THE EFFECT OF NUMBERED HEADS TOGETHER
TECHNIQUE ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN READING
DESCRIPTIVE TEXT
A THESIS
Submitted to the English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
By:
TRI NOVANDHY SILAEN
Registration Number 2103321047
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
DECLARATION
Except where appropriately acknowledged, this thesis is my own work, has been expressed in my own words and has not previously been submitted for assessment. I understand that this thesis may be screened electronically or otherwise for plagiarism.
Medan, December 2014
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ABSTRACT
Silaen, Tri Novandhy. 2103321047. The Effect of Numbered Heads Together Technique on Students’ Achievement in Reading Descriptive Text. A Thesis: English Department. Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan. 2014.
This study deals with the effect of Numbered Heads Together Technique on
students’ achievement in reading descriptive text. The population of the study was the 2014/2015 academic year first semester grade X students of SMA Swasta Yayasan Perguruan Indonesia Membangun Medan. The samples were two classes, namely X IPS 1 and X IPS 2, with the total was 60 students selected by applying random sampling. The sample was divided into two groups. Experimental group (X IPS 2) was taught by applying Numbered Heads Together Technique while the control group (X IPS 1) was taught without applying Numbered Heads Together Technique. The data of this research were taken from the students’ score of reading descriptive text test. The calculation showed that the coefficient of the test was 0.65, it showed that the test was reliable and the reliability was substantial. There were two data used in this research. They were pre-test and post-test. The data were analyzed by using t-test formula to show the effect of applying Numbered Heads Together Technique on students’ achievement in reading descriptive text. After analyzing the data, the finding indicates that t-observed was higher than t-table (5.50 > 2.00) at the level of significance 0.05 with the degree of freedom (df) 58. It means that applying Numbered Heads Together Technique has significantly affected on the students’ achievement in reading descriptive text. It implies that Numbered Heads Together Technique is a significant technique for teaching reading descriptive text.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all the writer would like to thank Jesus Christ, the Almighty God. Because of His great love and blessing, the writer could finally complete this thesis as one of the requirements for the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan (S-1) at the English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan.
During the process of writing, the writer realizes that he can not accomplish without God blessings and supports from many people, therefore the writer would like to express his sincere gratitude to:
1. Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hajar Damanik, M.Si., the Rector of State University of Medan.
2. Dr. Isda Pramuniati, M.Hum., the Dean of Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan.
3. Prof. Dr. Hj. Sumarsih, M.Pd., the Head of English Department, Dra. Meisuri, MA., the Secretary of English Department, and Dra.
Masitowarni Siregar, M.Ed., the Head of English Education Program,
Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Medan.
4. Dr. Rahmad Husein, M.Ed., his Thesis Supervisor, for his patience and suggestions in guiding the writer to finish this thesis.
5. Dr. Sri Minda Murni, M.S., his Academic Supervisor, for her guidance. 6. His father, Ir. Ramses Silaen, for the spirit that he gives, and mother,
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Silaen, S.TP., Septhian Ruben Silaen, S.Psi., and Putra Permata
Silaen.
7. The Headmaster of SMA Swasta Yayasan Perguruan Indonesia Membangun Medan, Drs. Antoni Simbolon, for his permission and opportunities in allowing the writer to do observation and to collect data. The writer expresses his special thanks to Mam Nura Afriani, S.S., the English teacher, for her cooperation during the research.
8. Ruth Ika Simanungkalit, S.Pd., for her love and support.
9. His classmates Saddam, Windha, Yohana, Picha, Dahlia, Putri Harahap, Putri Siregar, Ayu, and Eka, the Grandchildren of ‘Oppung Sisingamangaraja’ PPLT SMKN 2 Balige Tahun 2013, Inggrid
Simanungkalit,S.Pd. for her help, and all people that can not be mentioned one by one for their care, support, prayer and love.
Medan, December 2014 The Writer,
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4. Level of Reading Comprehension ... 12
5. Students’ Achievement ... 13
6. Kinds of Text (Genre) ... 14
7. Descriptive Text ... 15
8. Cooperative Learning Strategy ... 16
9. Numbered Heads Together Technique ... 17
10.Conventional Technique ... 20
B. Conceptual Framework ... 21
C. Hypothesis ... 24
CHAPTER III : METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH ... 25
A. Research Design ... 25
B. Population and Sample ... 25
1. Population ... 25
2. Sample ... 25
C. Instruments for Collecting Data ... 26
D. Technique for Collecting Data ... 27
E. Scoring System ... 27
F. The Research Procedure ... 29
1. Pre-Test ... 29
2. Treatment ... 29
3. Post-Test ... 30
G. Validity and Reliability of Test ... 31
1. Validity of the Test... 31
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H. The Technique for Analyzing Data ... 32
I. Statistical Hypothesis ... 33
CHAPTER IV : THE DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS ... 34
A. The Data ... 34
B. Data Analysis ... 36
1. The Reliability of The Test ... 36
2. Data Analysis ... 37
C. Testing Hypothesis ... 38
D. Research Findings ... 39
CHAPTER V : CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 40
A. Conclusions ... 40
B. Suggestions ... 40
REFERENCES ... 42
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LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 2.1. Example of Descriptive Text ... 16
Table 3.1. Research Design ... 25
Table 3.2. Attitude Scoring Rubric ... 26
Table 3.3. Skill Scoring Rubric ... 26
Table 3.4. Teaching Procedure in Experimental Group ... 29
Table 3.5. Teaching Procedure in Control Group ... 30
Table 4.1. The Scores of Pre-test and Post-test in Experimental Group ... 34
Table 4.2. The Scores of Pre-test and Post-test in Control Group ... 35
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LIST OF FIGURES
Page Figure 2.1. The Relation between Reading Comprehension,
Descriptive Text and Numbered Heads Together
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LIST OF APPENDIXES
Page Appendix A : The Score of Pre-Test and Post-Test of Experimental
Group ... 44
Appendix B : The Score of Pre-Test and Post-Test of Control Group ... 45
Appendix C : The Calculation of Pre-Test and Post-Test of Experimental Group ... 46
Appendix D : The Calculation of Pre-Test and Post-Test of Control Group ... 47
Appendix E : The Calculation of T-Test ... 48
Appendix F : The Critical Value of T ... 49
Appendix G : The Reliability of The Test ... 50
Appendix H : Skill Observation Score of Experimental Group ... 52
Appendix I : Skill Observation Score of Control Group ... 53
Appendix J : Attitude Observation Score of Experimental Group ... 54
Appendix K : Attitude Observation Score of Control Group ... 55
Appendix L : Pre-Test and Post Test Items ... 56
Appendix M : Answer Key for Pre-Test and Post-Test Items ... 60
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
Reading is one of the skills in language proficiency which is taught formally in Indonesia from elementary school up to the university level. Many researchers note that reading is the most important language skill for academic achievements beside speaking, listening, and writing. Brown (2004:185) stated that reading is arguably the most essential skill for success in all educational contexts. Moreover, in the era of globalization, students need to intensify their reading activities in order to get as much shared information as possible. By doing that, the students will be able to cover the news and knowledge all over the world to support their lives.
Reading comprehension has also been included in National Exam (Ujian Nasional). It means that reading needs to be mastered by the students to pass the National Examination. In fact, many students failed in National Examination. They can not comprehend the text well because the text is very long and there are many difficult words. Finally, the students got bored and the result was not good.
Based on the writer’s observation in SMA Swasta Yayasan Perguruan
Indonesia Membangun Medan, by interviewing some students and the teacher, it is concluded that the students still had insufficient skills in reading and got many difficulties in comprehending a text. The lack of students’ reading comprehension
teacher-2
centered , which means the teacher only explains the material without involving the students actively.
The second reason is the teacher used only conventional technique in teaching. The teacher did not develop their teaching ability by using variety of strategies or techniques and oriented to the students’ textbook only to teach reading in the class. The teacher only asked the students to read the textbook and to answer the provided questions related to the text. The activity does not provide the students to discuss and share ideas with their friends in group during the learning process.
This condition also happened while the students are reading descriptive texts. Knapp and Watkins (2005:97) state that descriptive text enables the categorisation or classification of an almost infinite range of experiences, observations and interactions into a system that orders them for immediate and future reference, and allows us to know them either objectively or subjectively, depending on the learning area or intent of the writer. This genre is learned in senior high school because it is very important for the students to be able to describe things, person or places in details. By using the conventional technique in teaching descriptive text, the teacher did not develop the students logical thinking about the generic structures of descriptive text, because during the learning process the teacher only asked the students to read, find the meaning of difficult words in their dictionaries and answer the questions of the text.
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Together Technique is one of the techniques that can be applied to overcome the problems.
Numbered Heads Together Technique is proposed by Spencer Kagan. Kagan (2009:101) stated that in Numbered Heads Together, each student must write their best answer on their own and shows it to their teammates before they put their heads together to tutor and coach each other. This strategy is beneficial for reviewing and integrating subject matter. Students with special needs such as need more time to understand the text, often get benefit when this strategy is applied, because there will be other students which are ready to help them understand the answer and find the solution. In other side, the students will feel free to to give their ideas, feelings and thought without any authorities from others. This activity will stimulate the students to be more active and get motivation to read better specially in reading descriptive text.
In conducting Numbered Heads Togehther technique, the teacher divides the students in to a group of 4-6 students. Then, the teacher gives the texts that the students have to read. After a direct instruction of the material has been given, of course, the group supports each member and provides opportunities for practice, rehearsal, and discussion of content material before they are called to present or answer the questions. This is a good technique that can motivate the students and promote higher-level of thinking.
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the students. The students who were taught by using Number Heads Together Technique got higher scores than students who were taught by using QAR and Conventional Technique. The same result of applying Numbered Heads Together Technique is also found by Satria et al. (2013) in their research which found that the use of Numbered Heads Together Technique improved the students’
achievement in reading comprehension. Another research was conducted by Evi Ramini (2013) who found that the students’ achievement in writing was improved
after being taught by using Numbered Heads Together Technique.
Based on the explanation above, it is important to study about “ The
Effect of Numbered Heads Together Technique on Students’ Achievement in
Reading Descriptive Text ”.
B. The Problem of the Study
In relation to the background of the study, the problem of the study is formulated as follows : “ Does Numbered Heads Together Technique affect the
students’ achievement in reading descriptive text? ”
C. The Scope of the Study
There are many genres of text that can be used in this research. However, the scope of the study is limited on the descriptive text. Thus, the study will investigate the effect of Numbered Heads Together Technique on students’
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D. The Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to find out the effect of Numbered Heads Together Technique on students’ achievement in reading descriptive text.
E. The Significance of the Study
The findings of the study are expected to be useful : Theoritically for :
1. Other researchers to use the data as reference for further research related to the use of Numbered Heads Together Technique.
Practically for :
1. English teachers to use Numbered Heads Together Technique to improve the students achievement in reading descriptive text.
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REFERENCES
Arikunto, Suharsimi. 2006 . Prosedur Penelitian : Suatu Pendekatan Praktik. Jakarta : Rineka Cipta.
Best, John. W. 2002. Research in Education. New Delhi : Prentice Hall.
Brown, H. D. 2004. Language Assessment Principles and Classroom Practices. New York : Longman Group.
Burns et al. 1984. Teaching Reading in Todays Elementary School. Boston : Houghton Mifflin.
Devine, T. G. 1987. Making Sense of Functional Grammar. Sydney : Gerb Stabler.
Gerot, L. and Wignell. 1994. Making Sense of Functional Grammar. Cammenny : Antipodean Education Enterprises.
Grabe, William and Fredrika L. Stoller. 2002. Teaching and Researching
Reading. Harlow : Pearson Education Ltd.
Kagan, Spencer. 2009. Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA : Kagan Publishing.
Kementrian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. 2014. Materi Pelatihan Guru
Implementasi Kurikulum 2013 Tahun 2014 : Materi Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris SMA/SMK - Untuk Guru. Badan Pengembangan Sumber Daya
Manusia Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan dan Penjaminan Mutu Pendidikan. Klingner, Janette K and Sharon Vaughn. 2007. Teaching Reading Comprehension
to Students with Learning Difficulties. New York : The Guildford Press.
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for Teaching and Assessing Writing. Sydney : UNSW Press Ltd.
Martin, J. R. 1992. English Text : System and Structure. Amsterdam : John Benjamin Publising Company.
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Pardiyono. 2007. Pasti Bisa : Teaching Genre-Based Writing. Yogyakarta : Penerbit Andi.
Ramini, Evi. 2013. Improving the Students’ Achievement in Writing Procedure
Text Through Numbered Heads Together Technique. A thesis. English
Department. Faculty of Arts and Languages. State University of Medan. Satria, Supriadi, Rismaya Marbun and Stevanus Buan. 2013. Students’
Improvement in Reading Comprehension on Recount Text Through Numbered Heads Together. A thesis. Languages and Arts Education
Department. Faculty of Teacher Training Education. University of Tanjung Pura.
Slavin, E. R. 1995. Cooperative Learning Theory; Research and Practice. New York : The Hopkins University.
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/imtech/cooperativelearning.htm (Accessed May 1st, 2014)
