TEACHING READING BY COMBINING PARTNER PREDICTION AND SAVE THE LAST WORD FOR ME STRATEGY
AT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL By:
*Riri Mulyanti
**Hevriani Sevrika, M.Pd, English Department of College of Teacher Training and Education (STKIP) PGRI
West Sumatera ABSTRAK
Membaca (reading) adalah aktivitas yang dilakukan untuk memahami isi teks dan informasi-informasi yang terdapat di dalam teks tersebut. Namun, para siswa masih memiliki kesulitan khususnya dalam reading. kesulitan dalam menemukan topik, ide pokok, dan informasi tertentu, dan juga kesulitan dalam menghubungkan isi teks dengan pengetahuan mereka. Oleh karena itu, guru harus bisa menemukan strategi yang menarik dalam proses belajar mengajar sehingga membuat para siswa senang dan tertarik untuk belajar bahasa Inggris dan mampu dalam melakukan aktivitas reading.
Dalam makalah ini penulis membahas bagaimana mengajarkan reading dengan menggunakan dua strategi yaitu partner prediction dan save the last word for me.
Partner prediction adalah salah satu strategi yang dapat digunakan untuk mengembangkan kemampuan reading. Strategi ini merupakan strategi yang tepat untuk membantu para siswa melakukan prediksi tentang informasi di dalam teks.
Hal ini membantu meningkatkan daya berfikir siswa dalam memahami sebuah teks.
Save the last word for me adalah salah satu strategi yang dapat digunakan untuk mengembangkan kemampuan dalam pemahaman reading siswa. Dalam penerapan strategi ini, para siswa dibimbing untuk memahami sebuah teks, kemudian guru meminta siswa mengomentari pendapat penulis atau mempertanyakan ide penulis.
Kemudian siswa tersebut akan mendiskusikan pendapat atau opini degan teman kelompoknya.Maka dapat disimpulkan bahwa penggabungan dua startegi ini dalam pengajaran reading dapat meningkatkan kemampuan siswa dalam memahami sebuah teks dan menambah kemampuan berfikir siswa.
Kata Kunci: Strategi Prediction dan Strategi Save the Last Word
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INTRODUCTION
Reading is one of most important aspects which have to be mastered in learning English. By doing reading, the readers are able to get some undrestanding and comprehension of whatever they read. At senior high schools, the students are very needed to read in order they are able to understand and comprehend the texts which they are learning. After the process of reading, students are expected to comprehend kinds of texts.
Besides, reading is very useful for growing their way in getting ideas ot thoughts from reading passage.
Moreover, reading is a form of active active activity when the students convey a lot of information from the text read.
In order to catch the learning goal, some indicators in reading must be acquired by students in reading. It is supported by Badan Nasional Sekolah Pendidikan ( BNSP:2006 ) that there are several indicators in reading which must be fulfilled by the students, such as: students can identify topic in the
text, know the words references, the synonym or antonym words, the location of information of the text, the line of the reasoning from the writer, and inference the text.
In contrary, based on the writer’s experience on teaching training at Senior High School 2 Lembah Gumanti, the writer found that the students faced many problems in reading and also the teacher’s problem in teaching reading. The students’
problem was most of the students could not comprehend the texts overally. The writer found that, generally, the students were difficult in getting the comprehension of the text which they were learning. It made them become hard to find some information in a text. The cause of this case is their lack of vocabulary.
Furthermore, they had difficulty to identify the main ideas of a text and they could not find the supporting ideas for the main ideas.
Thus, in this paper, the writer focuses on teaching reading by combiningg Partner Pprediction and
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Save the Last Word for Me strategy at Senior High School. It is done for making the teacher and the students reach the goal of teaching reading successfully. If the reading goal is fulfilled, the teacher and the students can flow the learning of reading becomes effective. The most important, the students comprehend their material by reading it well. Thus, students’ reading abilityty can be improved.
REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE
A. Reading
There are some definitions of reading which are stated by the experts. According to Wallace (1992:2) reading is an interpretation of means reacting to a written text as a piece of communication. In other words, interpretation of meaning is the result of reading process. It means that in the process of reading, there is a communication activity which occurs when the readers interact with the meaning which they catch from the text. The text often appears in written
form that they convey in doing reading. It is also said that some communicative activities intent to the writer’s part which the readers attempt to understand the ideas or information from the text.
In addition, Herbert (1993:12), also states that reading is an interaction process of communication. Based on its statement, it is comprehended that in reading process, the readers will get an interaction through the text which they read. It is possible to make the readers create the communication way with the text. The process of communication in reading is happening when the readers understand some ideas during reading.
Without getting the comprehension of the text, the communication does not happen as expected.
Referring to the experts’
definitions of reading above, the writer concludes that reading is an activity of communication process between the readers and the written words for getting the ideas or information and derives meaning based on their own background knowledge. Based on the
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reading process, readers are hoped to get the understanding of the information which is talking in the text. Then, reading is also an activity of communication process between the readers and the written words for getting the ideas or information. Thus, the readers will get the useful of reading if they read well and get the information of the text read.
B. Teaching Reading
In leading the students to have skill in reading and help them to get the comprehension in reading, the teacher should pay attention of some aspects in teaching reading. Teaching reading is a medium for the teacher to do their best in helping the students to improve their reading ability. There are some sights about teaching reading from the experts. According to Jacobs (1999:23), there are three phases in teaching reading process, they are:
before reading, during reading, and after reading. For example, before starting to read a text, it is important for the teacher and students to state or point out the purpose of reading which
must be caught. Then, in during reading, the students should get the comprehension of the text. The most important is after reading, the students should be able to enhance the ideas from the text.
Furthermore, Gebhard (2000:34) defines that in teaching reading, teachers should create activities that provide contextualized reading experience. It is said that the teachers have crucial role to make the process of teaching reading reaches its goal.
The activities which can be done by the teachers in teaching reading should be related with the exerience of the readers. It is done for preparing the students enjoy reading. Thus, in teaching reading, a relationship of experience can be enhanced for getting the successful in catching the reading purpose.
Based on the experts’ statements above, the writer concludes that there are several stages in teaching reading.
They are pre-reading, whilts-reading, and post-reading activity. It is done in chronologically order to help the students to improve their reading
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ability. In doing those activities, the teacher guides the students to comprehend the text well. At the pre- reading stage, students are giuded to identify certain information of reading material such as its topic or teacher can brainstorm them about the topic.
At the while-reading stage, teacher asks students to read the text overally and get the comprehension of the text.
In addition, the teacher should explain about the text clearly, so the students are able to develop their knowledge based on their reading.
C. Partner Prediction Strategy
1. Definitions of Partner Prediction Strategy
Partner prediction is a strategy which can be used in activating students’ critical thinking in reading.
The students activate their thinking by doing the prediction of several passages. Thare are some definitions of partner prediction strategy which are stated by the experts.According to Brunner (2012:96) states that partner prediction is a strategy which provides the students with an interactive activity
for sharing information from the reading with classmates. In doing the strategy, the students get the chance to interact the information which they get from the text with their own classmates. Then, this strategy guides the students to share their ideas after getting the comprehension of the text.
The most interesting result after doing this strategy is all students are provided by a lot of informtaion because they have connected their thoughts with other students. It enriches the ideas and grow the students’ way in getting comprehension.
In conclusion, partner prediction a strategy which can be used in improving student’ reading ability.
The use of partner prediction strategy gives the students opportunity to work with their peers and make prediction about a story or section. In this case, students are sharing their ideas with a partner, it will help students to discuss a prediction of a text. Then, partner prediction also gives the students a chance to work with a partner guessing what will happen next in the text.
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Thus, the effectiveness of partner prediction strategy leads the students to do the prediction for activating the students’ mind in thinking. So, the use of this strategy in reading will give contribution in increasing reading skill.
2. Procedures of Partner Prediction Strategy
There are some procedures of partner prediction strategy which are stated by the experts. Bunner (2012:97) proposes that in doing partner predcition strategy, there are some procedures must be followed.
They are:
a. Set the class to learn in pair or in partnering form.
b. The instructor gives a text to each pair.
c. Each pair consist student A and B, in doing the prediction, student A read some sentences carefully, then he stop his reading and asks student B to make a prediction about what will happen next.
d. After that, student A continues his reading and student B predicts what the next event of the text. The
prediction is done till the end of the text.
e. Both of students check what their prediction true or not.
Based on explanation above, the writer takes a conclusion that partner prediction strategy has some procedures. The procedure is begun by setting the students to sit in partners.
Then ask them to identify places in the text to stop and predict what might happen next. After that, the students read the title and first portion aloud and ask what they think the story will be about. Then, during reading, the students read the text and guessing what happen next in the text. Finally, the students must read the text overally for checking the prediction or the guess which they have made.
Therefore, the use of this strategy in teaching reading comes advantages for improving students reading ability because it can help the students to treat their thinking process for getting reading comprehension.
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D. Save the Last Word for Me Strategy
1. Definitions of Save the Last Word for Me Strategy
Save the last word for me strategy is one strategy which can be used in teaching reading. There are some experts who give definitions of save the last word for me strategy.
Brunner (2011:85) also states that save the last word for me strategy is designed to enhance students’
understanding of text material, as well as to foster group interaction and problem solving. Additionally, this strategy can provide a scaffold for challenging material, as well as encouraging purposal note-taking. It is said that the strategy puts the students in catching the understanding about the material. Then, another activity which is caught through this strategy is making the students work in group.
Working with their group is helpful for making the students create good interaction with their peers. Group disscussion also makes the students
solve their problems in challenging material together their classmates.
Referring to the definitions of save the last word for me strategy above, the writer takes a conclusion that the strategy is useful to be applied in teaching reading. The strategy is one of many strategies which provides the students to talk and discuss about information and ideas which they get based on the text, and also it guides the students to create the connection and evaluation of the information in the text. Then, this strategy also egages the students to learn or comprehend the material in discussion form in groups.
Working in a group discussion has a purpose to make the students create good interaction with their peers.
Group disscussion also makes the students solve their problems in challenging material together their classmates. Thus, the strategy is very useful to be implemented in teaching reading for improving students’
reading ability.
2. Procedures of Save the Last Word for Me Strategy
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The procedures of the strategy guides the teacher and students to apply the strategy in their teaching and learning. There are some procedures of save the last word for me strategy which are stated by the experts.
According to Brunner (2011:85) states that the steps of save the last word for me strategy are:
a. Assign students to groups of three b. Ask students to read all or part of
the text silently
c. Using a piece of paper, instruct them to note areas of agreement/disagreement with the author and have the questions that occur to them while reading
d. Have the students discuss the text with their group. Each member of the group should select a comment or question from the notecard for the purpose of discussion
e. Ask them to react to the comment or question by sharing opinion or agreement/disagreement
f. Ask the students who initially shared the question or comment to have “last word” by summarizing
the discussion or by offering his or her own opinion.
In conclusion, based on the procedures or steps which have been given by the experts above, it can be comprehended that for the beginning of the procedure of the strategy, the teacher should explain about the strategy and its purpose to the students. Then, ask them to sit in groups for holding the discussion form after comprehending the text. After that, ask the students to read and comprehend the text. Then, they should write the ideas which they get from the text in a piece of paper. After that, they read their idea and ask the other students to comment about the idea in discussion form. At the end of the strategy, the teacher asks a student to summarize the discussion and result
“the last word” from the discussion.
Those are the procedures of the strategy generally.
DISCUSSION A. Preparation
Before teaching activity started, the teacher should have some
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preparations about some points that the teacher and the students need in this activity.
1. The teacher should prepare the topic that will be discussed during teaching and learning process.
2. The teacher should prepare the material that will be used in learning activity.
3. The teacher should have prepared the other things that relate to the classroom.
B. Implementation
In pre-teaching activity, the teacher should do some steps, such as:
greed the students, check the attendance list and brainstorming. In whilst-teaching activities, the teacher should apply some steps, such as: first, the teacher instructs set the students work with partners in group. The members consist of 4-5 partners each group. Second, the teacher distributes a text to certain students in the group.
In order words, the text is given to a student of partners not for all students.
Third, the teacher allows the student who has been given the text to read the
text loudly in each group. Those students read the title and few lines and stop reading at designated place and the other students discuss possible prediction what might be happen next.
Fourth, the teacher allows the readers to read the text and the other students listen to it carefully. Fifth, the teacher asks the other members or partners in group to discuss their prediction what will be happen in the next sentence of the text. Sixth, After partners in the groups discuss their prediction, the teacher asks each group to tell their prediction to the teacher. Seventh, the teacher asks the students to continue reading and stop at designated place.
Then the other members make prediction to the next sentence. Eighth, the teacher gives questions to the partners in group to predict what will be happen about to the next. Ninth, after that, for continuing the prediction , each group should do this manner continousty till the rest of the story ( when the end of the story is near, stop and ask how student think it will end).
Tenth, the teacher and students check together the ending of the story of a
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text. Eleventh, the teacher assigns students to groups of three. Then, the teacher asks students to read all or part of the text silently. Next, using a piece of paper, instruct them to note areas of agreement/disagreement with the author and have the questions that occur to them while reading. After that, have the students discuss the text with their group. Each member of the group should select a comment or question from the notecard for the purpose of discussion. In addition, the teacher asks them to react to the comment or question by sharing opinion or agreement/disagreement.
Last, the teacher asks the students who initially shared the question or comment to have “last word” by summarizing the discussion or by offering his or her own opinion.
CONCLUSIONS
In this chapter, the writer would like to give a conclusion and suggestion from the previous chapters discussing about teaching reading by
combining Partner Prediction and Save The Last Word For Me strategy at Senior High School.
Reading is one of important skill in english learning for senior high school students. It is due to from reading, students can get much information from the text. After that they also get something new from the text. That is about the information that students don’t know before and share the information to another.
Furthermore, by doing reading, it can active the students’ thinking. It is caused, during reading students will catch of all the information from the text. In order word, with reading habitual for students, it is very advantages for their live in the future.
Besides that, if the students can be diligent to read, so their knowledge will increase. Therefore, the students are supported to have good ability in reading in order to make them become able to catch all information which is needed to support their education need.
Referring for these reasons, students have to acquire good ability in reading for adding and enriching their
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knowledge and information. One of many ways that will improve the student’s reading ability is by applying the combination of Partner Prediction and Save The Last Word For Me Strategy.
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