text as follows.
Nusa Tenggara
Nusa Tenggara is the name for the chain of islands which lies to the east of Bali. Including the islands of Komodo, Lombok, Flores and Timor, Nusa Tenggara spans a variety of landscapes, from tropical forests, high volcanic lakes and dry savannahs. The largest islands are Lombok and Sumbawa, with hundreds of smaller islands between. East
Nusa Tenggara has 566 islands. The long northern arch of the island
4) Evaluation of Reading
To know the ability of students in reading comprehension, their abilities have to be assessed. The purpose is to know the students’ ability in understanding and comprehending the content of the text. To assess the ability, Weir (1990:45) says that there are some ways for testing the student’s ability in reading comprehension, they are: multiple-choice, cloze test, essay test, cloze lid, short answer questions, communicative test and etc. in this research, the research use multiple-choice test to assess or to measure the ability of students in reading comprehension by using Literature Circles Strategy. Multiple-choice test is suitable to measure the student’s ability in comprehension. It may be easier than other test and also the student’s score can be reliable, rapid, and economical. Moreover, this test is often applied in national examination by Indonesia government to assess the students’ ability. Supporting the opinion, Haladyna (1999:01) affirms that multiple-choice test is very flexible assessment format that can be used to measure knowledge, skill, abilities values,
In the research, the researcher provides 20 items of question and there are five options answer for each item that is only one the correct answer that expected to be chosen by the students. In giving the students’ score, the researcher will adjust it on their answer. The right answer is scored 1 (one) and the wrong one is scored 0 (zero). The students’ maximal score is 100 as suggested by Depdiknas (2004:15) in taking the score of students in reading comprehension by using multiple-choice. After the researcher has calculated the score and got the score, the researcher will process it to get the value of each student by using the formula written by Brown and Cartier (1996:1-8) as elaborated below.
Obtained score
Value =
Maximum score
In doing multiple-choice test, Strichart (2010:03) states some guidelines that will help students correctly answer multiple-choice items as follows:
8) Chooses “none of the above” if you are certain all other answer choices in the item are incorrect. Do not choose “none of the above” if even just one of the other answer choices is correct.
Finally, all of the suggestions above are helpful and guiding the researcher to assess the students’ ability in reading comprehension by using multiple-choice test to know the students’ comprehension toward the recount text by using Literature Circles Strategy.
B. Latest Related Research
Latest related research is research by Ardika. Ardika (2013) had searched about “The implementation of Literature Circles Strategy to improve reading comprehension of the eleventh grade students at SMK Widya Wisata Graha Amlapura”. In doing his research, he divided the students in group to comprehend the content of the reading text collaboratively. The research conclusion is the students’ ability in reading comprehension was improved after teaching the students by using
C. Conceptual Framework
In reading skill, comprehension is the main aid of the activity. In making the students derive comprehension, the students should be active in the teaching-learning process. Reality, the students still can not comprehend the content of the reading particularly recount text. This matter is caused by the teacher only uses Conventional Teaching Strategy, which is the teacher are active while the students are passive. However, right now education curriculum expects the students are more active than the teacher during the teaching-learning activity. Therefore, to make the teaching- learning activity runs well and the students are able to comprehend the content of the reading text, the researcher applies Literature Circles Strategy. Literature Circles Strategy is a strategy supposing the students to be active in reading activity. In this teaching strategy, each member of the students in a group has a role. Thereby, the students are active in the teaching-learning activity. Here, the students are asked to comprehend the content of the text collaboratively in group discussion form. Then,
28
The Researcher
The students at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna
Reading comprehension (personal recount text)
Experimental Research
Control Group Experimental Group
Pre-test Pre-test
Conventional Teaching Strategy Literature Circles Strategy
1) The English teacher entered the classroom and
1)
Introducing the reading text to the students.
greets the students.
2)
Forming groups of five or six students to read and discussed
2) The English teacher asked the students’ the content of the reading text.
3)
Assigning roles for the duration of a Literature Circle, or the
condition.
students rotated roles with each meeting. Four roles are
3) The English teacher checked the students’
essential, but other roles may be accommodated as well. The
attendance list by calling the students’ name. role of the students, are: discussion director, literary luminary,
connector, illustrator, summarizer, and vocabulary enricher for
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD
A. Design of the Research
To know the effect of Literature Circles Strategy on the students’ ability in reading comprehension at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna, the researcher conducted Quasi-experimental design. Ary (2002:24) states that quasi experimental is
a research design used if a researcher cannot randomly assign subjects to experimental treatments for a study, by which she or he must use already assembled groups. It was supported by Anderson (2005:263) saying, “Quasi-experimental design as a form of research that examines differences between research groups based on some natural characteristic using treatments or interventions, but not randomization”.
Concerning with the theories above, the researcher conducted Quasi- experimental by using pretest and posttest with comparison group design. The group
Table 1 RESEARCH DESIGN
Posttest Experimental group
Y 2 (e) Control group
Y 1 (e)
X (e)
Y 2 (c) Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh (2002:315) In which: Y 1 (e) = Pretest in experimental group Y 1 (c) = Pretest in control group
Y 1 (c)
X (c)
X (e) = Teaching by using Literature Circles Strategy
X (c) = Teaching by using treatment Conventional Teaching Strategy Y 2 (e) = Posttest in experimental group Y 2 (c) = Posttest in control group
B. Variables of the Research
In which:
X : Literature Circles Strategy Y : The students’ ability in reading comprehension According to L.R. Gay and Peter Airasian (2000:622), “Control variable is a non manipulated variable, usually a physical or mental characteristic of the participant”. It was explained that control refers to the researcher effort to remove the influence of any extraneous variable (other than independent variable is self) that might affect the scores on the dependent variable. In other words, the researcher wanted the groups to be as similar as possible, so the only major difference between them was the treatment variables manipulated by the researcher. The researcher applied Literature Circles Strategy to the experimental group while in control group the researcher applied Conventional Teaching Strategy as the comparison to know the effect of Literature Circles Strategy in teaching reading comprehension. The difference between experimental group and control group was the treatment
The population of the research was the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna that consists of 89 students. The number of population can be seen at the following table.
Table 2 The POPULATION CONDITION of the EIGHTH GRADE of SMP NEGERI 4 HURUNA
Number
Class
Number of Students
Source: Office administration of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna
2. Sample
Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh (2002:163) say, “Sample is a portion of a population”. It could be said that sample is a part of population. In choosing the
2. Defined the desired sample size.
3. Identified an existing frame or develop a new sampling frame or clusters of the target population.
4. Evaluated the sampling frame. Ideally, the cluster would be as heterogeneous as the population, mutually exclusive, and collectively exhaustive.
5. Determined the number of cluster to be selected.
6. Randomly select the targeted number of cluster. Clearly, the sample in the research can be viewed in the table below.
Table 3 The TOTAL SAMPLE at the EIGHTH of SMP NEGERI 4 HURUNA Number
Class
Number of students
1 (Experimental group)
30 students
30 students Source: Office administration of SMP Negeri 4 Huruna
2 (Control group)
In conducting this research, the researcher used evaluation sheet as the instrument to get the data of the students’ ability in reading comprehension especially in recount text through Literature Circles Strategy. There were two types of test, namely pretest and posttest. Pretest was given to the students before they get any treatment to examine the normality and homogeneity of data, and posttest was given to the students after they get a treatment to examine the research hypothesis.
E. Procedure of Collecting the Data
Before collecting the data, previously the researcher decided experimental group and control group. In obtaining the data, the researcher followed the procedure as follows.
1. The researcher determined the location of the research. The location of the research was SMP Negeri 4 Huruna.
2. The researcher selected the population. The population of the research was the
6. The researcher conducted pretest to the control group and experimental group to seek the normality of data and the homogeneity of the sample.
7. After the data was normal and the sample was homogeneous, the researcher taught the experimental group and control group.
8. The researcher did the posttest for the experimental group and control group.
9. The researcher examined the normality and the homogeneity of the sample.
10. The researcher examined the hypothesis by using t-independent.
11. The research analyzed the data, obtains the finding, and takes a conclusion.
F. Techniques of Analyzing the Data
1. Try out Instruments
a. Validity
According to Ary Jacobs, and Razavieh (2002:242) say, “Validity is the extent to which scores on a test enable one to make meaningful interpretations”. It implied
which it was of the representative of the samples to the content area of the knowledge in reading comprehension well. So, the computation of examining the validity of the instruments in the research was counted through the “Product Moment Correlation.” The formula is:
{ ∑ − (∑ ) }{ ∑ − (∑ ) } In which: , = The coefficient correlation N = The number of sample
X = Score of items Y = The total score The test is valid if significance level (α) 0.05 is taken from , ≥ r table.
b. Reliability
Where:
r 21 = Instrument of reability 2 = The total of varians item
= The variant total k = The total of items
c. Item Facility Analysis
Brown (1996:64) says, item facility (IF) analysis was used to find out the difficulty and easiness of items. So, to analyze item facility in the research, the researcher used formula as follows.
In which: = item facility
0.70 – 1.00 : easy item
0.50 – 0.69 : medium item
0.00 – 0.49 : difficult item
2. Data Analysis
a. The Students’ Ability in Reading Comprehension
To know the ability of the students after reading the text, the researcher gave the assessment to them by using multiple-choice to test the students’ ability in reading comprehension. Then, the researcher processed the value of each student by using the formula written by Brown and Cartier (1996:1-8) as follows.
Obtained score
Value =
Maximum score
Furthermore, to know the students’ ability in reading comprehension, the researcher determined the percentage of each student’s ability and also determined
Then, the researcher classified the degree of the students’ ability in reading comprehension based on scale which was proposed by Nurgiyantoro (2001:399) as typed on the next page.
0 – 39 was classified as fail
40 – 59 was classified as less
60 – 74 was classified as enough
75 – 84 was classified as good
85 – 100 was classified as very good
b. Mean Score and Standard Deviation
Mean score was the average of the students’ value that was used to know the beginning of the students’ ability or the students’ degree mastery in classroom. To find out the mean score, the researcher used the formula from Djiwandono (2008: 212), as follows.
In which: S
= Standard deviation of the sample
X = The score of item = The mean for the data
N = The number of the sample
c. Variance
Variance was the quadrate from standard deviation. To determine the variant, the researcher used the formula suggested by Djiwandono (2008:217) as follows.
researcher used Lilliefors Formula defined by Sudjana (2002:466-467) by following some steps, as follows.
1) Made the work table as given below.
2) Input the data or score in to the table.
3) Found the Z score by using the formula: =
4) Determined the F (zi) through Table Standard Normal based on the Z score.
5) Determined the S (z) by using the formula : ()=
6) Counted the Lilliefors count (Lc) by using the formula: Lc = |()− ( )| .
7) Found the highest score as Lilliefors count.
8) Determined the score of Lilliefors table (Lt).
9) Compared Lilliefors count and Lilliefors table, then take the conclusion:
a) If Lh ≤ Lt, so the data was normal.
b) If Lh > Lt, so the data was not normal.
Table 4 The TABLE of USING LILLIEFORS FORMULA
e. Homogeneity of Sample
Examining the homogeneity was used to figure out the homogeneity of the data of the sample and the population. In the research, the researcher used Harley Test Formula as suggested by Irianto (2007:276). This formula could be used if the number of sample of two groups was the same. The Harley Test Formula as follows.
In which: Variance = the square of standard deviation (S 2 )
dk = n 1 -1,n 2 -1, homogen = F table >F count
f. The Hypothesis
In the research, the result of post-test from both of the groups (experimental
43
If the result of post-test data has a normal distribution and homogenous, so the researcher will examine the hypothesis by using t-independent formula from Sugiyono, (2006:135), as follows.
With dk = 2(n-1) n=n 1 =n 2
= mean of the first group = mean of the second group
= variance of the first group = variance of the second group
CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
A. Research Findings
1. Research Setting
As clarified in the previous chapter, the research was performed in SMP Negeri 4 Huruna. It was located in Huruna Village, Huruna Sub-district, and South Nias Regency. This school had a great building with a very wide school court. It had complete learning facilities, such as laboratory, library, a hall for sport. This school always got positive remarks from the people because of its very potential contribution with the children around the place where the school exists.
The total numbers of rooms were 15 rooms and the total number of the teachers in the school was 18 teachers which is the English teacher were only two persons. Then, the total number of the students was 315 students divided in three
Huruna. The teacher was as the teacher-collaborator of the researcher’s activities. The researcher needed his help in order that the activities of the research could run well.
a. Try-Out Instruments
1) Validity
Based on the research design, the researcher prepared the instruments of collecting the data that is the students’ ability in reading comprehension tests before going to the subject of the research. The instruments were validated by Lecturer and two English teachers. Then, the researcher did the try-out to examine whether the instrument was valid and reliable. Before conducting the research in SMP Negeri 4 Huruna especially at the eighth grade, the researcher did the try-out at the eighth grade of SMP Negeri 3 Huruna in 2016/2017. The researcher asked the students to choose the correct answer based on the text given to them. The researcher did try-out
2) Reliability
After the test is valid, the researcher examines the reliability of the test. The reliability test was done to the data which had been gotten from the try out in SMP Negeri 3 Huruna especially at the eighth grade which consist of 30 students. In the result of the computation through Alfa Coefficient formula as shown in Appendix 13a and 13b (Table 14 and 15), the reliability score is r count >r table . The result of r count test for pre-test is 0.924 and r count test for post-test is 0.919. While r table with N = 30 at the significant level 5% (α = 0.05) is 0.361. It can be concluded that the test is RELIABLE.
3) Item Facility Analysis
Item facility (IF) analysis was used to find out the difficulty and easiness of the items. Based on Appendix 14 (Table 16 and 17), the result of the computation of the test for pre-test and post-test showed that there were 11 items of the easy items
test was shown in Appendix 16a (Table 20) and Appendix 16b (Table 21). Based on the appendices, the researcher counted the mean score, standard deviation and variance.
a) Mean Score
Based on Appendix 17a (Table 22), mean score of pre-test in control group is
52.83 and it was classified in less level. While on Appendix 17b (Table 23), mean score of post-test in control group is 61.33 and it was classified in enough level. Based on Appendix 18a (Table 24), mean score of pre-test in experimental group was 51.67 and it was classified in less level. While on Appendix 18b (Table 25), mean score of post-test in experimental group is 79.67 and it was classified in good level.
b) Standard Deviation
c) Variance
Based on Appendix 17a (Table 22), it showed variance computation of control group in pre-test was 133.49 while in appendix 17b (Table 23), variance of control group in post-test was 125.75.
Based on the Appendix 18a (Table 24), it showed variance computation of experimental group in pre-test was 166.09 while in Appendix 18b (Table 25), variance of experimental group in post-test was 113.68.
d) Normality Test
Based on Appendix 18a (Table 26), it showed normality test of the control group in pre-test is L count = 0.1247 with L table = 0.1618 at the significant level 0.05, it means 0.1247 < 0.1618. Because L count <L table so, pre-test result of the control group is stated having the Normal Distribution. Based on Appendix 18b (Table 27), it showed normality test of the control group in post-test is L count = 0.0811, it means
e) Homogeneity of Sample
Based on Appendix 20a, it showed the result of pre-test homogeneity computation indicated F table = 1.86 is consulted to the score F count . To dk = n 1 -1, n 2 -1 at the significant level 5% is gotten F count = 1.24. It means F count < F table . It can be concluded that both of the groups in pre-test were stated Homogenous.
Based on appendix 20b, it showed the result of post-test homogeneity computation indicated F table = 1.86 is consulted to F count = 1.11. It means F count <F table . It can be concluded that both of the groups in post-test were stated Homogenous.
2) Hypotheses Testing
After getting mean score, standard deviation, variance, normality, and the homogeneity, the researcher formulated the research hypotheses as follows.