DEVELOPING READING MATERIALS FOR JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS BASED ON CONTENT AREA.

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DEVELOPING READING MATERIALS FOR JUNIOR HIGH

SCHOOL STUDENTS BASED ON CONTENT AREA

A THESIS

Submitted to Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan

By:

ANGGITA KASANRA LUBIS

Registration Number: 2123121002

ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS

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DECLARATION

I have familirized myself with the University’s Policy on Academic integrity.

Except where appropriately acknowledge, this thesis is my own work, has been

expresses in my own words, and has not been previously submitted for

assessment.

I understand that this paper may be screened electronically or otherwise for

plagiarism.

Medan, September 2016

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ABSTRACT

Lubis, Anggita Kasanra. Registration Number: 2123121002. Developing Reading Materials for Junior High School Students Based on Content Area. A Thesis. English Educational Program, State University of Medan, 2016.

Reading is the basic in learning every subject. The more understanding the text, the more information students can gain. However, the reading materials that the students use is not appropriate based on syllabus. Therefore, the reading materials should be developed to fulfil the syllabus and the students' needs also. Because English is included Content Area Reading, so the development of reading materials is based on content area which focus on strengthen the vocabularies, specifically the unfamiliar ones, by giving glossary and related pictures. The developed text is only focus in the first semester which is descriptive and recount text. The research was conducted at SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Medan. The data was taken from interviewing the English teacher and distributing questionnaires for 30 students in grade VIII-4. The data showed that students need materials which is related to their environment and constructed by familiar vocabularies. Based on the result of the study, conclusion and suggestion are directed to the English teacher who is teaching in that school to provide reading materials based on syllabus and students' needs regularly.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent and Merciful.

Praise be Allah, the cherisher and sustainer of the world, that has given his

blessing, sturdiness and patience, so that the writer can finish her thesis as a

partial to fulfil the requirements for the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan. Sholawat

and Salam are given upon our prophet Muhammad SAW who has taken us the

way of truth and brought us the true light of life.

In writing this thesis, she has encountered a lot of difficulties since the

beginning to the final, many people have directly helped and involved her in

finishing this thesis. She would like to acknowledge her deep gratitude for all of

them:

 Prof. Dr. Syawal Gultom, M.Pd as the Rector of State University of Medan.

 Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum as the Dean of Faculty of Languages and Arts.

 Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd as the Head of English and Literature Department and as her examiner the valuable suggestions and critics..  Dra. Meisuri, M. A., the Secretary of English and Literature Department,

Nora Ronita Dewi, S. Pd., S. S., M. Hum., as the Head of English Education study program, and Syamsul Bahri, S. S., M. Hum., the Head of English Literature Study Program Faculty of Language and Art, State University of Medan.

 Prof. Dr. Busmin Gurning, M.Pd and Rafika Dewi Nasution, S.Pd., M.Hum as the respective and amazing advisors for their generous guidance and assistance .

 Dr. Rahmad Husein, M.Ed as the examiners for the valuable suggestion and critics.

 Prof. Amrin Saragih, M.A., Ph.D and Dr. Anni Holila Pulungan, M.Hum as the validators.

 For all Lectures who have given her the priceless and valuable knowledge during her study at the English and Literature Department, Faculty of Language and Arts, State University of Medan.

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 For her parents, who always love, support and pray for her in every situation and condition, Mr. Anhar Limachmuza Lubis and Mrs. Rahima Hayati Ritonga.

 For her siblings, who always give care and motivation to finish her study, Annisa Kasanra Lubis, STP and Affan Muhammad Ihza Lubis.

 For her colorful-mate, who always be her side in her up and down situations, Andika Pratama, Nurul Huda, Sylvia Febyani Taruna, Theresia Manalu, Yeslika Debora Br Bangun.

 For her one-step closer squad, who have given motivation and spirit, Dayu, Geby, Jejen, Irma, Iza, Naya and Rika.

 For her boyfriends, who always support, remind and help her, Mas Arif, Mas Boy, Mas Ido, Bang Momon and Yan Sardo.

 For her unbiological sisters; Kak Amy, Kak Danty, Kak Ai, Kak Isma, Kak Tyas.

 Organizations such as HMJ BSI FBS Unimed and Perpustakaan Terapung for precious experiences, amazing time and opportunity.

 English Regular C 2012 Family as the best class ever in her four-years study at State University of Medan.

 Last but not least, special gratitude be sent to SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Medan as the place that research took place, especially Mr. Fadilah as the headmaster and Mr. Dana Supriyana as the English teacher.

The writer realizes that her thesis is far from being perfect therefore she

warmly receive any comments and suggestions that will improve the quality of

her thesis. She hopes that this thesis will be useful for further research.

Medan, September 2016

The Writer,

Anggita Kasanra Lubis

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LIST OF TABLES

Pages

Table 4.1 ... 38

Table 4.2 ... 38

Table 4.3 ... 38

Table 4.4 ... 38

Table 4.5 ... 38

Table 4.6 ... 39

Table 4.7 ... 39

Table 4.8 ... 48

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LIST OF FIGURES

Pages

Figure 2.1 Bottom-up Approach to Reading ... 8

Figure 2.2 Top-down Approach to Reading ... 8

Figure 2.3 Interactive Approach to Reading ... 9

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LIST OF APPENDICES

Pages

Appendix A ... 56

Appendix B ... 60

Appendix C ... 75

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A.The Background of the Study

English is one of essential subjects should be learnt in school. There are four

skills in learning English; reading, listening, speaking and writing. Reading is a

fundamental skill in learning English for students especially as foreign language.

With strengthened students in reading skill; it will help students in making

progress in the lesson because reading is the basis in learning every subject for

students. In mastering reading skill, the medium that usually used by teacher and

students in learning process is textbook. Cunningsworth (1995:7 as cited in Bahri

2016) emphasizes that textbooks are best seen as a source in achieving aims and

objectives that have already been set in terms of learner needs. Textbook is an

important resource for the teacher in assisting students to learn English. And the

goal of reading is comprehension.

But, reading can be challenging, particularly when the material is unfamiliar,

technical, or complex. That is why for some readers, comprehension is always

challenging. They may understand each word separately, but linking them

together into meaningful ideas often doesn’t happen, as it should.

Reading is an interaction between the writer and the reader. In understanding

the text, readers tend to comprehend the text based on their background

knowledge. As stated by Nunan (2003:67) reading is a fluent process of readers

combining information from a text and their own background knowledge to build

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meaning. In addition, Lems (2009:170) states that reading is an evolving

interaction between the text and the background knowledge of the reader.

Besides combining the background knowledge with what they get from text, a

good reader also has to have strategy in reading. It will help the reader

understanding the text easier. Nunan defines (2007:68) strategic reading is as the

ability o f the reader to use a wide variety of reading strategies to accomplish a

purpose for reading. Based on Content Area Literacy Guide (2007) stated that

learning strategies refer to the specific strategies students learn how to use

independently to understand a new concept or master a skill. One way to think

about learning strategies is to consider what an effective practitioner of a

discipline does to solve a challenging problem.

Moreover, English is included as content area reading. Content area reading is

a text which discusses specific content such as mathematics, science, and social,

that is why each content area has its own language or vocabulary. This is in line

with Moth (1987 in Mustafa Bachrudin’s resume, 1996, p.3-4) who has observed

that content area texts—which are expository, as opposed to narrative, in form–are

characterized by such features as heavy concept load, technical vocabulary,

hierarchical patterns of main ideas and details, and unfamiliar content.

Content area reading materials present students both with new and often

difficult words, as well as with familiar words that may be used in new ways. If a

student does not know the meanings of a sufficient proportion of the words in

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words, which can make comprehension impossible (Texas Education Agency,

2002:7).

The statements above are supported by numerous researches that shows the

ability of Indonesian students in reading English texts was very low (Syatriana,

2010:28 in Handayani, 2013). Furthermore, an observation conducted by the

writer during her teaching practicum in a junior high school showed that the

students' capability in comprehending English texts was poor. Likewise the

previous researches, based on the preliminary data that is taken from SMP

Muhammadiyah 7 Medan on Friday, 24th June 2016 by interviewing the teacher.

The teacher says that, "The English textbook is quite good but students still face

hardship when they find difficult words. The students used to ask for teacher's

help or find the meaning from dictionary. The difficulty is also caused by the

specific terminology that appears in the text which is unfamiliar". He adds that

students like to read a text which contains some pictures. The text is from the

English textbook which the grade VIII students of SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Medan

use is Interactive English 2 for Junior High School Grade VIII published by

Yudhistira. The textbook is based School Based Curriculum (Kurikulum Tingkat

Satuan Pendidikan : KTSP) 2006.

The Life of Endangered Animals

Humans have control over much that happens on our planet. The world of animals undisturbed by human contact is quickly shrinking.

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The orang-utan of Indonesia is one species of primate which wildlife groups want to protect. Orang-utans live high in the forest treetops for much of their lives. When companies began widespread logging in the forests where orang-utans live, many orang-utans lost their homes or were killed.

The topic discussed is familiar but the words that construct the text are

unfamiliar and the text structure is unclear as a descriptive text. It can be seen that

the text is constructed by some technical terminology.

In contrast with the standard competence number 5 for reading skill for grade

VIII Junior high school which says” Memahami makna teks tulis fungsional dan

esei pendek sederhana berbentuk descriptive dan recount yang berkaitan dengan

lingkungan sekitar”. It means that the text should be related to the students’

surroundings or familiar.

Considering the facts above, it is needed to develop a good reading text based

on content area by adding some illustrations or glossaries and footnotes to support

the text and in order to help students in understanding English text better.

B.Problem of the Study

Based on the background of the study described above, problem of the study

being identified is as follows:

How should English reading materials be developed for grade VIII students in

Junior High School based on content area?

C.The Objective of the Study

In line with what has been stated in the problem of the study, this study tries to

develop English reading materials for grade VIII students in Junior High School

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D.The Scope of the Study

This research will focus on developing reading materials for grade VIII

students in Junior High School based on content area. The scope of this study is

just for descriptive and recount text in the first semester of Grade VIII in Junior

High School.

E.The Significance of the Study

The finding of this research can be useful theoretically and practically in

providing information about developing reading materials for Junior High School.

Theoretically, this study is expected to add a new horizon towards the reading

materials development. Meanwhile, the practical significances of the study are as

follows:

1. The English teachers and school can keep on developing the reading

materials which can be used as the reference in the learning process.

2. The students will be able to understand the text easier and become familiar

with the new words.

3. Other writers who are interested to conduct further research regarding to

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion

The students of SMP Muhammadiyah 7 Medan needed reading materials

which could support their learning activity and environment. After analyzing the

data from syllabus, lesson plan and textbook, the writer found that the existing

materials were not in line with syllabus and lesson plan which demanded the

materials related to the students' environment. English is included content area

reading which uses technical vocabularies and most of them are odd for the

students. Therefore, the reading materials developed based on content area which

focused on strengthen the vocabularies by giving glossary or related picture.

The English reading materials should be developed through 6 phases, they

were; 1) Gathering information and data, 2) Analyzing data, 3) Designing

materials, 4) Validating new materials by experts, 5) Revising materials based on

experts’ suggestion, 6) Revised-developing reading materials (final product).

These developed materials are based on their English proficiency which is for

Junior High School students in grade VIII.

B. Suggestion

In relation to the conclusion above, the writer suggested the institution, English

teachers and other researchers.

For the institution, they should find the books which proper to the students’

proficiency. The number of references of English reading materials had to be

increased to ease the students learning English. Institution also should consider

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the syllabus when choosing textbook for school. Institution should choose

textbook which agree with the syllabus from government.

For teacher, he or she should regularly analyze the students' needs and

proficiency to choose the most appropriate and best materials for students. The

learning process can be successful if the reading materials were useful for the

students' daily life and learning environment. And appropriate materials can

motivate students to gain their achievements.

Last is for other researcher, those should find many references to support in

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REFERENCES

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Armbruster, BB. 1988. Why Some Children Have Trouble Reading Content Area Textbooks (technical report).Champaign, Illinois: The Office of Educational Research and Improvement under Cooperative AgreementNo. OEG 0087-C1001.

Bahri, S. 2016. Cultural Schemata And The Effectiveness Of Reading Materials In Junior High School English Text Books: A Experimental Study At Junior High School 3 Kopang Vol. 1 No. 1. The Indonesian Journal of language and language teaching. Mataram.

Borg and Gall. 1983. Educational Research: An Introduction. Pearson Education: USA.

Charubusp, S and A. Chinwonno. 2014. Developing Academic and Content Area Literacy: The Thai EFL Context Volume 14, Number 2. Thailand: The Reading Matrix.

Chiodi, Amy, "Using Literacy Strategies to Promote Content Area Literacy in Mathematics" (2006).Mathematical and Computing Sciences Masters. Paper 118. St. John Fisher College Fisher Digital Publications. http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/mathcs_etd_masters.

Emzir. 2014. Metodologi Penelitian Pendidikan. Jakarta : Raja Grafindo Persada.

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Lapp, D and et. al. 2004.Content Area Reading and Learning Instructional Strategies. New Jersey, America: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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Robinson, SL. 1978. Content Area Textbooks–Waste Not. . . Volume 19, Issue 1, Article 3. Duke University: The Berkeley Electronic Press.

Saragih, W and Bachtiar (ed.). 2012. Course Materials For Reading I (Module for English Education Students of Language and Arts Faculty in State University of Medan). Medan.

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Smith, WP. (2016). What is Content Area Reading? (online article). Reading Instruction Resources http://www.k12reader.com/what-is-content-area-reading/.

Tankersley, K. 2003. Threads of Reading: Strategies for Literacy Development. United State of America: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Texas Education Agency (Texas Reading Initiative) (ed.). 2002. Research-Based Content Area Reading Instruction. From Texas Education Agency Web site: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/reading/products.html.

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Ulusoy, M., and Dedeoglu, H. 2011. Content Area Reading and Writing: Practices and Beliefs. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 36(4). From: http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2011v36n4.1. This Journal Article is posted at Research Online. http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol36/iss4/1.

DEVELOPING READING MATERIALS FOR JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS BASED ON CONTENT AREA.