Using the smart technique to improve the reading comprehension ability of the second semester students of Unismuh Palu / Susilawaty - Repositori Universitas Negeri Malang

Using the smart technique to improve the reading comprehension ability of the second semester students of Unismuh Palu / Susilawaty

Susilawaty (2011) Using the smart technique to improve the reading comprehension ability of the second semester students of Unismuh Palu / Susilawaty. Masters thesis, Universitas Negeri Malang.

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Abstract

Key word reading comprehension SMART technique. From the preliminary study at the Islamic Faculty of Tarbiyah Department of Unismuh Palu it was found that the reading comprehension ability of the students was still unsatisfactory. The insufficient ability of the students might be caused by several factors. First the students vocabulary was poor. Second the text was difficult that it was remote from the students knowledge and experience. Third the students motivation in learning reading comprehension was low. These facts were worsened by the teacher who instructed the students to do the tasks individually in which cooperative group activities were not applied. Moreover many of the students were passive during the teaching and learning process. Dealing with the condition an appropriate technique was needed to improve the reading comprehension ability of the students. Accordingly a SMART or Self-Monitoring Approach to Reading and Thinking technique was applied in this study. This study was conducted to improve the reading comprehension ability of the second semester students of Tarbiyah Department of Unismuh Palu through SMART technique. The problem was How can the SMART technique improve the reading comprehension ability of the second semester students of Unismuh Palu. This study employed a collaborative classroom action research design in which between the researcher and the collaborator as research team worked together designing the lesson plan implementing the action observing the action and reflecting the action. The subjects of the study were the second-semester students of Unismuh Palu in the 2009/2010 academic year. This study was implemented to 28 students from class A and it was conducted in two cycles following the procedure of action research where each cycle consisted of three meetings for the teaching and learning process and a meeting for a test. The instruments used to collect the data were observation checklist field note questionnaires and reading comprehension tests. The data were taken from the two tests analyzed and presented quantitatively meanwhile the data were analyzed and presented qualitatively. The findings of this study indicated that the appropriate model of the SMART technique for teaching reading comprehension consisted of the following procedures (1) stimulating the students prior knowledge (2) grouping students heterogeneously (3) determining the roles for the group s members (4) giving some leading questions related to the picture (5) reading the text once or twice silently (6) identifying the main ideas and major supporting ideas of passage (7) recognizing the message of the text (8) paraphrasing paragraph of the text what the students do not understood with their own words (9) summarizing paragraphs of the text as they read (10) guiding the students to discover the meaning of unknown words for paragraph that confused them (11) monitoring the students as they write this a great way to informally assess their understanding of the process (12) guiding the discussion so that the students see how this process can help them when the reading process and the last one (13) giving an evaluation of the process and the result to measure the students ability in reading comprehension. The findings of this study indicated that the SMART technique was successful in improving both the students involvement in reading activities and the reading comprehension ability of the students in comprehending English texts. Dealing with the students involvement it seemed that 61.6% students were involved actively in the reading activities in Cycle 1 to 95% or almost all the students were involved actively in the reading activities in Cycle 2. It was shown by the observation checklists and field notes in appendices. Dealing with the reading comprehension ability of the students The improvement of the reading comprehension ability of the students was indicated by both the increasing mean score and the number of students who obtained scores equal to or greater than 65. The mean score increased from 59.50 in the Preliminary study to 65.57 in Cycle 1 and 67.89 in Cycle 2. The number of the students getting higher scores increased from 17 students (67.85%) in Cycle 1 to 20 students (71.42%) in Cycle 2. The mean score and the students individual score indicated higher than predetermined criteria of success that were 20 students out of 28 students who got score of 65 in Cycle 2. Based on the students achievement using the SMART technique in comprehending English text (expository text) it was suggested that the English lecturers apply this technique as one of many alternatives that can be used in teaching reading skills and for the future researcher it is recommended that the future researcher to conduct a similar study in other levels of the students to see whether it is effective for improving the students ability in reading comprehension. It is also advisable to implement other technique in their study for improving the students reading comprehension. It is also recommended plan the action well to prepare the lesson plan and the students worksheet to create good relationship to the subjects and to socialize the technique to the subjects and the collaborator before conducting the action.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
Subjects: L Education > L Education (General)
Divisions: Fakultas Sastra (FS) > Departemen Sastra Inggris (ING) > S2 Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris
Depositing User: Users 2 not found.
Date Deposited: 08 Feb 2011 04:29
Last Modified: 09 Sep 2011 03:00
URI: http://repository.um.ac.id/id/eprint/58480

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