Improving the Students’ Reading Comprehension Ability by Using Think-Ahead and Write (TAW) Strategy

Improving the Students’ Reading Comprehension Ability by Using Think-Ahead and Write (TAW) Strategy

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

A.    Background

English is a global language that is used as a commonucation device between nation of different language. English plays an important role in process of communication between them and also English can accelerate science and technological development of a nation. English has four skills namely speaking, writing, listening and reading.  One of them is reading has played an important role in developing English skill. Reading is one ways to get information and it can improve people knowledge. By reading, people are able to know many things happen around them even they do not have to see it directly and through reading people can speak and write. Reading can make people become wide minded. Harvey  (1990 : 2) argues that purpose of reading in language is to inform ourselves about something we are interested in, or challenge on certain matters. In other words, to extend experience of the world in which we live.That is the reason why reading becomes a very important thing in learning. Beside that, in formal education, reading is also one way

that people should do to fulfill their education.

The research found many problems that is faced by the students especially in reading comprehension. They are difficult to understand the passage otherwise if they face serious topics such as politics, economics, etc . Here, teachers play an important role to help them understand reading passage.

However, comprehending reading or getting answers from the questions in people’s mind is not as easy as people think especially if it is related with English. Some people prefer reading novel, megazine, short story, etc to academic books for pleasure. Whatever they read, it gives them some information about something or certain things, get answers from the questions in their mind if they understand or comprehend what they are reading.

In formal education, students asked to read academic books. Besides hearing explanation from their teachers, sometimes they have to understand their lessons by reading it directly. However, reading academic books sometimes make students bored especially in English lessons. Most of students in South Sulawesi find difficulties in comprehending a paragraph for example to identify the main idea of the paragraph that they have read (Asrawati)..

The main goal in teaching and learning English reading process is to comprehend the reading material, but the fact shows that the majority of the students are not competen English well, as (Halim, 1988 : 2) states that most students encounter the problem in comprehending an English text. They are at frustation level althought they have been learning English for years.

One of the ways to help students understand English passages is finding good strategies in reading. Teachers can give students strategies or guidelines to understand different types of texts, such as newspapers, fiction books, or academic books. Strategies can help them comprehend texts. Whatever that strategies, the most successful strategies have to make  students as readers continually set expectations for what they are about to read, they give them a way to keep checking themselves to see if they understand what they are reading, and they have them reorganize  information in a way that makes sense to them.

Think-Ahead and Write (TAW)  is a strategy to help students comprehend  texts. This strategy consist of some parts that help students develop their thinking ability. They will be taught to ask questions, create mental image and relate what they are reading. This strategy also make them think critically in reading passages with combining some parts in this strategy. Think-ahead and write (TAW) strategy is a way to make readers understand or comprehend what they are reading. This strategy combine some ways to comprehend text. Think-ahead and write (TAW) strategy consists of asking question and creating mental images or writing down readers’ understanding. This strategy have advantages to students, that is to make readers or students easy comprehend in reading passages and think about what they are reading. Because teaching students to think about what they are reading is an important way for them to use their skills to comprehend science, history, social studies, math, and many other subjects they will study throughout their education.

       Furthermore, Himes (2007) stated that students have to comprehend what they are reading because comprehension is the reason for reading. It is actually the main goal of learning to read. If readers can read the words but do not understand what they are reading, they are not really reading.

Relating to the case above, the researcher will conduct a research in SMA Negeri 2 Takalar to the second grade students entitle  “ Improving the Students’ Reading Comprehension Ability by Using Think-Ahead and Write (TAW) Strategy

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IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING SKILL THROUGH GUIDED READING METHOD

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING SKILL THROUGH GUIDED READING METHOD

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A.    Background

Nowadays, English language is very important to our lives. This language is use world- widely in sciences, knowledge and technology, as well as education business, and other activities in the world. In the past, the Indonesia students start learning English at junior High Scholl (SMP) as a compulsory subject. The process continues to Senior High Scholl (SMA). In fact, English is also taught in some elementary schools as the local content lesson and even in some kindergartens.

In learning language English there are four skills that should be master in learning; they are listening,

speaking, reading, and writing.Those are very important for English learners. Reading skill is one of the main points to master English because a lot of students have opinion that reading an important target, with reading they can get information and entertainment beside for their career and study target. So that’s why I will focus on reading skill in my research. As support for students in improving reading skill, student have to be give knowledge about component of language, such as knowledge about vocabulary, structure, pronunciation; sound for help their skill language. The other it curriculum and system education also will assist teachers in improving education by significant especially learning English language.

In improving reading skill of students’, teachers have to use good strategy, precise method, and resource of study, media on learning, assessment process and evaluation. To know about it, hence previously researcher have to do observation, and after researcher doing observation in SMP Negeri 3 Sungguminasa Class VIII hence obtained result on learning English Language that is student not focus when learning process, lees understand about information on material, students are behaving passive when learning process, students almost boring on class, and students shy to reading because they weren’t confidence with their selves, while problem faced by teacher is how to make students focus during the learning and teaching process.

According to result of the first observations above, researcher decided to choose Guided Reading method because Guided Reading assessment can assist students and teacher on learning process. And Guided Reading also can make students become active and independent learned because guided reading method applied to make students pleased.

In this case pleasing meaningless make the class room condition become boring, hilarious, or make the students play in the class during learning process but pleasing in here have mean as a procedure makes gladness joy with planning. This procedure will make enthusiasm of student so they have spirit to involve problem during the learning process.  The other it based of writer Guided Reading has many excellences for Students and teacher in learning and ???????????????????????????????????

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THE USE OF GAME (CIRCLE GAMES) IN TEACHING VOCABULARY TO THE THIRD GRADE OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

THE USE OF GAME (CIRCLE GAMES) IN TEACHING VOCABULARY TO THE THIRD GRADE OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A.       Background

              The increasing need caused by developing era is demanded in the global society to enhance their human resources quality in order to compete to the other countries. In responding this situation, the role of communication had become a part that could not be separated from this condition. As English had become very powerful language in the world, it became one of international languages; most global community used English as a media of communication with another. Mohammad Reza Talebinezhad & Mohammad Aliakbari (2007) said that English as an International Language referred to the use of English by people of different nations in order to communicate with one another.

              As the important of English in communication, it is not something difficult to see that the language are frequently used either to formal or informal places such as foreign companies, embassy office, tourism

sector and many other places. Different from Singapore, Bangkok, Malaysia and India, they put English as their second language as their language communication while Indonesia put English as its foreign language. It is used as an instrument of utilizing modern sciences and technology for national development and it is also used as a mean of communication when Indonesian wanted to communicate to people from overseas. No doubt that only few Indonesians mastered of it, most of them tended to ignore it, they used to think that foreign language not something useful for their daily life and learned of it.

              However, nowadays, the assumption is gradually scraped off by the developing era that demanded the society to be more competitive and to be able to enhance their human resources quality. Therefore, the role of English are needed to face the era of globalization, where it would be many new things happened in our nation. Since English recently are treated as foreign and important language for Indonesian, it had a major portion in Indonesian educational system and became a compulsory subject to study either in junior or senior high schools in today’s Indonesian educational system. Ricardo Schutz (2007) said that English in its role as a global language that it had become one of the most important academic and professional tools. The English language is recognized as undoubtedly the most important language for the increasingly mobile international community to learn. This is a fact that seemed to be irreversible. English had become the official language of the business and scientific worlds.

              The massive trend of learning English are not without a reason. The development of the country’s economy, science and technology that tended to be influenced by many English speaking countries had put people who understood English in more advantageous position, especially in job finding. Many Indonesian people started to believe that English would help them so much in finding a job than those who did not.

             

              As the most important foreign language in Indonesia, English became one of the compulsory subjects taught in junior high school, senior high school and some semesters at university. The government always made effort to improve the quality of English teaching. By improving the teachers’ quality and other components involved in educational process, the English teaching in Indonesia improved time to time. In line with the government’s plan to have nine compulsory studies, it is possible to teach English in the third grade of senior high school. By applying the foreign language to early level (the third grade of senior high school students), the students’ language mastery are expected to be satisfactory although it is only in simple English.

              In teaching a language, a teacher might realize that he could not apply only one or two strategies to all levels. In reverse, he is required to be able to recognize the characters of his students and to select an appropriate strategy to them. It is not something different from teaching English to the third grade of senior high school students, the teacher is supposed to know that children are so closed with something fun and enjoyable. So whenever he taught, he had to be selective in choosing a strategy to introduce a learning material. A good teaching strategy would automatically facilitate him to get students’ interest in learning process.

              To improve the English educational system, the government had been seeking to a system which is really in line with the students’ need. In this case the teaching process could be started from earliest step, by using simple things without trying to introduce language components explicitly before they are really ready.

              After all of the material of the pre-level are clearly taught and understood. The language components could be little by little involved in their study as a continuity of their learning, such as phonology, spelling, structure and vocabulary.

              One of the most important language components are vocabulary. The mastery of it would be very helpful when one is learning foreign language a great mastery on it; it would also facilitate him to comprehend the subject learn in which it is in English. Research concluded that the quality of one’s language skill depended on the quality and the quantity of vocabulary mastered, the more he mastered the vocabulary the better he used the language skill. This study would present a vocabulary teaching strategy to the third grade of senior high school students. In which it is going to be very pleasant and interesting for young learners. The teaching strategy are about “The Use of Game (Circle Games) in Teaching Vocabulary to The third grade of senior high school Students” conducted within a set of rules in the objectives.

              By providing game as a media in teaching vocabulary to the third grade of senior high school students, Research hoped that it would make them felt something pleasant and felt it different from what they used to get in the class. The use of game would stimulate them to be more active and it is really matched with the students’ world where pre-level students liked to study through movement. By the activity, they are given an opportunity to express their mind, emotion, feeling and attitudes when they are involved in it. Reviewed at the explanation above, research assumed that the use of game.

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THE USE OF WORD SQUARE TO IMPROVE THE STUDENTS READING COMPREHENSION IN NARRATIVE MATERIALS

THE USE OF WORD SQUARE TO IMPROVE THE STUDENTS READING COMPREHENSION IN NARRATIVE MATERIALS

A.    BACKROUND OF THE STUDY

English is an important means of communication, which is used by many countries in this world. It plays  an important role in the process of  modernization as an International  language. This is why the Indonesian government chooses English as the first foreign language to be taught in schools (Ramelan, 1992:3). By putting it  as one of the subjects in the curriculum, hopefully, students will have an ability to use English, and when they have mastered it, the way for them to get in touch with the International community is wide open.

Recently from kindergarten to Senior High School (SMA), students learn English in formal and non-formal ways. They realize how important English is in this life, so they intend to master it such a way

that they can use that language to communicate with other people. Based on curriculum of 2004, the scope of teaching English at Junior High Schools includes four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In this paper, the writer will perform reading  by looking at the consideration that success in reading will be  very important to students both for academic and vocational advancement.

Although English has been taught for a long time, the result is still considered unsatisfactory especially in reading comprehension. It is because the Indonesian students spend little time to read and discuss books. They think that they can get the knowledge more easily obtained from non-book sources than from books. However, reading helps students in their study. In other words, their study depends much on how well they read.

Practically, it is not easy for students to read materials in foreign language than in their native language. They have to face new vocabularies and structures that are different with  that they have in their own language. They sometimes also have to face long, difficult, boring, and uninteresting passages both in the textbooks and in the test papers. Those things can make the students frustrated and lose their motivation to learn English. The reason for reading will finally simply become learning to read instead of reading to learn.

From this situation, the teacher should not remain passive or give up all efforts to make improvements. According to Grabe (Simanjuntak, 1988:36), the role of the teacher is to facilitate reading, raise consciousness, build confidence, ensure continuity and system, show involvement, and demand performance. It means they should try to get students to read and to develop skills aimed at improving their ability to read. He should be able to be a good facilitator in creating and building an effective reading class. One beginning step for him to do is by providing understandable and interesting reading materials. An understandable text will prevent students from translating it word by word, and it will lead them to have a contextual understanding of a whole text, or at least on sentence by sentence.

According to Burns, Roe, and Ross (1984:148), the objective of all reader is comprehension of what they read. Therefore, it is clear that the goal of all reading is the comprehension of meaning. The “word by word” translation that is usually done by students in Indonesia will not bring them to comprehend the text’s content well.   

The role of a teacher is important to help students in determining how much and what subject they should read. The teacher is a person who should create the world of reading in  particular class. He must stimulate students’ interest in reading and support their enthusiasm for books or other reading objects.

To enable the students master the four language skills, English teachers should provide materials that  are appropriate with the curriculum and find suitable methods in teaching and learning process. One of methods suggested in the approaches introduced by the government is by using word square as technique in the classroom.

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