IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH PQRST OF EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP NEGERI 2 BANJARANGKAN IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013

Transcription

1 IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH PQRST OF EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP NEGERI 2 BANJARANGKAN IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013 BY KADEK ANGGA SEPTIARI NPM: ENGLISH DEPARTMENT THE FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING EDUCATION MAHASARASWATI DENPASAR UNIVERSITY 2013

2 PQRST OF EIGHTH STUDENTS OF SMP N 2 BANJARANGKAN IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013 THESIS As Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Department Faculty of Teacher Training and Education Mahasaraswati Denpasar University BY KADEK ANGGA SEPTIARI NPM: ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION MAHASARASWATI DENPASAR UNIVERSITY DENPASAR 2013

3 APPROVAL SHEET 1 This thesis entitled Improving Reading Comprehension through PQRST of eighth grade Students of SMP N 2 Banjarangkan in Academic Year 2012/2013 has been approved and accepted as Partial Fulfillment for the Sarjana Pendidikan degree in English Department Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Mahasaraswati Denpasar University. Advisor I Advisor II Nengah Dwi Handayani, S.Pd., M.Pd. NPK I Ketut Wardana, S.Pd., M.Hum. NPK

4 APPROVAL SHEET 2 This thesis has been examined by the committee on oral examination on Chief Examiner Ni Wayan Krismayani, S. Pd., M. Pd. NPK Examiner I Examiner II Nengah Dwi Handayani., S.Pd., M.Pd. NPK I Ketut Wardana, S.Pd., M.Hum. NPK Approved by Dean of the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education Head of the English Department Prof.Dr. Wayan Maba NIP I Komang Budiarta, S. Pd. NPK

5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, the researcher wishes to express her sincere gratitude to the Almighty God, Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa for His blessing, so that this thesis finally done in due time. Her deepest appreciation is addressed to the advisors, Nengah Dwi Handayani, S.Pd., M.Pd. and I Ketut Wardana, S.Pd., M.Hum. for their guidance, advices, and correction during writing this thesis. Her special sincere gratitude further goes to the Head of English Department, lectures, and all staffs of Mahasaraswati Denpasar University, The Faculty of Teacher Training and Education of Mahasaraswati Denpasar University for their motivation. Her gratitude also goes to the Headmaster of SMP N 2 Banjarangkan, English teachers, and all of the teachers and to the eighth grade students who helped the researcher collect data and for their cooperation during the time this thesis was conducted. The greatest gratitude is addressed to her beloved parents; Mother and Father, my Sister, my lovely ugly, all of my friends at BRI Unit Kusamba ; Pak Man Tri, Pak Deris, Gunk Oka, Ayuni, Janu for their input, support and motivation so that this research can be finished well. The last but not least, the researcher hopes the result of this thesis research can be benefit for all. Denpasar, August 2013 Reseacher

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS COVER 2... ii APPROVAL SHEET 1... iii APPROVAL SHEET 2... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT... v TABLE OF CONTENTS... vi LIST OF TABELS... viii LIST OF GRAPHS... ix ABSTRACT... x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background of the Study Statement of the Research Question Object of the Study Limitation of the Study Significance of the Study Assumption Hypothesis Definition of Key Terms Theoretical Frame Work CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Definition of Reading Significance of Reading Activity Kinds of Reading Classroom Reading Techniques PQRST Assessment of Reading Comprehension

7 CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD Subject of the Study Research Design Initial reflection Planning Action Observation Reflection Point of Revision Research Instrument Teaching Learning Scenario Test Questionnaires Data Collection Data Analysis CHAPTER IV THE PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS Data Tabulation Data Analysis Discussion of the Findings CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS Conclusions Suggestions REFERENCES APPENDICES

8 LIST OF TABELS Tabel 4.1 Tabulation of Data Showing the Subjects Progressing Score in Reading Comprehension through PQRST Reading Strategy Tabel 4.2 Tabulation of Data Showing the Subjects Changing Motivation and Attitude in Reading Comprehension through PQRST Reading Strategy Tabel 4.3 Tabulation of the Data Showing the frequency distribution of Initial Reflection (IR) and Test Scores in Reading Comprehension Through PQRST Tabel 4.4 Summary of Research Finding Showing The Mean Score of each Session and the Grand Mean For Cycle I and Cycle II. 40

9 LIST OF GRAPHS Graph 4.1 Depicting the Subjects Progressing Ability in Reading Comprehension through PQRST Reading Strategy in Cycle I Graph 4.2 Depicting the Subjects Progressing Ability in Reading Comprehension through PQRST Reading Strategy in Cycle II Graph 4.3 Showing the Subject s Progressing Grand Mean Taught in Reading Comprehension through PQRST Technique from IR, Cycle I, and Cycle II... 43

10 ABSTRACT Septiari, Kadek Angga Improving Reading Comprehension through PQRST of Eight Grade Students of SMP N 2 Banjarangkan in Academic Year 2012/2013. First advisor: Nengah Dwi Handayani, S.Pd., M.Pd. and Second advisor: I Ketut Wardana, S.Pd., M. Hum. Key words: Improving Reading Comprehension, and PQRST The present classroom action study dealt with the Improving Reading Comprehension through PQRST of Eighth Grade Students of SMP N 2 Banjarangkan in Academic Year 2012/2013. The main aim of this present study was triggered by the fact that the subjects under study still faced problem in reading comprehension, especially in finding main idea, specific information, textual reference, and word meaning of the text. The present classroom action study made use of pre-test, post-test and questionnaire. It consisted of two cycles and each cycle there were two following sessions. The result of the pre test clearly showed that the pre existing reading comprehension of the subject was low with mean score The result of the data analysis of the reflection scores for cycle I figured out the increasing mean figure of 58.84, and for S1 and S2 respectively. The result of the data analysis of reflection scores for cycle II clearly figured out in increasing mean figures of 78.6 and for S3 and S4 respectively. The grand mean figures for cycle I and cycle II showed the figures of and There was a different mean figure of between the two cycles. The mean figure of IR scores was much lower than the corresponding mean figures obtained for each session. The significant different further suggested that cycle II was more effective than cycle I. This could plausible be understood since cycle II started with revised planning. The result of the analysis of the questionnaires score showed the comparative percentage figure of 53.50%, 40.56%, 5.94%, and 0% for the total responses of the questionnaire items of options A, B, C, and D respectively. It means, the students in learning reading comprehension changed positively. These findings clearly showed that PQRST could improve the reading comprehension of the eighth grade students of SMP N 2 Banjarangkan in improving their reading comprehension.

11 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of The Study Today, Indonesia has new curriculum, called CSCD (School Based Curriculum Development) since According to Hanafie (2007:23), this curriculum has been considered as the follow-up of the previous curriculum of CBC (Competency-Based Curriculum). As CBC, it is aimed at developing students competency. Especially in English language teaching, it is intended to develop students communicative competence. In other words, English learners, according to CSCD are expected to be able to use the language. In order to achieve that purpose, the students are required to master four language skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing. Those four skills are taught in integrated way to enable the students to use the language in their daily life. Among those four language skills, reading is the most important one. Charles (2000:13), states that reading is the heart of education. The knowledge of almost every subject in school flows from reading. In fact, nearly all subjects of study use printed materials as the source of learning from which students can gain information and knowledge. However, Moats and Tolman (2008:26), state that human brains are naturally wired to speak; they are not naturally wired to read and write. Reading to students is not only the responsibility of teachers but also important for the students to develop linguistic abilities so that the students can

12 in SMP N 2 Banjarangkan. English teacher was interviewed by the researcher. From this interview, it was found out that class VIII D of Negeri 2 Banjarangkan had problems in reading in the four indicators namely find out main idea, specific information, textual reference and word meaning. This class had more than 65% students could not achieved the standard estimated score of the school (75). Most of the students faced problem in reading namely finds out main idea, specific information, textual references, and word meaning. The problem happened because of the following things. First, the teacher did not understand how to manage their class and make the students feel bored to learn English. Second, the students only had a limited scope of vocabulary, and the topic of the reading passage made them not really understand. The students also still had problem about the four indicators of reading. Most of the students fail in answering question related to the topic. Then, there is no any appropriate activity conducted which match with the passage given (they are quickly get bored and difficult to understand a word). This condition made the students enable to comprehend what the passage was about. Therefore, the English teacher has to be able to organize teaching and learning activities; they have to give materials by using a suitable technique and master the lesson effectively. One effective way to solve the problem that is faced by the students of eighth grade SMP N 2 Banjarangkan is by using PQRST (Preview, Question, Read, State/Self-Resite, and Test). PQRST with variants stems from Francis P. Robinson's SQ3R. The PQRST method is a step-by-step plan that has been proven to raise test scores for students who follow the steps involved. This method helps the student focus on studying and prioritizing the information in a

13 way that relates directly to how they will be asked to use that information in an exam. The method can also be modified to suit any particular form of learning in most subjects. It can also allow more accurate timing of work. In order to the benefits of the method, this method could be useful to improve and activate students prior knowledge and make the teaching and learning process more interesting, enjoyable, understandable and more communicative in comprehending the passage. 1.2 Statement of the Research Question Teaching reading has been developed over a long period of time, however students still face some problems in reading comprehension. The researcher would like to introduce and use to the method of PQRST teaching learning process to overcome some problems faced by eighth grade students in reading comprehension. Based on the background of the study above, the research question can be formulated as follow: can the reading comprehension of eighth grade students of SMP Negeri 2 Banjarangkan be improved through PQRST? 1.3 Objective of the Study To answer the research question state above, objective of the study must be clearly stated. Therefore the objective of this study is to know the implementation of PQRST improving the reading comprehension of eighth grade students of SMP N 2 Banjarangkan in academic year 2012/2013 and to find out the student motivation and interest in reading comprehension after the technique applied. This

14 study is also conducted to know the degree of students motivation during the technique is applied. 1.4 Limitation of the Study The discussion of reading comprehension is complex and too broad to be covered in one single study. This study is only limited on improving reading comprehension and improving student motivation through PQRS of eighth grade students of junior high school in academic year 2012/2013. This research focuses on reading material of narrative and recount text. 1.5 Significance of the Study The research is concerned with teaching and reading comprehension of reading passage. It can improve the student reading ability and students will find the task very interesting and motivating. The teacher will find PQRST method to be another effective resource for teaching reading comprehension. The finding of the present research is expected to provide the theoretical and practical significance. Theoretically, for the students the result of this research is expected can be used as a strategy in their attempt to improve their achievement in reading comprehension. Practically the findings of the study can give useful informative feedbacks to English teacher and students of SMP N 2 Banjarangkan. For the teacher, this research is expected to enrich the teacher s knowledge in developing students ability and motivation in reading comprehension. For the student, this research is expected to be able to help students improve their achievement in reading comprehension by using PQRST and also improve their

15 participation in reading class during teaching learning process. For the school, this research is also expected to be used as reference for the school of SMP N 2 Banjarangkan in conducting further study related to the teaching of reading in school. 1.6 Assumptions There are some other variables that may relate and have on effect to his research; however the researcher is only concerned with the variable as stated on research the question. Some statements are assumed as follow: 1. The eighth grade students of SMP N 2 Banjarangkan are assumed to have similar ability in English especially in reading comprehension. 2. The eighth grade students are assumed to have the same motivation in learning English. 3. The researcher is assumed to be qualified in conducting the research and the instruments used for collecting data are constructed in such way that they are assumed to be valid ad reliable. 1.7 Hypothesis On attempting to give a tentative solution to the problem, the hypothesis is stated as the following: the reading comprehension of the eighth grade students of SMP N 2 Banjarangkan can be improved through PQRST..

16 1.8 Definition of Key Terms Some operation definitions are given in order to avoid misunderstanding. They are reading comprehension and PQRST method. 1. Reading comprehension Hill, Walter R (2000:4-5) state that reading is communication process and used by readers to get the message which going to be delivered by the author through message or written language". Reading comprehension is defined as the ability of the student under study in understanding the content of reading text which is delivered by the teacher on the present study. The students reading ability and achievement are measured by means of administering a series of post test. 2. PQRST PQRST (Preview, Question, Read, State, Test). PQRST was found by Thomas F. Stanton. This method is used to improved reading competency. PQRST method in this study is a method of reading the passage which consists of five activities; preview, question, read, state / summarize, and test and some additional activities that consist of discussing the questions, discuss the answers, determining the main sentence, sentences, main ideas, and ideas of explanatory. 3. SMP N 2 Banjarangkan is defined as a junior high school which located in Desa Tihingan, Klungkung, Banjarangkan-Bali where is the researcher doing a research.

17 1.9 Theoretical Frame Work A scientific investigation is expected to contribute practical significant and should be conducted based on some relevant theoretical construct and empirical evidences the present investigation is based on the following theoretical frame work: (1) Definition of reading, (2) Significance of reading activity, (3) Kinds of reading, (4) Classroom reading techniques, (5) PQRST (Preview, Question, Read, State, and Test) technique, and (6) Assessment of Reading. All these sub headings will be further discussed in chapter II which deals with review of related literature.

18 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter discusses the relevant theoretical and empirical review to the present study includes the definition of reading, significance reading activity, kinds of reading, classroom reading technique, PQRST method, and assessment of reading. 2.1 Definition of Reading In any scientific study, it is considered important to provide source or references in this case about reading. Therefore, several definition of reading stated by different experts will be presented in this study. Related to reading is the sense of process getting form written or printed text. Grabe and Stoller (2001:2) state that reading is the ability of drawing meaning and interpreting information in the printed page appropriately. They state that reading is also interactive in term that linguistic information from the text interacts with information activated by the reader from long-run memory, as background knowledge. Hill (2000:4-5) states that reading is communication process and used by readers to get the message to be delivered by the author through message or written language". A process which requires that a group of words which is a unity will be seen in glimpses and that the meaning of individual words will be known. If this is not met, then the

19 explicit and implied messages will not be captured or understood, and the reading process is not done well. Another meaning of reading comes from Soedarso (2010). He states that "reading is a complex activity by recruiting a large number of separate actions, including the need to use the understanding and imagination, observing, and remembering". Reading is an active which provide a response to the meaning that is read. When reading, the reader will form a conclusion about the content of reading. Making the conclusion is an indication that readers respond to literature. According to Hedgcock (2009:210) reading comprehension is a complex construct that involves the interaction of a number of psycholinguistics processes. It goes far beyond the ability to state the main idea of a text in one sentence, answer question about details, define vocabulary, accurately read the text aloud, and forth comprehension further involves the simultaneous and largely subconscious application of various type of background knowledge (schemata) and reading skills to particular text. Furthermore, Djiwandono (2002:76) state that reading comprehension is thus much more than decoding. Reading comprehension result when the readers know which skill and strategies are appropriate for the type of the text, and understand how to apply them to accomplish the reading process. So by mastery of reading, it can improve other language skills. Based on the theory describe above, the present study tend to apply the theory of reading which is proposed by Grabe and Stoller who state that reading is the ability of drawing meaning and interpreting information, reading also interactive in term that linguistic information from the text interact with information by the

20 reader. This is strongly related the indicators of the study that was stated about reading comprehension. 2.2 Significance of Reading Activity Generally reading activity is divided into three different activities namely prereading activity, during-reading activity and post-reading activity. Lenz (2005:94) stated that there are the three stages of reading activity. The three stages are before-reading, during-reading, and after-reading is in form of continuous activity. Those stages will be explained as follows: 1. Pre-reading activity Pre-reading activity consists of some strategies that a student learns to use to get ready to read a text. These strategies help student get an idea of what the writer might trying to say, how the information might be useful, and to create a mental set that might be useful for taking in and storing information. These strategies could include surveying pictures, preteaching vocabularies, reading instructions, and summaries, creating a prereading outline, creating questions that might need to be answered, making predictions that need to be confirmed, etc. 2. During-reading activity During-reading activity consists of some strategies that students learn to use while they are reading a text. These strategies help the student focuses on how to determine what the writer is actually trying to say and to match the information with what the student already knows. These strategies should be influenced by the before-reading strategies because students

21 should be using or keeping in mind the previews, outlines, questions, predictions, etc. That were generated before reading and then using this information to digest what they are reading. 3. After-reading activity After-reading activity consists of some strategies that students learn to use when they have completed reading a text. These strategies are used to help the students look back and think about the message of the text and determine the intended or possible meanings that might be important. These strategies are used to follow up and confirm what was learned (e.g. evaluate own comprehension and summarization) for the use of before and during reading activity. From all of the previous explanations, it can be said that in reading a text, there are three stages that should be accomplished by students; they are beforereading activity that helps students predict what they already know or to activate their prior knowledge; during-reading activity that helps students to understand what is actually said by the writer; and the last after-reading activity which is aimed at helping students to summarize the author s message and also evaluate their understanding the overall of the text. 2.3 Kinds of Reading There are four types for classroom reading performance such as reading aloud, silent reading, intensive reading, and extensive reading Reading Aloud

22 Reading aloud is used to check the pronunciation of the students. For students, reading aloud is an important strategy for developing print awareness. Teacher can ask one student to read a text and give him/her a score to show his/ her progress. Bell in Mayastuti (2007:13) explain as text read out loud serves four purposes for the reader by: (1) Analysing the text as literary critic. (2) To grow and to develop as a performer. (3) To communicate a massage to an audience. (4) Perform an artistic creation. These purposes apply to oral reading and should be an extension of the classroom literary and language arts activities in poetry, short stories and children s fiction. In general oral reading fluency provides one of the best measures of reading competence, including reading comprehension. Harmer in Araujo (2011:12) stated that the weakness of reading aloud can be describe that oral reading is not very authentic language activity. While one of the student in reading, other can easily lose their attention. Since the activity is only aimed at checking the pronunciation, the main purpose of reading may be neglected. The activity only just scratches the surface of the text and the content is easily forgotten. The teacher should consider how a read aloud selection will support a particular unit or enhance the students independent reading. For example, the teacher might choose texts has are generally more difficult than those the students could read on their own Silent Reading

23 Silent reading is the opposite reading aloud. This activity is really intended to improve the students comprehension. They have to find out what is the content of reading text. The student will use all their semantics and syntax ability to predict the meaning of whole text. Studies also have shown that the amount of time spent for reading is related the students reading comprehension and vocabulary growth, they also develop positive attitudes toward reading after silent reading session. The effects are more prominent when the students are allowed to select their own reading materials. Hill (2000:147) mention that the students like silent reading because it is quite, more fluently in gaining meaning with much indication that it is only quite time in their entire day. This activity can help the readers understood and teach them orally in communicate and enjoy the sound of language. Silent reading is the most important type of reading. Silent reading is the opposite of reading aloud, this activity is really intended to improve the student s comprehension. They have to find out what is the content of reading text. The student will use all their semantics and syntax ability to predict the meaning of the whole text Intensive reading Intensive study of reading texts can be a means of increasing learners knowledge of language feature and their control of reading strategies Nasution (2008:25). It also improves their comprehension skill. It fits into the language focused learning stand of a course. The classic procedure for intensive reading is

24 grammar translation approach where the teacher works with learners, using the first language to explain the meaning of text, sentence by sentence. Carnine in Mayastuti (2007:16) states any reading activity, including extensive reading, is certainly an activity with a purpose. The purpose of the reader determines the way in which they treat the reading material and the comprehension skill they need to use. Comprehension is defined as a set of skill, which develop over time as a complex process involving all aspects of Extensive reading The opposite of the term intensive reading is extensive reading. In extensive reading, the student is reading in quantity, without bothering to check every unknown word structure. The main process in helping the classes with extensive reading should be trained the student to read fluently in English for train enjoyment and with no help or guidance from the teacher. Schorkhuber (2008:163) states that extensive reading procedure is based upon the assumption that students will enjoy reading text which they have chosen on topics of interest to them more than they will enjoy reading text such as stories, articles, or dialogues. Furthermore, Stoler (2001:12) states that although extensive reading, by itself is not sufficient for the development of fluent reading comprehension abilities cannot be developed without extensive reading. According to Brown (2004: ), the types of reading are divided into three term, those are follows:

25 1. Academic reading such as articles, reports, journals, reference materials, textbooks, theses, essays, papers, test directions, editorials and opinion writings. 2. Job-related reading such as message, letters/ s, memos, forms, application and questionnaires. 3. Personal reading for example newspapers and magazine, letters, s, greeting cards, invitations, massages, notes lists, schedules, recipes, menus, maps, advertisement, novels, short stories, jokes, drama, financial document, forms, questionnaires, medical report, immigration document, comic strips and cartoons Classroom Reading Techniques In teaching reading comprehension, further action need to design some reading comprehension techniques that respond to the purpose of reading Jigsaw Technique Jigsaw type cooperative learning is a type of cooperative learning that consist of several members in one group responsible for the mastery of the learning materials and be able to teach such material to other members in the group. Arends (2009 : 316) states hits technique is a model of cooperative learning in which students learn in small group consisting of 4-6 people are heterogeneous and work together in a positive independence and are responsible for mastery of subject matter that must be learned and deliver such materials to members of the group others. Jigsaw is design to enhance student s sense of responsibility towards their own learning and also teaching others. Student not

26 only study the materials provided, but they also are ready to provide and teach the material in the other group members Sentence Shorting technique Sentence sorting technique is one of the techniques, which can help the students to practice intensive reading, to help the children to learn how text is organized. Phillips (1991:48) argues that all children need to learn to read. However, when choosing reading material for your students try to find texts that are enjoyable and interesting. 2.5 PQRST (Preview, Question, Read, State, Test) PQRST was found by Thomas F. Stanton. This method is used to improve reading competency. PQRST method is one method of reading which is similar or even same as the SQ3R method. PQRST is stands for the core activities of the preview, question, read, state / summarize, test. PQRST actually is a method or strategy of reading a book which is especially intended for the benefit of the study, but researchers can borrow concepts and measures for the benefit of this method of teaching read in school, especially for students who are already classified as readers advanced (Nurhadi, 1987).

27 PQRST method in this study is a method of reading the passage which consists of five activities; preview, question, read, state / summarize, and test and some additional activities that consist of discussing the questions, discuss the answers, determining the main sentence, sentences, main ideas, and ideas of explanatory. The method is clearly illustrated below. Champion (2006:58) argues that PQRST strategy also increases the extent to which information is processed by the brain, but it is used for written material, such as that in a newspaper s article. The main goal of PQRST strategy is to help students to advance their reading comprehension. PQRST strategy consists of these 5 steps below: 1. P (Preview)

28 In this first step, the reader determine what the entire text is about by skimming through it all so they know they re going to be covering. One way to do this is to read the title, and then notice the graphs, pictures, diagrams in the text. Next, read the introduction and summary or the first paragraph, also notice the organizational structure text. The point is to get an idea of the main topics and sections of the text. One of the best things about previewing is that it takes very little time to do. Once they ve had some practice, they ll usually be able to preview a text quickly. If they have a general idea about what a reading assignment covers, they will be able to determine how it relates to the course for which they re reading, and what they want to learn from it. 2. Q (Question) After previewing the text, the students as the readers determine what they are exactly looking for while reading. The students should make questions based on what they have read before. The questions can lead them to find further information of text. They should avoid adding questions that might distract or change the subject. With specific questions in mind about a reading assignment, they will know exactly what information to look for, and they will be motivated to find it. This will help them to learn as much as they can from reading. 3. R (Read) The third step is R or Read. In this step, the readers read the whole text. And while reading it, they also try to find the answers of the questions they made before. Here, they should remember the features that they

29 notice during the last two steps: heading, special term, pictures, and summaries. Those can be used to guide them toward the main ideas. Remember also that each paragraph contains a main idea, and supporting ideas that elaborate on this. Look for them, and underline or highlight them. The reader should read for ideas rather than single words: train their eyes to look at cluster of related words rather than at each individual word. 4. S (Summary) After reading the text, the readers should know how much they can recall the information they get from the text and state it by their own words. Highlight, only the most important words. Without looking at the book, ask the students to recite the main idea of the text generally and the main idea of each paragraph. Then tell themselves in a sentence or two what they ve read. Finally, scan over the section quickly to pick up any essential points they may have missed. It is possible to recite in our head or aloud, but many students find it most effective if they jot down what they recite. This, of course, also make it much easier to review later. Many students also find Summarizing or Self- Reciting helpful because it requires monitoring their attention carefully. If they are having difficulty Self- Reciting, this may mean they are not concentrating fully on the reading but can also provide incentive for improving their concentration. 5. T (Test) The last step is T or Test. At the end of the reading activity, the reader checks their knowledge by testing themselves to know how far their

30 understanding of the text they read is. It can be done by reviewing all the material and storing it into their long-term memory. Starting by recalling as much as they can without looking at the book or their recitation notes. If they have any difficulties, they look at the questions they wrote to jog their memory, but they shouldn t look at their answers or other notes until they have given their memory a chance to work. Then, look back over their recitation notes to make sure they remember all the important points and main ideas. If they still think they miss something, look over the reading assignment, too. The more they Test themselves, the more firmly the information will be planted in their long-term memory. 2.6 Assessment of Reading Comprehension Assessment used to determine the quality of students work. Luongo (2003:7) states that authentic assessment involves students in task that requires the application of knowledge and skills in real-life situations. These alternative methods offer real-world challenges and frameworks, such as audiences, for demonstrating concepts and strategies that students have learned. Authentic assessment rooted in classroom instruction, address education goals and groups of learning objectives. These practices place greater emphasis on problem solving, critical thinking, comprehension, and reasoning, or self-reflection skills than traditional assessment techniques. Final products include exhibitions, performances that permit more

31 than one solution. The formats for students work recognize students multiple intelligences, different learning style and varying developmental levels. According to Chambers and Gregory (2006:162) states that a function of any assessment regime is that it should act as a guide to reinforcing teachers priorities and helping the students to identify what activities, knowledge, and understanding are centrally important to their progress. Assessment of the students should be explicitly linked to the learning process and outcomes of their degree program is not so much an invitation to teachers to work these things out for themselves as it may at first sight. Hill in Hernawati (2011:31-32) add that the combination of the reading test is: 1. Multiple-choice Question The multiple choice question have four possible labeled A, B, C, D. the students will choose one answer per question. Each question correctly answered is given one point. 2. Short answer Question The short answer questions have a Read, Think, and Explain symbol next to them. Students should spend bout three to five minutes answering each short-answer questions on the lines provided. Each question answered correctly is given up to two points; partial credit is given. There can be some variation in the answer. 3. Long-answer Question

32 The long answer questions have a read Read, Thinking and Explain symbols with more lines next to them. Students should spend about seven to ten minutes answering each long-answer question on the lines provided. Each question correctly answered given up to four points and partial credit is given. There can be some variation in the answers. The material of reading comprehension test should be closely related to the precise type of practical material conducted by the teacher to develop reading skill, so the test would be helpful to attempt to identify some of the specific skills involving in reading. (Patel and Jai, 2008:130). In relation to this study, the students reading comprehension will be ensured through administering a series of post test in the form of multiple choice test and question and answer test.

33 CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD 3.1 Subject of the study The subjects of the pre present study were the students at class eighth grade students of SMP Negeri 2 Banjarrangkan in academic year 2012/2013. The class had of 25 students that consisted of 14 male and 11 female students. This class was selected because the achievement in reading competency of the students in this class based on the previous test was considered low. The result of percentage students reading competency in pre-test was only 3 students who obtained more than 75 (the passing score used by the school). This means that the students in eighth grade could not achieve the target score yet. 3.2 Research Design This study is aimed at improving the students ability in comprehending passage through PQRST. The researcher employed a classroom action research design. It concernes with the improvement of the students achievement in reading comprehension through the implementation of PQRST technique. In this action research study the teaching and learning process were divided into two cycles where each cycle consisted of two sessions. Each session had four interconnected activities, namely: Planning (P), Action (A), Observation (O), and Reflection (R). In this case, pre test was intended to figure out the students existing reading ability particularly in finding main idea, specific information and textual

34 references of the text while pre test which was administered at the end of each session in meant to reveal the expected increase in the student reading comprehension through PQRST reading technique. The result of initial reflection or pre-test was compared to the corresponding mean score of the reflection which was (R) administered at the end of each session for the sake of establishing the degree of increasing reading comprehension ability of the subject. The result of the reflection (R) or post-test in cycle I were used as value input and a basic to accordingly revise the planning in cycle II. As a result, cycle II which started with revised planning (RP) was anticipated to be much more effective and conductive than cycle I. Kemmis and McTaggart (2010 : 80) state the design of the present study can be formulated as in the following model. To gain clear comprehension about the model above, each step is described in detail Initial Reflection

35 Initial reflection consisted of pre-test. A pre-test was administered in order to know the achievement of subject of the study in comprehending reading text. Finally, the researcher determined the reading material to e tested and how to evaluate the result. The pre-test in initial refection was carried out as the following below. 1. Distributing the test to the student 2. Asking the students to observe the test and ask question about the test that they do not understand. 3. Observing the students while they were working. 4. Collecting the students answer. 5. Evaluating the students work Based n the result of initial reflection, the researcher decided to give treatment in order to improve the students achievement in reading comprehension Planning In order to make this research be successful the researcher has to prepare instructional planning for all the session. Based on what had been explained before, the subject of the present classroom action study is the eighth grade students of SMP N 2 Banjarangkan. In general planning of the present classroom action research includes the following things, such as: 1. Determining the subject of the study, the researcher asked the problem that English teacher gets in teaching reading comprehension to the English teacher at SMP N 2 Banjarangkan.

36 2. Preparing teaching materials which could be appropriately used in teaching reading that faced by the eighth students of SMP N 2 Bajarangkan. 3. Constructing IR in reading comprehension. The IR in reading comprehension for the subject under study was chiefly intended to measure the real pre-existing reading comprehension. 4. Setting up the lesson plan or teaching scenario that was used as teacher planning in conducting the action, constructing reflection or post-test at the end of each session. 5. The last planning was constructing questionnaire to the subject under study. The questionnaire was given to the students by the end of cycle II. The result of the questionnaire was used to know the subject changing learning behaviour and problems in improving reading comprehension through PQRST Technique Action Implementing the previous planned teaching was the main activity in this class action study. On this action refer to what the researcher did in the classroom and how the class managed. This was related to what the researcher had planned in the lesson plans. In relation to improving the comprehension of the eighth grade students, there were the main activities the researcher did, namely : pre-activity, post-activity, and post-activity. 1. Pre activities:

37 The teaching of reading comprehension started with pre-activity. In preactivity, the researcher focuses on the students by giving leading question related to the topic being discussed. The pre-activity was intended to active the subject s preceding knowledge related to the topic of the reading subject. 2. Whilst Activities: In whilst activity, firstly the researcher asking the students to preview/ look at the pictures and thinking about to the topic related to the picture. Asking the student to make some question related to the topic, giving the students the opportunity to read the whole text, and while reading it, they should find the answer of questions they made before, guiding the students to summarize the text. Asking the students to test themselves about text they read by reviewing all the material and storing it into their long-term memory. 3. Post- Activities: The end of the session of the teaching and learning process the researcher was gave the post-activity. In post-activity the researcher administered reflection or post-activity. Reflection itself was actually intended to measure the subject s improved ability in reading comprehension through PQRST reading technique. During the post test done in the class, the students were asking the student to do exercise, discussing the text together, asking for the student difficulties when study using PQRST.

38 3.2.4 Observation In this classroom action research, classroom activities had to observed while doing in order to know the effectiveness of teaching and learning process, whether or not the technique could improve the students achievement. The steps conducted in this phase are explained as follow: 1. Determining any positive chance in the students behaviour, motivation, attitude and activity in teaching learning process reached the target or not. 2. Distributing the test and asking the students to observe the test and question about the things that they did not understand. 3. Asking the student to work on the test During the action research was conducted, the researcher had to monitor the students activity as well as their behaviour and then noted it down into a book which is called teacher s diary. It was done by the researcher, because it was useful to find the information about the effect of treatment given during teaching reading through PQRST reading technique Reflection After doing the tree step in this action researcher, the next step was giving reflection. Reflection was another important thing to find the result which be compared with the result of the observation. As explained before, this action research consists of two cycles and each cycle consists of two sessions. So, the researcher could take decision whether the action research would be continued or

39 stopped. The reflection was given at the end each session which was planned 20 minutes Points of Revision In revised planning, the activities were set in order to get a better result than the previous one. After the researcher identify the problems in previous action, the researcher tried to find out the solution that can be applied in the next cycle, the step are: 1. Setting up the lesson plan, this was used as teacher s planning in conducting the action. There two post-tests were used as instruments. 2. Administering the post-test was similar to the one that had been conducted in Cycle I. Points of reflection are the step when the effect of the action is diagnosed. In this phrase, the researcher analyzed the result of the observation and find out the improvement in students achievement after the actions. The cycle and the process of giving treatment should be stopped if the result of the tests showed significant improvement on students achievement comprehension. 3.3 Research Instrument The research instruments were needed to collect the data for the present study. The researcher believes that without instruments, it is impossible for the researcher to collect the data. In collecting the data, there were several instrument had been used, such as Teaching Learning Scenario, Test, Questionnaire Teaching Learning Scenario

40 Teaching learning scenario was prepared by the researcher. It was a guide line about what the research did in the classroom and it was conducted on every step of teaching plan. Scenario involved the activities both of teacher and the students in the classroom that would be conducted, the time allotment, the teacher s approach and the material used in teaching and learning process. Teaching Learning Scenario was used as a plan in conducting the activities in the class room. It concludes pre activities, whilst-activities, and post-activities in the teaching learning activities Test Test is a procedure intended to establish the quality, performance, or reliability of something, especially before it is taken into widespread use. The tests were divided into two, namely pre-test and post-test. The specific explanation of the kinds of test can be described as follows: 1. Pre-test A pre-test is developed in order to know the problem in detail and to examine students achievement in reading comprehension before the treatment was given. It consists of 10 multiple choice tests and 5 essay tests. 2. Post-test The post-test was used to measure the student s achievement and used as a reference for conducting the research. Meanwhile post -test was administrated in cycle I and cycle II. The evaluation was conducted in

41 order to know the result of learning after the implementation of PQRST was carried out. Those tests were in the form of 10 multiple-choice items test and 5 essay test items Questionnaires Questionnaire was given to the students in order to know the response, the progress and the positive chanced of the students in reading comprehension through PQRST reading technique. The questionnaires were written in Indonesia, it was done to avoid the misunderstanding when answered the questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 10 items. The researcher constructed the questionnaire in the form of multiple choices in the form of multiple choices in which consisted of four options (A, B, C, and D) and the basis of rating scale Data Collection In measuring the student s comprehension on reading the researcher used multiple choice tests, essay tests and administered at the end of every meeting. The tests were in the form of comprehension items tests. The process of collecting data was a follow: firstly, the researcher gave pretest to the students in order to know their ability. This test was used as initial reflection to find the problem that faced by students. In addition, at the end of every unit lesson presentation the presentation the researcher concert with improving the student s achievement by PQRST technique. The researcher administered post-test at the end of the each cycle to find out the result of the

42 student s achievement after the action phase. Finally, the researcher gave questionnaire to the student s at the end o each session in cycle I and cycle II. 3.5 Data Analysis The obtain data from the test given to the students are analyzed descriptively. The analysis, show the students progress in reading comprehension. The score that are obtained through the test application are used as the data o this study. This analysis involved three stages: 1. Correcting the students answer of the test of each meeting. 2. Computing the data with the following formula: M = n X Note: M = the average score of the students achievement on reading test. x = the sum of the total score n = the number of the students 3. Determining the students achievement in reading comprehension could be significantly improved by using PQRST reading strategy or not. 4. Determining the qualification of the students achievement from the mean score. From the mean score, the researcher could evaluate whether or not PQRST reading technique is effective to improve the students comprehension in reading. CHAPTER IV