IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING NARRATIVE
TEXT ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH
PRE-QUESTIONING STRATEGY
A THESIS
Submitted to the English Department, Faculty of Language and
Arts, State University of Medan, in partial
one of the requirements for degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
BY:
OKTAVI ANDRIANI PASARIBU Registration Number. 071222210019
ENGLISH AND LITERATURE DEPARTMENT
LANGUAGES AND ARTS FACULITY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank’s to Allah for giving, blessing, endless love and mercy, especially in
the process of accomplishing this thesis. This thesis is aimed to fulfill one of the
requirements for the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan (S-1) at the English Department,
faculty of Language and Arts, State University of Medan.
In accomplishing this thesis, the writer was helped by so many beloved
people and the writer would like to express her gratitude to:
Prof. Dr. Ibnu Hajar Damanik, M.Si. as the Rector of State University of
Siregar, M.Ed. the Head of Educational English Program
Drs. Johan Sinulingga, M.Pd. as her Academic Adviser.
Prof. Amrin Saragih, MA. Ph.D. and Dr. Anni Holila Pulungan M. Hum.
As the Reviewer of the thesis.
Her beloved family, her father, H. Ardin Pasaribu S.H., her mother, Dra.
Hj. Nurhayati, her beloved husband, Ahmad Sulaiman Lubis, her beloved
sons, Muhammad Miezza Ramadhan Lubis and Muhammad Hafidz
Nizam Lubis, for the understanding and big support in prayer, love,
The writer also would like to thank all the lectures for sharing their knowledge with
her throughout the years at the faculty of Language and Arts. May Allah SWT
blessus. Amin.
Finally, the writer admits that this thesis still far from being perfect.
Therefore, the writer would like to invite the readers to give suggestion for the
improvement of this thesis later on.
Medan, Agustus 2014
The Writer,
ABSTRACT
Andriani, Oktavi Improving Students’ Reading Narrative Text Achievement through Pre-Questioning Strategy.A Thesis.Faculty of Language and Arts.The State University of Medan, 2014.
This study deals with the improvement of the students’ reading narrative
text achievement through pre-questioning strategy. This study tries to find out to what extend using Pre-questioning strategy could improve students’ reading narrative text achievement. The subject of this research is the grade 8 students of SMP Negeri 22 Medan. One class out of six classes was taken by using purposes sampling technique as the subject of the research. The number of the subjects of the research was 30 students. This thesis applies classroom action research which is done in two cycles. The instruments for collecting data used quantitative data (reading test) and qualitative data (observation sheet, interview sheet, and diary notes). The result of the research shows that the mean of pre-test was 51,33, the mean of cycle-1 test was 65, and the mean of cycle-2 test was 79,33. Based on the data above, it can be concluded that Pre-questioning Strategy is significantly
improved students’ achievement in reading narrative text.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Framework ... 4
H. Pre-Questioning Strategy ... 25
I. Pre-Questioning Teaching Procedure ... 28
J. Relevant Research ... 28
K. Conceptual Framework ... 30
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Research Design ... 32
B. Subject of the Study ... 33
C. Sources of Data ... 33
D. The Instrument for Collecting the Data ... 33
CHAPTER IV THE DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS
A. The Data ... 41
B. Data Analysis ... 42
1. Analysis of Quantitative Data ... 42
2. Analysis of Qualitative Data ... 44
C. Research Finding ... 46
D. Discussion ... 46
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion ... 48
B. Suggestion ... 48
LIST OF FIGURE
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1. Lesson Plan (Cycle 1) ... 52
Appendix 2. Lesson Plan (Cycle II) ... 56
Appendix 3. The Observation Sheet for Cycle I ... 60
Appendix 4. The Observation Sheet for Cycle II ... 62
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. The Background of the Study
Scientific and technological information written in English are available in
large number nowadays. To access such information, the students need to be able
to read and understand written sources.
Realizing the fact that to be able to access the world’s scientific and
technological information, the teaching of English in Indonesia has been started
by giving much more attention to the implementation of developing reading
comprehension. However, one of the greatest problems is that reading
comprehension of junior, senior, and university students in Indonesia are still poor
(Soejoto, 2002), this indicates that the improvement of the teaching of reading
comprehension is very essential. Consequently, there are several factors affecting
of reading comprehension.
Reading comprehension is the process of constructing meaning from text.
The goal of all reading instruction is ultimately targeted at helping a reader
comprehend text. Reading comprehension involves at least two people: the reader
and the writer. The process of comprehending involves decoding the writer's
words and then using background knowledge to construct an approximate
understanding of the writer's message (Chandavimol, 1998:31-42). Bowen
(1982:74) says that comprehension always attends to what is coded or written in
the text, but it also depends upon the reader's background experiences, purposes,
process of constructing meaning through the dynamic interaction among: (1) the
reader's existing knowledge; (2) the information suggested by the text being read;
and (3) the context of the reading situation.
Therefore, it can be said that reading comprehension has relationship with
the background knowledge of the students. The more he / she has knowledge
about what he / she is reading, the better he / she comprehend what the text is
about.
Similarly, Klinger, Vaugh, and Boardman (2007:226) say that the students
need to be engaged with what they are reading. One of the strategies is through
prediction. Therefore teacher should lead students to predict what the text is about
before they read the text. In order to lead the students to make prediction, teacher
can give them pre-questioning.
During her teaching practice, the writer found out that the majority of the
students of SMP Negeri 22 Medan had difficulty in reading narrative text. The
score of KKM was 75. 75% of the students got under this score.
In line with this study, the writer thinks that students may improve their
reading comprehension if they know about pre-questioning and it is very
important to understand about pre-questioning in order to get good comprehension
in reading.
Based on the explanation above, the writer is interested in finding out the
through pre-questioning strategy. The writer believes that this strategy tends to
build the students’ interest and motivation to read the text.
B. The Problem of the Study
Based on the background of study above, the problem of the study is as
follows: “Is the students’ reading narrative text achievement improved
significantly by using the pre-questioning strategy?”
C. The Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to investigate if the use of pre-questioning
strategy improves the students’ reading narrative text achievement significantly.
D. The Scope of the Study
In relation to the reading comprehension, there are three level of
comprehension, namely: literal, inferential, and evaluation comprehension. This
study focuses on the grade 8 students of SMP Negeri 22 Medan in reading
narrative text through pre-questioning strategy at the level of literal
comprehension.
a. The Significance of the Study
The study is expected to have both theoretically and practically
contributions.
(1) Theoretically, to help teacher/researcher to find out alternative way of
(2) Practically, it can be used as a model to improve the students’ reading
48 CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
Related to the problem of the thesis, and based on the result of the study,
the conclusions are drawn as follows:
1. There is an improvement of students’ reading narrative text which was
taught by using pre-questioning strategy. It was showed by the mean of the
students’ pre-test (51,33), cycle-1 test (65) and cycle-2 test (79,33).
2. The students felt more enjoyable and interested in learning reading
narrative text by using pre-questioning strategy. It was showed by their
enthusiasm in reading narrative text in two cycles and their respond while
they were asked about pre-questioning strategy.
B. Suggestions
Related to the conclusions above, some suggestions are pointed out as
follows:
1. It is suggested that English teachers use Pre-Questioning strategy in class
action research so that they can improve their students’ reading text.
2. It is suggested that the students apply Pre-Questioning strategy while
reading so they can focus their attention to the reading to get what the text
49
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