IMPROVING STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN GETTING MAIN IDEA USING
SKIMMING TECHNIQUE
(A Classroom Action Research in the Second Year of MA Pembangunan UIN Jakarta year 2010/2011)
By:
HENDRA
106014000383
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS TRAINING
SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
JAKARTA
IMPROVING STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN GETTING MAIN IDEA USING
SKIMMING TECHNIQUE
(A Classroom Action Research in the Second Year of MA Pembangunan UIN Jakarta)
A “Skripsi”
Presented to the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher’s Training
in a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of S.Pd. (Bachelor of Art) in English Language Education
By:
HENDRA
106014000383
Approved by the Advisor
Nida Husna, M.A. TESOL
NIP. 19720705 200312 2 002
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TARBIYAH AND TEACHERS TRAINING
SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
Hendra.
106014000383. Improving Students’ Ability in Getting Main Idea Using
Skimming Technique
(A Classroom Action Research in the Second Year of MA Pembangunan UIN Jakarta year 2010/2011). Skripsi, Department of English
Education Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teachers Training “Syarif Hidayatullah” State
Islamic University Jakarta. Advisor: Nida Husna, MA.TESOL.
Key Words: Reading, Main Idea, Skimming Technique
The aim of the study is to improve the students’ ability of XI social class
at MA Pembangunan UIN Jakarta year 2010/2011 in getting main idea using
skimming technique.
In conducting this study, the writer uses Classroom Action Research (CAR). The
instruments used in this research are the pretest and posttest, observation sheets,
and interview.
ABSTRAK
Hendra.
106014000383. Improving Students’ Ability in Getting Main Idea Using
Skimming Technique
(A Classroom Action Research in the Second Year of MA Pembangunan UIN Jakarta year 2010/2011). Skripsi, Jurusan Pendidikan Bahasa
Inggris, Fakultas Tarbiyah dan Keguruan,
Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif
Hidayatullah Jakarta. Pembimbing: Nida Husna, MA.TESOL.
Kata Kunci: Membaca, Ide Utama, Teknik Skimming
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk meningkatkan kemampuan siswa
kelas 11 sosial, MA Pembangunan UIN Jakarta.
Dalam melaksanakan penelitian ini, penulis menggunakan desain Penelitian
Tindakan Kelas (PTK). Instrumen yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah,
pretest dan posttest, lembar observasi, dan wawancara.
Hasil tes yang dilakukan pada siklus 1 menunjukkan bahwa hanya 17 siswa
(53.12%) yang dapat melewati Kriteria Kelulusan Minimal (KKM). Hasi ini
belum dapat memenuhi kriteria yang ditentukan sebelumnya, jadi penelitian
dilanjutkan ke siklus 2. Pada siklus 2, hasil tes yang dilaksanakan menunjukan
bahwa 27 siswa (87.56%) lulus Kriteria Kelulusan Minimal (KKM). Hasil ini
telah dapat mencapai target PTK yang ditetapkan – lebih dari 75% dari siswa
dapat lulus KKM. Berdasarkan hasil tersebut, penelitian dianggap telah dapat
memenuhi kriteria yang ditetapkan, penulis menyimpulkan bahwa teknik
skimming dapat meningkatkan kemampuan siswa kelas 11 sosial MA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Praised be to Allah, Lord of the world, who has given the writer His love
and compassion to finish the last assignment in his study. Peace and salutation be
upon to the prophet Muhammad SAW, his family, his companion, and his
adherence.
This skripsi would not have been possible without the guidance and the
help of several individuals who in one way or another contributed and extended
their valuable assistance in the preparation and completion of this study.
First and foremost, the writer’s utmost gratitude to his advisor, Nida
Husna, M.A. TESOL, whose sincerity, encouragement, scholarly suggestions and
critical remarks have enabled the writer to refine this skripsi.
The writer’s sincere gratitude also goes to:
1. Drs. Syauki, M. Pd., the Head of English Education Department
Neneng Sunengsih M.Pd., the Secretary of English education Department.
Prof. Dr. Dede Rosyada, M.A., the Dean of the Faculty of Tarbiyah and
Teachers’ Training Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta.
Next, the writer thanks his parents for supporting him throughout all his
studies at University. Lastly, the writer offers his regards and blessings to all of
those who supported him in any respect during the completion of the study.
Jakarta, May 2011
The Writer
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE APPROVAL
LIST OF TABLES vi
LIST OF FIGURES vii
LIST OF APPENDICES viii
CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION A. Background of Study
1
Limitation of the Problem 4
Formulation of the Problem 4
Aim of the Study ……… 4
Method of the Study 4
Organization Writing 5
CHAPTER II : THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK B. Reading
6
1. The Understanding of Reading 6 Reading Comprehension 9
Main Idea 15
B. Skimming Technique 16
CHAPTER III : RESEARCH METHODOLOGY C. Method of Research
22
D. The Subject and the Object of Study 24
1. The Subject of Study 24
The Object of Study 24
E. The Writer’s Role on the Study 24
F. The Time and Place of the Study 25
The Research Design 25
1. Planning Phase
27
Acting Phase 28
Observing Phase 28
Reflecting Phase 28
G. The Technique of Collecting Data 29
The Technique of Data Analysis 30
The Validity of Data 31
The Trustworthiness of Study 32
The Criteria of the Action Success 34
CHAPTER IV : RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION H. Data Description
1. Before Implementing
the Action 35
a. The Preliminary Interview Result 35 The Preliminary Observation Result 37
The Preliminary Test Result 38
2. The Implementation of CAR 40
a. Cycle 1 40
a.1. Planning 40
a.2. Acting 40
a.3. Observing 42
a.4. Reflecting 43
b. Cycle 2
43
b.1. Planning 43
b.2. Acting 44
b.3. Observing 44
46
The Result of Post Observation 47 The Result of Post Test 48
B. The Data Interpretation 50
CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion
52
B. Suggestion 53
BIBLIOGRAPHY 54
LIST OF TABLES
1.
Table 3.1 Schedule of the Study 25Table 3.2 Discriminating Scale33 Table 3.3 Difficulty Item Criteria33
[image:10.595.139.527.79.476.2]LIST OF FIGURES
I. Figure 3.1 Kurt Lewin’s Action Research Design26
[image:11.595.125.527.77.472.2]LIST OF APPENDICES
1. Appendix 1 Pretest 56
2. Appendix 2 Pretest Result 60
3. Appendix 3 Posttest 1 61
4. Appendix 4 Posttest 2 69
5. Appendix 5 Posttest 1 and Posttest 2 Result 77
6. Appendix 6 Lesson Plan 78
7. Appendix 7 The Guideline of Teacher’s Observation 82 8. Appendix 8 Observational Notes for Need Analysis 83 9. Appendix 9 Item Test Distribution 85
10. Appendix 10 Item Analysis of English Test 88 11. Appendix 11 Interview Guidelines
93
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of The
study
English, as other languages, has main function as a tool of communication. To be
able to communicate using it both actively and passively, a native speaker and a
competent language user, at least, have to possess its four basic skills, i.e.: listening,
speaking, reading, and writing
1
. Listening and speaking, for example, are usually used inverbal communication, while reading and writing are used in written communication.
These four skills are also usually divided into two categories: productive and receptive
skill. Speaking and writing are considered as productive skills, because they involve
language production. On the other hand, listening and reading are considered as receptive
skill because they involve receiving message
2
.Although regarded as receptive skill, the reading process is not that simple. It employs relatively mechanical skills. Nuttall stated that reading is not like opening reader’s mind and let the meaning pour in, instead, the reader is actively involved and often has to work to get the meaning out.
3
In other word, the meaning of the text does not come to the reader mind automatically. Rather, the meaning of the text is gotten through a complex1 Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching, (New York: Longman, 1989), p.16.
2 Ibid. p.16.
process in the reader mind. That assumption is in line with Willis who stated that reading comprehension involves several essential and interrelated phases: information intake - focusing and attending to the pertinent environmental stimuli, fluency and vocabulary associating the words on the page with stored knowledge to bring meaning to the text, �
patterning and networking recognizing familiar patterns and encoding new information� by linking it with prior knowledge.
4
Based on Standar Kompetensi (SK) and Kompetensi Dasar (KD), reading is one of four skills that have to be taught from Elementary School (SD) to Senior High School (SMA). Meanwhile, based on Standar Kompetensi Lulusan (SKL), reading is also one of two skills – reading and writing - required to graduate from Junior High School
(SMP/MTS/SMPLB), and also one of two skills – reading and listening – required to graduate from Senior High School (SMA/SMK/MA/SMALB). So, it means that to be able to graduate from junior and senior high school level, students should be able to pass the minimum standard of reading written in SKL.
Furthermore, the objective of reading in the second grade of Senior High School is to be able to comprehend short functional texts as narrative, descriptive, news item, spoof and hortatory exposition. This objective requires students to master such an effective skill which can help them get the gist of the text. Because of this reason, the writer chose skimming technique to improve the students’ reading ability in getting main idea. Many of the students often regard reading as a quite easy skill. Some of them think that, to be able to comprehend the text well and effectively, they only need to know every single word in the text without knowing and mastering any reading technique. In fact, reading is not that simple. Reading is a complex process that requires thinking.
5
Pretest conducted by the writer showed that the students of XI Social class of Madrasah Aliyah Pembangunan UIN Jakarta seemed to have difficulties in the reading
comprehension skills – especially in getting main idea. From the all questions given, 21 students (or 65% of total students) are still considered as poor in getting main idea, 7 students (21% of total students) belong to Average to Good group, and only 4 students (or 4% of total students) belong to Good to Excellent Group.
to overcome the problem, the writer decided to do a classroom action research using skimming technique. Because, Nuttal mentioned that by skimming, we mean glancing rapidly through a text to determine its gist”
6
. This ability to get main idea quickly will be very useful for students in facing several formal tests, such as mid and final term tests, and UN test.4 Judy Willy, Teaching the Brain to Read, (New York: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2008), p. 11.
5 Dorothy Rubin , A Practical Approach to Teaching Reading, (New York: CBS, 1982), p. 17.
B. Limitation of
The Problem
The writer limits the discussion on improving students’ ability in getting main
idea using skimming technique of the second year students of MA Pembangunan UIN
Jakarta academic year 2010/2011.
1.A.1.A.C.
Formulation of
The Problem
To make the study easy to understand, the writer formulates the problem as
follows: “Can skimming technique improve students’ ability in getting main idea?” “How
does skimming technique improve students’ ability in getting main idea?”
1.A.1.B.D. Aim of
the Study
Based on the formulation above, this study is intended to improve the XI Social
Class year of MA Pembangunan UIN Jakarta students’ reading ability in getting main
idea using skimming technique.
1.A.1.C.E. Method of
the Study
This paper is written based on Classroom Action Research (CAR) and library
study. The writer took MA Pembangunan UIN Jakarta as a place for study. He tested the
students to know their problems in reading comprehension and conducted CAR to solve the problem.
1.A.1.D.F.
Organization of
Writing
To give more explanations of this paper, the writer divides it into five chapters.
Chapter I is introduction. In this chapter, the writer describes the background of study, the limitation, the formulation of the problem, the objective of the study, the method of the study and the organization of writing.
Chapter II is theoretical framework that consists of the definition of main idea,
key ideas, main ideas in paragraphs, and the definition of skimming.
Chapter III is research methodology which consist of the method of research, subject, and object of the study, time and place, research design, the Classroom Action Research (CAR) procedures technique of collecting data, technique of the data analysis, data validity, the trustworthiness of study and criteria of the action success.
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This chapter reviews the literatures to this study by focusing on two main
domains. First, it focuses on reading. Second, it focuses on skimming. Review of the
literature in each of these domains is presented below.
A. Reading
1. The Understanding of Reading
There are a lot of definitions about reading given by linguists, but most of them
agree that reading is one of four basic languages that relatively needs complex process.
According to Nuttall stated that reading is not like opening reader’s mind and let the
meaning pour in, instead, the reader is actively involved and often has to work to get the
meaning out.
7
Here, he emphasizes that the meaning of a text does not come toreaders�mind by itself; instead, the readers should employ its meaning actively.
Another definition about the complexity of reading process is given by Burnes and Page. They define reading as an interactive process in which the readers engage an exchange of ideas with an author via text
8
. In other words, readers understanding of the text is a� kind of exchange ideas with the author. It is the process of expression and reception of meaning as the primary goal of both parties. Other definition given by Nuttal, he defines reading as a meaningful interpretation of printed or written verbal symbols.9
It means that reading is a result of interaction between the perception of graphic symbols that7 Ibid., pp. 5-10
represent language and the reader
痴
language skills, cognitive skills, and the background knowledge of the world. By these two definitions, we can see that, in the reading process, the reader tries to get meanings intended by writer.Latham as quoted by Burnes and Pagethat reading is the art of reconstructing from the printed page the writer’s idea, feelings, moods and sensory impressions.
10
It means that the reader will try to construct the writer痴
idea, feelings and imagine the visual images during reading the text in understanding the meaning of the text.Meanwhile, in the field of language teaching, reading has also been interpreted in several ways. The differences of how reading is interpreted are reflected in the following group of words: “1) decode, decipher, identify, etc.; 2) articulate, speak, pronounce, etc.; 3) understand, respond, meaning, etc.”
11
Teachers who agree with group one (decode, decipher, identify) usually put their special emphasis on teaching the first thing of all about reading to their early reading level students. The key task for teachers here is to help learners to recognize the written words. Words in group two (articulate, speak, pronounce) are another idea used by the teachers whose students are early readers as well; they are already able to recognize printed, but they still get difficulty in sounding them. Accordingly, the teaching activity is concerned on reading aloud. Those whose ideas belong to what is stated in group three (understand, respond, meaning, etc.) would see reading as the purposes of understanding. To them, reading activity would not mean anything if the students could tell nothing about the text they read. Therefore, their fundamental goal in teaching reading is to make students comprehend what is being read. In this study, the meaning of reading refers to the aforesaid ideas in the group three which has the point of similarity with what is stated by Elizabeth B. Bernhardt: “1) to receive or to take in the sense of (as letters or symbols) by scanning; 2) to understand the meaning of (written or printed matter); 3) to attribute a meaning or interpretation to (something read)”12
. It is what we commonly call as reading comprehension.Gibbonsstates that reading is the process of getting meaning from print.
13
It means that reading is an activity to get information from written text. In this activity, there is interaction between the author and the writer because the writer delivers her/his idea to the readers through the texts. The reader can also improve their understanding through reading activity. In this case, reading is very useful activity that should be done as a habit for everybody because reading will enlarge their knowledge about something.In conclusion, reading is an interactive and a thinking process of transferring printed letters into meaning in order to communicate certain message between the writer and the
9 Nuttal, Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language, p.14.
10 Burnes and Glenda, Insight and Strategies for Teaching Reading, p.25. 11 Nuttal, Teaching reading Skills in a Foreign Language, p.2.
12 Elizabeth B. Bernhardt, Reading Development in a Second Language: Theoretical, Empirical, and Classroom Perspectives, (New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1991), p.5
reader. In reading actively, a reader brings her or his background knowledge, emotion, and experience to construct his or her idea in understanding the meaning of the text.
2. Reading Comprehension
The major goal of reading for high school students is comprehension
14
. Burnesand Page also point out that to understand or remember what is read, the child must be
able to relate new information to the previous knowledge.
15
It means that the knowledgethat was had by the readers influence the ability of the readers in comprehending what
they read. The readers have to be able to use their prior knowledge in order to help them
to comprehend the texts that they read. If they do not have background knowledge or
information about the materials that they read, they will face some difficulties in understanding the texts or they have to work hard to understand it. It is also as Gibbons
states that readers bring their own background knowledge of the
素
ield� or topic, andtheir understanding of language system itself.
16
On the other words, the prior knowledgehad by the readers is an important tool that can help the readers in comprehending the
reading materials. It will guide them to have better understanding about something, so
that reading activity can improve their knowledge because it can give many advantages.
The more people read, the more they will get.
It is stated by Burnes and Page that comprehension is the process where background knowledge or the world knowledge of the reader interacts with the message encoded in the text to generate an understanding of an author’s message.
17
Then, Ahuja and Ahuja states that comprehension is the product of reconstructing the facts within the nervous system of the reader.18
These two theories support the using of background knowledge in reading comprehension process.Another argument about reading comprehension is given by Devine. He argues that reading comprehension is a process of activating the prior knowledge of the reader which cooperates with his appropriate cognitive skills and reasoning ability to find out the concept from a printed text.
19
In these words, the reader must be able to understand, to14 PERMENDIKNAS No. 22 tahun 2006 dan PERMENDIKNAS No. 23 tahun 2006. 15 Burnes and Page, Insight and Strategies for Teaching Reading, p.66.
16 Gibbons, Learning to Learn in a Second Language, p.52.
17 Burnes and Page, Insight and Strategies for Teaching Reading, p.46.
18 Pramila Ahuja, and G.C Ahuja, How to Increase Reading Speed, Procedures and Practices. (New Delhi: Sterling Publisher Pvt. Ltd. 4th Edition, 2001), p.10.
interpret and to select actual information from text. It means that the reader will reconstruct her or his background knowledge in understanding the text.
Burnes and Pagestate that reading comprehends written discourse. The readers also need to understand about the materials that they read because it is one of the purposes of reading activity.
20
In other word, the readers have to be able to comprehend the written discourse that they read. If they can understand the text, it means that they cancomprehend the text.
In addition, Diptodadistates that comprehension can be defined as an active integrative process in which readers try to relate what they read with what they already know about the topic.
21
This definition means that the information from the text becomes integrated with the readers comprehension process. There is also relationship between the�knowledge that students have and their ability in comprehending the text. The readers can use their prior knowledge to guess about the materials that they will read, so it will give contribution to the readers achievement in reading. At least, it can give general�
description about something on the texts or reading materials.
The best known description of the traditional levels of comprehension is probably the taxonomy of reading comprehension proposed Barrett as quoted by Burnes and Page:
a.
LiteralLiteral comprehension requires the recognition or recall of ideas, information and happenings that are explicitly stated in the materials read.
b.
InferenceInferential comprehension in demonstrated by students when they use a synthesis of the literal content of a selection, their personal knowledge, intuition and imagination as a basis for conjectures or hypotheses.
c.
EvaluationEvaluation is demonstrated by students when they make judgments about the content of a reading selection by comparing it with external criteria, for example, information provided by the teacher on the subject, authorities on the subject or by accredited written sources on the subject; or with internal criteria, for example, the reader’s experiences, knowledge, or values related to the subject under consideration.
d.
Appreciation20 Burnes and Page, Insight and Strategies for Teaching Reading, (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanich Group. Pty Limited, 1991), p.45.
Appreciation has to do with students’ awareness of the literary techniques, forms, styles and structures employed by authors to stimulate emotional responses in their readers.
22
In comprehending the texts, the readers need to prepare themselves by knowing
some skills that they can apply while they are reading so that the goal of reading can be
achieved. Mc Neil D. John, et. al explains about some specific comprehension skills that
can help the reader in reading activity, they are: understanding sequence, interpreting
sentence, interpreting meaning through punctuation, recognizing main idea in the
paragraph, drawing logical conclusion and obtaining meaning of words through text.
23
Understanding the sequence will help the reader to understand the text easier because there are many advantages that they can get by understanding it. One of them is to help them determine which events come first or last, so that they can understand the text well. Next is interpreting sentence structure. The sentence structure will give the reader clear view of what the text is like. It also helps the reader to get the idea of the text and also the details of it. Third, punctuation in a text has crucial roles because it can influence the meaning of the sentence.
Then, the main idea is the most important statement about the topic, so that the reader should recognize it well in order to comprehend the text easier. The readers also need to know how to draw logical conclusion in comprehending reading text. They can draw conclusion from their reading is to sensitize them to words serve as support or signals to the ideas that are to be presented. Finally, the readers should infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word by using context clues. It includes the new word is defined by using the sentence itself, comprehend an unknown word that is linked to a familiar term and understand an unknown word because they know the opposite.
King and Stanleystate that there are five components contained in reading texts, which are appropriate with the senior high school curriculum, i.e.:
2. Finding factual information
Factual information requires readers to scan specific details. The factual information questions are generally prepared for students and those which appear with WH question word. There are many types of questions; reason, purpose, result, time, comparison, etc in which of the answer can be found in the text.
2. Finding main idea
22 Burnes and Page, Insight and Strategies for Teaching Reading, (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanich Group. Pty Limited, 1991), p.53.
Recognition of the main idea of a paragraph is very important because it helps readers not only understand the paragraph on the first reading, but also helps readers to remember the content later. The main idea of a paragraph is what the paragraph develops. An efficient reader understands not only the ideas but also the relative significance as expressed by the writer. An efficient reader understand not only the ideas but also their relative significance, as expressed by the author, in other words, some of the ideas as super ordinate while other subordinate.
3. Finding the meaning of vocabulary in context.
It means that the reader could develop his or her guessing ability to the word which is not familiar with him or her, by relating the close meaning of unfamiliar words to the text and the topic of the text that is read. The words have nearly equivalent meaning when it has it or nearly the same meaning as another word.
4. Identifying references.
In English, as in other language, it would be clumsy and boring to have and repeat the same word or phrase every time you used it. Instead of repeating the same word or phrase several times, after it has been used we can usually refer to it than repeat it. For this purpose, we use reference words. Recognizing reference words and being able to identify the word to which they refer to will help the reader understand the reading passage. Reference words are usually short and very frequently pronoun, such as; it, she, he, they, this, etc.
5. Making inferences
Inference is a skill where the reader has to be able to read between lines. King and Stanley divide into two main attentions, draw logical inferences and make accurate prediction.
24
McNeil also states that to comprehend well, reader must have schematic or
other.
25
It means that the schema theory in reading comprehension suggests that goodreaders have a set of scenarios in their head, so that they can relate the information to a
single concept, idea or symbol.
Actually, the relating information to the schema is the basis for understanding. Reading comprehension as discussed above indicates that it is a complex process by which a reader tries to reconstruct a message encoded in graphic language by a writer. It is an interaction between reader and author. In conclusion, comprehension will occur if the textual information actives expectation about what is in the text and the interactive process will continue until the reader is satisfied with the match between background knowledge. Comprehension of written text is at the very heart of the reading process. Background knowledge of the reader, the reader’s purpose for reading and the text itself all interact to ensure that reading is a meaning getting activity. Based on the School-Based Curriculum, Senior High School students are not only expected to know about the social function and generic structure of the several kinds of texts, but also expected to comprehend the factual information, main idea, meaning of difficult words, reference and inference of the texts.
3. Main Idea
Main idea is slightly different with topic or subject of a passage. According to
Beatrice S. Mikulecky and Linda Jeffries, the main idea of a paragraph is the author’s
idea about the topic. It is always a complete sentence that includes both the topic and the
idea that the author wishes to express about the topic.
26
Therefore, the main idea of apassage is more specific than the topic.
The topic is the subject that the text is about. The main idea can usually be located if you can determine what the topic is. To find the topic of a selection, ask the simple question, “Who or what is the text about?”
27
EXAMPLE:
Lightning is a sudden, violent flash of electricity between a cloud and the ground, or from cloud to cloud. A lightning flash, or bolt, can be several miles long. It is so hot, with an average temperature of 34,000° Centigrade, which the air around it suddenly expands with a loud blast. This is the thunder we hear. Lightning occurs in hot, wet storms. Moist air is driven up to a great height. It forms a type of cloud called cumulonimbus. When the cloud rises high enough, the moisture freezes and ice crystals and snowflakes are formed. These begin to fall, turning to rain on the way down. This rain meets more moist air rising, and it 25 D. John McNeil, et.al., How to Teach Reading Successfully, (Canada: Little, Brown and Company, 1980), p.144.
26 Beatrice S. Mikulecky and Linda Jeffries, More Reading Power (Boston: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1996), p.89.
is the friction between them which produces static electricity. When a cloud is fully charged with this electricity, it discharges it as a lightning flash.
(Source: Achmad Dody, Ahmad Sugeng, Efendi, Developing English Competencies for Senior High School Students XI Science and Social Study Programme, Jakarta, Pusat Perbukuan Depdiknas, 2008.)
TOPIC OF THIS PARAGRAPH: Lightning
If we refer to previous example, we can notice that all information after the first
sentence is about the description of lightning. The first sentence is the most general – it
states definition of lightning. The following sentences are the details about what lighting
is and how it occurs.
Main idea is usually stated in the topic Sentence; statement of the main idea. It is the statement under which all other material in the paragraph – examples, reasons, facts, details and other evidence – can fit.
28
Topic sentences are usually in the first sentence of the paragraph, but not always. They may also be located within the paragraph or at the end of the paragraph. They may even appear twice – at the beginning and at the end.
From the definitions above, we can conclude several important points about main idea. First of all, main idea is not always a topic, but, it mostly specifies the topic. Next, main idea is usually supported, described, or explained by most or all of the sentences in the paragraph. Finally, main idea includes both the topic and the idea that the author wishes to express about the topic.
As it has been discussed previously, finding main ideas is one of comprehension skills that is still poorly mastered by the second grade students in MA Pembangunan UIN Jakarta. To help students solve this problem, the writer together with the teacher used skimming technique as the method.
B. Skimming Technique
Skimming is one of several useful skills to be applied in reading. Nuttal mentions
that by skimming, we mean glancing rapidly through a text to determine its gist, for
example in order to decide whether a book is relevant to our own work, or in order to
keep ourselves superficially informed about matters that are not of great importance to
us
29
. In other words, when a reader skims, he/she is looking for the組
ist or the most�central part of what the author is saying without a lot of details.
From the definitions above, it may be concluded that skimming is one of the
ways in reading that the reader doesn’t have to read all the words in passage. He or she
just needs to go quickly and selectively through a passage, looking for and marking off
important ideas but skipping secondary material. We can then go back later to read more
closely and take notes on important points. Skimming might be helpful when someone
wants to find out quickly about the writer’s idea. It is necessary to know that in
skimming, reading word by word is not important, because only the writer’s point of view
is needed.
Skimming is very useful for the students in getting the general idea of a text. It also helps students to predict the text by reading it quickly. Mikulecky and Jeffries gave some procedures in working on reading skill as follows
30
:1. Previewing Asking questions as we read
Guessing what new words mean
Finding the topic and the main idea. The topic and the main idea let us know what is important. To find the topic and the main idea, ask two questions:
a. What is this about?
b. What does the writer want to say about this? 2. Understanding pattern in English 3. Using signal words
Furthermore, Mikulecky and Jeffries also suggested that there are some
procedures of how to skim for ideas as follows
31
29 Nuttal, Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language,p.182. 30 Mikulecky and Jeffries, More Reading Power, p.2.
1.
Read the first few sentences at our usual speed and ask our self, “What is it about?”Go to the next paragraph as soon as we can. Guess the general idea. Remember that we do not need to know the details. We only want to learn something very general about the chapter or article.
Read only a few words in each paragraph after that we should look for the words that tell us more about the general idea. Often they are at the beginning of the paragraph, but they may also be at the end.
2.
Always work quickly. Remember that details are not important.Then, Beatrice C. Mikulecky and Linda Jeffries stated that a reader skims she/he
has a general question in mind, something you need or want to know about the text, such
as:
1. What is the general meaning? Does this agree with what I already know about this subject?
What is the writer's opinion?
2. Will this information be useful to me?
32
Skimming is also viewed as the ability to process large quantities of materials
very rapidly in order to read for a specific purpose, the location of the main idea.
33
Insome texts, students can glance a notion of the content or even learn the main ideas just
by skimming topic headings and looking at charts and graphs. Skimming would be
helpful when we want to find out quickly about the writer
痴
point of view. We may wantto find out what the writer thinks about something. When we want to know the writer
痴
point of view or how a book or article is organized, we do not need to read a whole text or
we do not need to know the details for this instead of we just need to read only a few
important words.
One of the most important points to keep in mind when teaching reading
comprehension is that there is not one type of reading but several depending on one’s 32 Ibid., p.150.
reasons for reading. Students will never read efficiently unless they can adapt their
reading speed and technique to their aim when reading
34.
Skimming to get an overviewis an important skill for students. They will find that more reading will be assigned and
suggested to them as their level of study increase. By skimming to get the ‘gist’ of the
material, the students are able to cover all of it. However, be certain they do not skim
materials that require careful reading. The same procedure used for preview skimming
could be used to get an overview.
Another method would be to read only key words. To skim by reading key words
the students must convince themselves that they can skip words and still be reading. This is done by omitting the unnecessary words, phases, and sentences. With concentration
and practice the students can learn to select key words and phrases in order to cover the
material rapidly.
To skim effectively, we must be able to apply several of the comprehension skills. We must know how to do the following things:
1.
Find DefinitionsRemember that they are often signaled by special type, especially Italics. Look also for one example that makes a definition clear to us.
2.
Locate EnumerationAnd remember that it does not help to locate a numbered series of items if we do not know what label the series fits under. So be sure to look for a clear heading for each enumeration.
3.
Look for relationship between headings and subheadingsSuch relationships are often the key to basic enumeration. And when it seems appropriate, we will also want to change headings into questions and find the answers to the questions.
4.
Look for emphasis and main ideaIf time permits, look for points marked by emphasis words and for main ideas in what seem to be key paragraphs
35
.It is important to remember that skimming is a skill that requires concentration,
and adequate comprehension skills. Practice is necessary in order to skim and fulfill the 34 Grabe, William, The Transition from Theory to Practice in Teaching Reading: in Teaching Second Language for Academic Purpose, (London: Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1986), p.17.
students’ purposes. So, by learning to skim, the students may develop the skill in
strengthening the comprehension of main ideas.
In skimming skill, there are various activities to practice searching for the main idea, for example:
1. Cut the topic sentence out of a paragraph. Let them write the topic sentence.
Give students a series of captions and picture. Have them correctly match the picture with caption.
Have students give a sentence phrase "title" for a particular passage.
Have students write new titles for stories or article.
2. Have students write titles for book chapter that are only numbered
36
.Christine Nuttall suggests that students can also be asked several
specific questions based on the text to practice skimming, for example:
1.
Supply a text and several tittlesTask: which title fits the text best? (The title must not differ in subtle ways, or careful reading would be needed)
2.
Supply a text and a list of topicsTask: Which topics are dealt with in this text?
3.
Supply a text and several figures (photographs, diagrams, etc.)Task: Which figure(s) illustrate the text?
4.
Supply a dozen or so letters (you might collect suitable items for newspapers or magazines)Task: Categorize the letters in some way, e.g. which letters are complaining about something? Asking for help? Praising? Offering an opinion on an issue?
Note: one category only, initially. Make sure there are several letters in category, several not.
5.
Supply copies of news items from different papers about the same incident.Task: categorize the stories in some way, e.g. which imply that X is guilty? Which include opinion/conjecture? Which explain the background to the events? Note as for 4.
6.
Supply several texts, some dealing with topic X, some not.Task: Which of these texts deals with topic X.
37
To answer the questions, the students can answer by glancing quickly over the
surface of a text, reading selected important parts rapidly in order to get an overview of content and organization. This rapid reading is done at a speed faster than the speed with
which one usually reads a text of average difficulty and still faster than the slower than
average speed at which one reads a particularly important and difficult text.
38
In sum up, skimming involves some procedures and activities. Students should know the techniques of how to get the general idea of a text. They should use their mind to decide the location of the main ideas and concentrate in such a way so that their mind can focus on the topic of the text or what the text is about without reading word by word, and also keep in mind that the materials are not too difficult for them. If the first reading task to deal with is relatively simple, their anxiety will be decreased. So they can do tasks with more confidence.
37 Christine Nuttall, Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language,(Oxford: Macmillan, 2005), p.50.
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the method of research, subject, and object of the study,
time and place, research design, the Classroom Action Research (CAR) procedures
technique of collecting data, technique of the data analysis, data validity, the
trustworthiness of study and criteria of the action success.
A. Method of Research
Research contributes to more effective teaching, not by offering definitive answers to pedagogical questions, but rather by providing new insights into teaching and learning process. As Johnson puts it,
The importance of research is not so much that it supplies definitive answers to questions such as “What is the best way to learn a language?” or “Which is the most effective method of L2 teaching?” It does not. Rather, research can help us gain a richer understanding of the many interrelated factors involved in learning. It can help us see how the ways we organize learning environments can promote or inhibit growth.
39
In this study, the method used is Classroom Action Research (CAR) method
which is derived from the root an action research. It is called CAR because it occurs in
the classroom frame. According to Michael J. Wallace, CAR is a type of classroom
research carried out by the teacher in order to solve problems or to find answers toward
context-specific issues.
40
It means that to begin the CAR, the researcher or the teacherneeds to identify any problems real found in the classroom concerning students condition in learning. �
Action research has been defined in a number of ways but, as Nunan points out, it
typically has three major characteristics: it is carried out by practitioners (i.e., classroom
teachers), it is collaborative, and it is aimed at changing things.
41
Burns expands on thesecharacteristics, maintaining that action research exemplifies the following features.
1.
Action research is contextual, small-scale and localized―it identifies and investigates problems within a specific situation.It is evaluative and reflective as it aims to bring about change and improvement in practice.
It is participatory as it provides for collaborative investigation by teams of colleagues, practitioners and researchers.
Changes in practice are based on the collection of information or data which provides the impetus for change.
42
There are several features of this definition that are important to highlight. First,
action research, as the name implies, involves action in that it seeks to bring about change, specifically in local educational contexts. It is also research because it entails the collection and analysis of data. Finally, it is participatory and collaborative in that teachers work together to examine their own classrooms.
Based on the several definitions above, we can conclude several things. First,
CAR is conducted by teacher or other stakeholders. Second, the object of CAR is the
problem (s) found by the teacher or other stakeholders related to students’ learning in the
classroom. So, the purpose of CAR is to improve the learning quality of the students.
40 Michael J. Wallace, Action Research for Language Teachers, (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 5.
41 David Nunan, Research Methods in Language Learning, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. 52.
B. The Subject and the Object of Study
1. The Subject of Study
The subject of this study is students at grade IX Social class of Madrasah Aliyah
Pembangunan UIN Jakarta, academic year 2010/2011. The number of students consists of
32. It is chosen based upon the unstructured interview result with the English teacher at
that class proving that they have the lowest achievement of reading test among the other
second grade classes. That is why they need an appropriate strategy to help them improve
their scores toward reading.
2. The Object of Study
The object of this study is to improve students’ reading ability in getting main
idea of the text using skimming technique.
C. The Writer’s Role on the Study
In this role, the writer is not only as the observer whilst the action but also he makes a lesson plan and the assessment or test before CAR (pre-test) and after CAR (post-test) in each final cycle. To simplify the writing, now and then, the the writer will use the terms pre-test and posttest. The pretest here is used as a diagnostic test and the posttest is used as an achievement test.
43
Furthermore, the writer also collects and analyzes data then reporting the result of
study. On the other side, the teacher carries out the action based upon the lesson plan had
been made.
D. The Time and Place of the Study
This research is carried out for five weeks started from 11 April 2011 up to 9 May 2011. The place is at grade IX Social class of Madrasah Aliyah Pembangunan UIN
Jakarta. The schedule is as follow:
Table 3.1 Schedule of the Study
No Activi
ties
Week
April May
1 2 3 4 1 2
1 Interview X
2 Observation X
3 Proposal X X
4 Instrument X
5 Cycle I X
6 Cycle II X
7 Report X
F. The Research Design
The CAR procedure used in this research is Kurt Lewin’s design. He stressed the importance of the researcher to work collaboratively with others. He described action research as being a spiral of steps: Planning, Acting, Observing and Reflecting.
44
Figure 3.1
Kurt Lewin’s Action Research Design
[image:34.595.115.526.80.474.2]
Based on the above design, the writer arranged his design as follow:
Figure 3.2
The Writer’s Action Research Design
The Classroom Action Research used was based on the model proposed by Kurt
Lewin. The design consists of a four-stage action cycle: planning, acting, observing, and
reflecting. In this cycle researchers,
•
develop a plan of critically informed action to improve what is already happening,act to implement the plan,
observe the effects of the critically informed action in the context in which it occurs, and
reflect on these effects as the basis for further planning, subsequent critically informed action and so on, through a succession of stages.
45
During the final stage of analysis and reflection, researchers may decide to
implement another cycle, thus continuing the research process.
Based on those models, the writer arranged the research procedures as follows: 1. Planning Phase
The writer together with the teacher identified and diagnosed students’ reading problem occurred in the classroom by observing and interviewing. The planning phases, then, are divided into two types. Those are general planning and specific planning. The general planning is aimed at organizing whole aspects referred to CAR. Meanwhile the specific planning is aimed at organizing the plan related to cycle-to-cycle. The organized planning will be formed into lesson planning based on the current used syllabus. The lesson plan has been prepared to be implemented in IX Social Class of Madrasah Aliyah Pembangunan UIN Jakarta.
2. Acting Phase
In this phase, both the writer and the teacher collaborate to carry out the planned action. The teacher uses the determined strategy as she is teaching while the writer observes the class condition during teaching learning activity. Here, it begins the process of going more deeply into the issue being researched. Related to the condition of limited teaching learning period, that is why the writer and the teacher take the action phase during two weeks within two cycles in which each cycle consists of two meetings in action.
3. Observing Phase
In this phase, the writer carries out observation toward implementation of
the action using field note or unstructured observation sheet. The writer observed
classroom. It may be about the teacher’s performance, class situation, students’
response, etc. In this phase, it also collects the data derived from evaluation or
post-test.
4. Reflecting Phase
This phase is aimed to reflect the completely done action based upon data that have been collected, and then it is necessary to hold evaluation for completing the next cycle. This phase is carried out collaboratively, that is to discuss further some problems occurred in the class. Thus, the reflection is able to be determined after implementing the action and observation outcomes. If there still might have found some problems, so it needs to move to the next cycle concerning re-planning, re-acting, and re-observing. Therefore, the unfinished problems yet could be solved.
G. The Technique of Collecting Data
Technique of collecting data in this research uses qualitative data and quantitative
data. The qualitative data consists of observation within the physical activity in the
classroom and interview to be presented for the teacher. On the other side, the
quantitative data uses pre-test and post-test.
46
The completely explanation as follows:1.
ObservationThe writer uses open observation to know the occurrences within learning
process. It is intended to observe about the teacher’s performance during CAR,
class situation as reading activity, and students’ response concerning the use of
skimming technique. In general, all of the need aspects that should be noticed are
to make sure whether the teaching learning process in line with the lesson plans
or not.
2.
Interviewactivity, and the method or kinds of strategies usually adopted by the teacher in
teaching reading. The interview also will be carried out after accomplishing CAR
to know the teacher’s response toward the idea of skimming technique.
3.
TestThe test used in this study is pretest and posttest. The pretest is done before
implementing skimming technique used as a diagnostic test. It is to measure
students’ reading comprehension at first. Meanwhile, the posttest is implemented
after using skimming technique and used as an achievement test. In this study, the
test is done in form of multiple choices.
H. The Technique of Data Analysis
The analysis of qualitative data used in this study is the observation of students’
activities during teaching learning process, and the interview before and after CAR. In
this case, the writer collected the entire data which have gained. In analyzing the
numerical data, first the writer tries to get the average of students’ reading score per
action within one cycle. It is used to know how well students’ score as a whole on reading
skill. It uses the formula:
47
_ X : mean
x : individual score n : number of students
Second, the writer tries to get the class percentage which passes the KKM 70 (seventy). It uses the formula:
48
47 Sudjana, Metoda Statistika, (Bandung: PT. Tarsito, 2002), p. 67.
P = percentage F = frequency
n = the number of the students
I. The Validity of Data
Validity is an essential criterion for evaluating the quality and acceptable of the
research. Regarding validity in action research, the writer adopts Anderson, Herr, and Nihlen’s criteria that mention the validity of action research including democratic
validity, outcome validity, process validity, catalytic validity, and dialogic validity.
49
Anderson defines outcome validity as:“Outcome validity requires that the action emerging from a particular study leads to the successful resolution of the problem that was being studied, that is, your study can be considered valid of you learn something that can be applied to the subsequent research cycle.”
50
Based on the explanation above, the outcome validity could be seen from the
result of the test. When the result of cycle two is better than cycle one, it means that the
study is successful. Then, Process validity is “the validity that requires a study has been
conducted in a “dependable” and “competent” manner.”
51
It could be seen from the49 Geoffrey E. Mills, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, (Columbus: Merrill Prentice Hall, 2003), p. 84.
outcome of observation. In this case, the writer notes all events happening during the
CAR. When there might have some mistakes in the method of teaching, then the writer
discusses with the teacher to modify the further strategies. Next, the dialogic validity;
妬
tinvolves having a critical conversation with peers about research findings and
practices.
52
In this case, the writer and the teacher discuss and assess the students test�result of cycle one and cycle two together. It is done in order to avoid invalid data.
J. The Trustworthiness of Study
To analyze the examined test items, the writer implements the trustworthiness of the test. There are some phases including:
1.
Discriminating PowerThe analysis of discriminating power of test items is to know the
performance of the test through distinguishing students who have high
achievement and low achievement. Discriminating power provides a more
detailed analysis of the test items than does item difficulty, because it shows how
the top scores and lower scores performed on each item.
53
The computing ofdiscriminating power uses the formula as following:
54
U – L D = ────
N
In which, D : The index of discriminating power
U : The number of pupils in the upper group who answered the item correctly
L : The number of pupils in the lower group who answered the item correctly N : Number of pupils in each of the groups
52 Ibid., p. 85.
53 Kathleen M. Bailey, Learning about Language Assessment: Dilemmas, Decisions, and Direction, (London: Heinle & Heinle Publisher, 1998), p. 135.
Next, the discriminating scale uses:
55
Table 3.2 Discriminating Scale
DP REMARK
0.6 – 1.0 Very good
0.4 – 0.6 Good
0.1 – 0.3 Ok
-1 – 0.0 Bad
2.
Difficulty ItemThe difficulty item analysis concerns with the proportion of comparing students who answer correctly with all of students who follow the test.
Item difficulty shows how easy or difficult the particular item proved in the test.
56
The formula as following:R FV = ── N
In which, P : Index of difficulty
R : The total number of students who selected the correct answer
55 J. B. Heaton, Classroom Testing, (New York: Longman Inc, 1990), p. 174.
T : The total number of students taking the tests
[image:41.595.114.525.85.394.2]The criteria used as follows:
57
Table 3.3 Difficulty Item Criteria
ID REMARK
0 – 0.30 High
0.30 – 0.79 Medium
0.80 – 1.00 Low
K. Criteria of the Action Success
CAR is able to be called successful if it can exceed the criteria which have been
determined, and fail if it cannot exceed the criteria which have been detained. In this
study, based on the agreement between the researcher and the teacher, when there is 75%
of students could achieve the minimal mastery level 70 (seventy) of reading test started
from the pre-test until the second post-test in cycle two.
58
It means that this researchcould be called success. Then the next action would be stopped, but if this condition has
not been reached yet, the alternative action would be done in the next cycle.
57 Ibid., p. 179.
CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter presents the result and the discussion of the research. The discussion of the result is divided into two main parts. Those are data description and data interpretation.
A. Data Description
1. Before Implementing the Action
The writer conducted three preliminary activities before doing the study. The
activities here are: preliminary interview, observation, and test. The details of the
activities are as follow:
C. The Preliminary Interview Result
The writer conducted the preliminary interview, which was an open
interview, on Monday, April 11th 2011 started at 11.00 A.M and finished at
three main categories: the students’ reading achievement and performance, the
difficulties faced by the students in reading comprehension, and the technique
used by the teacher in teaching reading comprehension.
Related to the students’ reading achievement, which is the first category,
the teacher said that the score of the students in grade IX Social class of
Madrasah Aliyah Pembangunan UIN Jakarta is the lowest one (6.0) among other
classes in the same grade from the average of 7.1. The teacher also said that
almost a half of them were hardly to pass the minimal mastery level concerning
the school policy which is 7.0.
In the second category, the teacher said that the first problem that they often could not differentiate between the main idea of the passage and the main idea of one of the paragraphs, or to differentiate main idea and the details. Next, the teacher said that the students also often complained about the length of the passage that they have to read. The students also argued that the length of the reading passage is one of the factors which made them lazy and felt sleepy while reading.
The third category is the technique (s) used by the teacher in teaching reading
comprehension. The teacher said that he always tried to use various techniques such as previewing and mind mapping to teach reading comprehension to the students. He did so because the students would ignore his explanation if he had used the same technique for different meetings. The teacher also said that he sometimes used work group to make the students learnt to share what they had known to the others. The work group is also intended to minimize the gap of English knowledge that the students had, he added.
D. The Preliminary Observation Result
The preliminary observation was held at XI Social Class of Madrasah
Aliyah Pembangunan UIN Jakarta academic year 2010/2011 on the 18th April
2011. It was started at 08:30 A.M and finished at 10:05 A.M.
them to submit the paper. After that, he gave back the paper to the students in the different groups. Then he discussed the answers. Again, only few students participated in the activity. Before closing the class, the teacher asked the
students if they had any questions or comments, but they were all silent. Then the teacher asked if they had understand the day’s learning, and the students said yes.
E. The Preliminary Test Result
The preliminary test was conducted on Monday, May 2nd 2011 – before
the CAR held. It consisted of 20 multiple choices which tried to see deeper about
students’ problem in reading comprehension. The questions are divided into four
main categories: asking about main idea, details, meaning of a word based on
context, and respond to rhetorical steps of a text. Each category consisted of 5
questions. The details of the number of correct answers on each category and the
score that the students got can be seen in the appendix.
There are 20 test items, 5 questions for each category, and the maximum score is 100, the students’ scores in reading comprehension test were calculated by the following formula: S=
in which,
S is the scores of each student,
C is the number of correct answer, and
N is the number of test items in each category.
Harris
59
states that the test scores can be generally classified into fourgroups as follows:
Table 4.1
60
The Interpretation of the test scores
Test Score Probable Performance
80-100 Good to Excellent
60-79 Average to Good
50-59 Poor to Average
0-49 Poor
Based on the above table, the result of the students’ reading comprehension test can be presented as in table below:
Table 4.2
The Students’ Result of Pretest
Probable Performance Main Idea Detail Word Meaning
Rhetoric
Good to Excellent 4 14 10 18
Average to Good 7 4 14 12
Poor to Average - - -
-Poor 21 4 8
-From the table above, we can see that 21 students (or 65% of total
students) are still considered as poor in getting main idea, 7 students (21% of
total students) belong to Average to Good group, and only 4 students (or 4% of
total students) belong to Good to Excellent Group.
b. CYCLE 1
a.1. Planning
In this phase, the writer and the teacher made a plan based on the
problems faced by the students in getting main idea. The discussion in the
planning phase included: choosing the technique, materials, media, and scenario in conducting the class. From the discussion, the writer and the teacher agreed to
choose skimming as the technique used in overcoming the problem. The
materials used in the study were taken from electronic school book (BSE). BSE
was chosen because of its simplicity – it can be copied to presentation slide
relatively easy, and the difficulty level of the suitable texts for the students also
vary. The media that would be used in the teaching-learning process was laptop
and LCD in focus (which is available in the class).
a.2. Acting
The action of the cycle 1 was done on May 2nd 2011. The teacher and the writer implemented the teaching learning process based on the lesson plan had been made. The teacher started the class by explaining to the students that they were going to learn about how to get main idea using skimming technique. The teacher then showed a picture to the class. He asked to them: “What is the picture about?” Some students rose up their hands. The teacher pointed out to the one of the students, and said, “Yes, what do you think the picture is about?” The student answered that the picture is about a music concert. The teacher said that the answer is correct. Next, the teacher explained that we can also use the same technique to the text – see the general idea. He explained that when we were looking at the picture and trying to figure out what is the picture about we focus on the general idea of the picture not the details of it.
After giving time to the students to ask several questions, the teacher showed a text. He asked the students to read it in five minutes. After the students finished reading, the teacher showed them several different pictures. Then he asked the students which picture illustrate the text.
The teacher went to the next slide, a text and a list of main idea. The
students started to mumble. Most of them said that they were lazy to read such a
getting main idea of relatively long text without getting bored or sleepy. Come on
try your best first!” Then one of the students rose up her hand. She said, “May I
answer the question, sir?” “Sure” replied the teacher. The student said that the
text is about “telephone”. The teacher smiled and said that the answer is almost
correct. He said that “telephone” was only discussed in the first paragraph. He
reminded the students that the main idea should cover all of the text not only one
or two paragraphs. Then, several students attempted to answer. But, their answers
were still the details of the text. The teacher told that they could get the main idea
of the text quickly by reading few words of each paragraph and at the same time
asking, “What or who is the text about.” The teacher gave the example of doing
the technique. This activity was done for several different texts and ended when
the teacher was sure that most of them could do the technique.
a.3. Observing
In the observation phase, the writer tried to notice all of the physical classroom activities as the teacher’s performance, classroom situation, and students’ response to the teacher explanation. In whole, the teacher did the teaching-learning process based on lesson plan made. The teacher also could deliver the materials relatively well. It could be seen from the responses of the questions given by the teacher during the class. The teacher also could
successfully make the class active. It was indicated from the participations of the students. However, the teacher still could not control the whole class. There were still some students who did not pay attention during the class. Some of them cheated with their friends and some others slept. The teacher tried to make them pay attention to him, but it only lasted for few minutes, then, they went back chatting. To overcome this, the teacher did some ice breaking during the class. This could minimize the amount of the students who did not pay attention.
From the observation of the first cycle, it could be known that the main problem of the inability of the students in getting main idea occurred from their lack knowledge of what main idea is, and how to differ main idea from details. In general, the teacher had been able to overcome of the problem. However, to make sure that the students had understood the materials, the teacher and the writer gave posttest I.
a.4. Reflecting
understanding gap between students. This gap could be seen from the students who responded to the questions given in the teaching-learning process and also the posttest I result. There were almost the same students who responded to the questions given. These students also who got highest students at the posttest I.
The improvements made in the cycle I had not yet fulfilled the success
criteria defined by the teacher and the writer. Because of that the writer and the
teacher agreed to continue the study into cycle 2.
c. CYCLE 2
b.1. Planning
In the cycle 2, the writer and the teacher agreed to make some
improvements related to the students’ posttest score and participation of the class
activity. As it had been known that the problems that had not been yet solved in
the cycle I were students’ ignorance of the explanation, score related to KKM,
and
