THE USE OF ADJUSTED READING MATERIALS IN THE TEACHING OF READINGCOMPREHENSION

Abstract

Adjusted Reading Materials for Reading Comprehension
1
THE USE OF ADJUSTED READING MATERIALS IN THE TEACHING OF READING
COMPREHENSION
Restu Santyarini
092084013
English Education, Faculty of Language and Art, State University of Surabaya
restubelle.santya@gmail.com
Dosen Pembimbing:
Prof. Dr. Susanto, M. Pd.
English Department, Faculty of Language and Art, State University of Surabaya
Abstrak
Penggunaan materi yang terlalu sulit oleh guru ketika mengajar reading menjadi alasan kenapa siswa
tidak dapat memahami teks dengan baik. Mereka menemukan banyak kesulitan ketika membaca teks
naratif yang diberikan. Guru harus merivisi RPP sebelumnya dengan memilih materi yang disesuaikan
yang sejalan dengan kemampuan, kebutuhan dan ketertarikan siswa. Riset ini merupakan penelitian
tindakan kelas yang hanya terdiri dari satu siklus. Ini disebabkan karena hasil pembelajaran menunjukkan
bahwa tujuan pembelajaran telah dicapai. Riset ini diadakan di kelas VIII di salah satu SMP di Ngawi.
Peneliti melakukan kolaborasi dengan guru dalam melaksanakan proses belajar mengajar. Peneliti
menggunakan catatan lapangan tidak terstruktur untuk mengumpulkan data. Data harus dipilah dan
diklasifikasikan menjadi data yang relevan dan tidak relevan. Kemudian data yang relevan akan
diklasifikasikan dan dianalisis berdasarkan rumusan masalah. Hasil pengamatan menunjukkan bahwa
penggunaan materi membaca yang sesuai membantu siswa untuk mengkategorisasikan teks naratif
berdasarkan strukturnya, mengidentifikasi pesan moral dari teks naratif, menjawab pertanyaan seputar
teks naratif dan menyimpulkan teks naratif.
Kata Kunci: Penggunaan, Materi Membaca yang Sesuai, Pemahaman Membaca
Abstract
The use of difficult narrative materials by the teacher in the teaching reading seems to be the reason why
the students cannot comprehend the text well. They found many difficulties in reading the narrative text
given. The teacher should revise the previous lesson plan by choosing the adjusted reading materials which
in accordance with the students’ ability, need and interest. This research is a classroom action research with
one cycle only. It was because the result of the study indicated that the goals of the study have been
accomplished. This research was conducted at class VIII in one of junior high school in Ngawi. The
researcher made collaboration with the teacher in conducting the teaching and learning process. The
researcher used unstructured field notes to collect the data. The data had to be sorted and classified to
choose the relevant data and un-relevant data. Then the relevant data will be classified and analyzed based
on the research questions. The result of the observation indicated that the use of adjusted reading material
in the revised lesson plan helped the students in categorizing the narrative text based on its generic
structure, identifying the moral value of the narrative text, answering the question of the narrative text as
well as inferring the narrative text.
Keywords: The use, Adjusted Reading Material, Reading Comprehension.
INTRODUCTION
Background of Study
Students’ comprehension is the ultimate goal for the
students when they do learn reading skill. It is the process
of the readers to construct the meaning of the text they
read. Iwai (2010) states reading comprehension is based
on using the appropriate meaning-making processes from
the printed messages. From Iwai’s statement it could be
indicated that reading comprehension involves the
passage, the reader, and the context. The readers
construct meanings of the passage using their background
knowledge, analyzing words, inferring the text, and
identifying key vocabulary or information. From those
explanations it could be concluded that reading
comprehension needs readers’ thinking and reasoning in
order to does it well. Since they must activate what they
have known to build the meaning of the passage without
knowing the meaning of each word. They relate their
knowledge and the context of the passage to build the
meaning of whole.
Ejournal Unesa. Volume 01 Nomor 01 Tahun 2013, 0 - 216
In one of small towns in East Java, there is a junior
high school which locates in the edge of big road of
Surabaya-Solo. Because of its location, this school is
very crowded. The teaching of English lesson in this
school is conducted two times a week. One of the classes
in this school is the eighth grade of C which consists of
25 students, 14 females and 11 males. The class is large
enough for teaching and learning process. This class is
not completed with an AC, a LCD projector, as well as a
speaker. The students have arranged the chairs and tables
well in order to make them study easily. They mix their
seats so that the clever students will spread with the low
and medium students. When the teacher taught the basic
competence 11.3 which about responding the meaning
and rhetorical action of a short simple essay accurately,
fluently and in the context of everyday life in the form of
recount and narrative, she gave a narrative text to them,
then she asked them to comprehend the text. The teacher
used clear and loud voice during teaching learning
process; however it was not enough to make the students
understand the text well. Besides the fact indicates that in
the process of the teacher guiding them to comprehend
the text, there were several students who felt difficult to
understand the text. Although there were some students
who actively guessed the meaning of the text, there were
more students who were silent or talking to their friends.
It made them cannot complete the task well. The teacher
used three-phase technique, speech, questions-answers
and task gift to teach reading. It seemed to be boring
activities for the students because they had less
opportunity to take part in the learning process.
At that time, the teacher explained about narrative
text. However the narrative texts given to the students
were very difficult for them. It was very confusing the
students. The text used by the teacher was out of their
capability. They had to depend on the dictionary to know
the meaning of words. It seemed to be boring for them.
As the result, they stopped finding the meaning in the
dictionary and started talking to others. It was one of the
reasons why the students found difficulties during
reading class. They spent most of their time to find the
meaning of the words than understand what the text talk
about. In other cases, there were some parts of the lesson
plan that needed to be revised. It included the indicators
and learning objectives. The indicators in the lesson plan
were not specific enough. She only stated the students
could identify the information, the aim and the language
features of the functional text. How the students would
identify this kind of text without knowing what the text
is. Besides, the objectives of study she designed were not
based on the indicators. It seemed that they were from
different part. It was important for her to design the
objectives of the study from the indicators. So she could
measure whether the indicators have been reached by the
students or not by looking to the objectives of the study.
Furthermore, learning activities of the lesson plan were
only teacher activities. There had to be students’
activities too since in the teaching learning process the
main actors are the students. The teacher is only the
assistant who will help them when they find difficulties.
Whereas the assessment in the lesson plan was only
product assessment, there was no process assessment. In
the teaching and learning activities, the most important
thing was in the process. It was not only the students’
result that could be used as the measurement of the
successful learning. It also could be seen from the
process. It was the reason why process assessment was
very needed to be stated in the lesson plan.
The revised lesson plan was given to the teacher as
the solution to the problem faced by her. Choosing the
adjusted reading material for the students was the
important thing to do. It should be easier material that
could help them to understand what narrative actually is.
It should be familiar to them so that they could
comprehend it well. It also included formulating more
specific indicators based on the basic competence,
adjusting the learning objectives to the indicators,
designing the learning activities which will encourage
students to participate as well as doing the process
assessment correctly. The new learning activities were
divided into 2 tasks. The first task was applying pair
work. The students were asked to work in pair, then they
got a narrative from the teacher and their job was to
comprehend the text given. The second was applying
Quiz. To do quiz, the teacher divided the class into two
big groups. Every group got a text. Then the member of
each group made a question to be asked to the opposite
team. The team that could get biggest was the winner.
During the quiz was running, the teacher was being the
moderator of the two groups.
The students can be called as successful readers
when they can comprehend all the component of the text.
They know what the text about. They are capable to
answer the questions related to the text (the explicit
meaning) as well as differentiate connotation and implicit
meaning of the text. From the rational above, it was
necessary to conduct a research of the used of the
appropriate material in teaching reading comprehension.
How do the students respond toward the use of
appropriate material in the teaching of reading
comprehension? This study focused on how the students
categorize the narrative text based on its generic
structure, how the students identify the moral value of the
narrative text, how the students answer when they get
questions from the teacher and how the students make
inferences while reading the narrative text.
Review Literature
The ultimate goal of learning a language is to be
able to comprehend and produce it in unrehearsed
situation, which demands both receptive and productive
creativity (Brown: 2000). Based on that statement, we
know that someone can be said learning a language if
he/she can use it in every situation. However in the
reading process, they do not only extract the meaning of
every word but also connect the information they have
got from the text with their own prior knowledge. Pang,
Muaka, Bernhardt, & Kamil (2003) state reading is a
complex activity that involves both perception and
thought. From their statement we know that the readers’
knowledge also play a role to help them understand the
text more. They have had prior knowledge in the form of
Adjusted Reading Materials for Reading Comprehension
3
perception. It is about what they have known. It may be
related to the new information stated in the text. Then
they will start to think in order to get the meaning from
written text they read. It may make them understand the
text easier. Based on those explanations, the writer
concludes that reading is an active activity of seeking the
information stated on the text and relating to their own
prior knowledge.
Reading comprehension is the ability to understand
a written passage of text. It allows readers to interact with
the text in a meaningful way. It is the bridge from passive
reading to active reading. Active readers will not read
from letters and words but from characters and contexts.
For many, it also unlocks the door to a lifetime of reading
recreation and enjoyment. Supporting to that, Pardo
(2004) says that comprehension is a process in which
readers construct meaning by interacting with the text
through the combination of prior knowledge and previous
experience, information in the text, and the stance the
reader takes in relationship to the text. Before reading a
text, readers have their own knowledge. In the process of
comprehending, this knowledge will be very useful for
them. The combination of readers’ prior knowledge and
text’s information will be a great factor to build meaning
of the text. The goal of teaching reading comprehension
strategies is to give readers the tools which they need to
be effective readers and independent learners (Moreillon:
2007). Reading itself is not an activity of getting fixed
meaning from written texts. The readers may use their
prior knowledge to support them in understanding the
text. In the process of reading, sometimes readers do not
only get a text with familiar words but also a text with
unfamiliar words. They is not necessarily to read and
understand the meaning of every word. They only need to
find the main idea of the text so that they can make a
summarize about it.
The material that should be taught in reading lesson
must be in accordance with the students’ interests and
backgrounds. In spite of it all, the teacher should also
consider the applicable curriculum. According to the
prevailing curriculum, the material to be taught is a
narrative text. So here the teacher should present the
narrative text that can attract students as well as not
contrary to the background of the students. This will
make the students more interested in reading activities.
Iwai (2007) states the teacher needs to be aware in how
the students relate their prior knowledge and interact with
a text critically, so that it guides them to have deeper
understanding of texts and to become more powerful
readers in other types of reading materials. Basically the
more the students know about the material they are going
to read, the more successful readers they will be. It is
because they do not need to struggle to comprehend the
texts. Only by reading the title, they will know what will
happen next. It is the way where their prior knowledge
takes role most.
There are some studies which are conducted in the
implementation of fun reading comprehension teaching.
The recent study was done by Akgün (1997) which
concludes that the teacher must try to use fun activities in
the classes before she makes the necessary changes
according to the specific needs and attitudes of your own
students. Other study was done by Raman (2004). It
concludes that using reading quiz in the reading class is
one way of motivating students to read and sustaining
their interest in reading.
The followings are the steps of teaching reading
comprehension adapted from Valette & Disick (1972)
and Brown (2000). They can be done in the teaching
reading comprehension using adjusted reading materials.
The first step to do is pre-reading activities. Here, the
teacher finds an interesting passage, which may appeal to
most of your students. By doing that, the teacher tries to
activate the students’ prior knowledge. Besides, the
teacher needs to introduce the topic of the passage,
encourage skimming, scanning, and predicting. The
students can bring the best of their knowledge and skills
to a passage when they can relieve to it. They will feel
less unpleasant to the reading activities because they have
already been familiar with the passage which is using
their daily topics. The ultimate goal of reading is
comprehension, so in the second stage the teacher needs
to direct the students to that goal. It can be adapted from
Raman (2004) who used quiz for his teaching of reading
comprehension. It can present fun while-reading
activities.
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The design of this research is classroom action
research. According to Susanto (2007) classroom action
research is a research about the implementation of
teaching and learning process in the classroom. It is
conducted to improve the quality of education by
evaluating the previous unsuccessful study. It must be a
problem why the study is unsuccessful. It means that the
problem of the research comes from the classroom itself.
Wallace (1998) also explains that action research is
different with other researchs in that it nearly always
arises from some spesific problem or issue arissing out of
usual practice. Therefore it focuses in the problem in its
approach and practices in its intended outcomes. Those
explanantions give clear descriptions why in doing this
research the researcher needs to collaborate with the
teacher of the class. They become partners for this study.
It is because the teacher is someone who knows the
students’ ability and behavior in the class.
Setting of the Study
The setting of the study was class VIII of SMP
Negeri 2 Geneng. The researcher chose this class because
based on the teacher’s information this class had problems
in the teaching and learning process. This class consists of
25 students, 14 females and 11 males. It is large enough
for teaching and learning process. It is not completed with
an AC, a LCD projector, as well as a speaker. The
students have arranged the chairs and tables well in order
Ejournal Unesa. Volume 01 Nomor 01 Tahun 2013, 0 - 216
to make them study easily. They mix their seats so that the
clever students will spread with the low and medium
students. It is purposed to make the class go smoothly. It
seems not to work because several students feel difficult
to comprehend the narrative text given by the teacher.
Although there are some students who actively guess the
meaning of the text, there are more students who are silent
or talking to their friends. It make them cannot complete
the task well and the class be crowded.
Research Procedures
This classroom action research has some steps.
According to Susanto (2007), those steps are planning,
implementation, observation and reflection in the field and
reflection stage.
1. Planning Stage
In this stage, the researcher looked for someone
who could be a partner of this research. This partner
had to be a teacher. She is needed as the requirement
of Classroom Action Research that is collaborative
and classroom-based. The teacher explained her
problem during the learning process. This problem
was identified and evaluated by the researcher and
the teacher. Then they formulated the research
problem in order to be solved by using classroom
action research. They prepared all the things which
were used during the learning process. It consisted of
reformulating the new lesson plan. It concerned with
the learning materials which were used by the
teacher.
After making the revised lesson plan, the
researcher and the teacher set the criteria of the
study. These criteria were in line with research
questions of the study. They were used to measure
the students’ comprehension. The following are the
criteria of the study
1. The first criterion was based on the first
research question, “1.2.1. To what extent are
the students able to categorize the narrative
text based on its generic structure?”. It means
that the ultimate goal of the students learning
was the students were able to categorize the
narrative text based on its generic structures.
The text used for the first criterion was Snow
White. Students were required to categorize
the text of Snow White given by the teacher.
The students were considered to be able to
meet the target of the first research question if
75% of the number of students (22 students)
was able to categorize narrative text based on
its generic structure correctly; that is
orientation, complication and resolution.
2. The second criterion was according to the
second research question, “1.2.2. To what
extent are the students able to identify the
moral value of the narrative text?”. The goal
of the study was the students could identify the
moral value of the narrative text. Here, the
researcher used two different texts, Mantu’s
Little Elephant and The Goose That Laid
Golden Eggs. The reason why the researcher
used two texts was because in the process of
learning, the teacher asked the students to
make two big groups. Each group got a text.
The students were considered to be able to
meet the target of the second research question
if 75% of the number of students (22 students)
was able to identify the moral value of the
narrative text correctly.
3. The third criterion was based on the third
research question, “1.2.3. To what extent are
the students able to answer the questions about
the narrative text given by the teacher?”. The
result to be achieved was the students were
able to answer the questions about the given
text. Here, the researcher used the same text as
the text used in the second criterion because
the second and third criteria would be achieved
by students in the same task, which was
playing quiz. But in this third criterion,
students were stated being successful not only
from their ability to answer questions, but also
on their ability to ask questions. Students were
considered to meet the target of the third
research question if 75% of the number of
members of each group (11 students in each
group) was able to ask questions and also
answer questions about the two texts properly.
4. The fourth criterion was according to the
fourth research question, “1.2.4. To what
extent are the students able to make inferences
while reading the narrative text given by the
teacher?”. For the fourth criterion, the
researcher used the same text as the first
criterion that was Snow White. This was
because the first and the fourth criteria were
done in the same task. Teacher asked students
to work in pairs. Then they had to infer what
they read as a single group. The students were
considered to be able to fulfill the fourth
research question if 75% of the number of the
students (22 students) was able to infer the
narrative text given by the teacher.
In the revised lesson plan, the researcher
designed the meeting into two. In the first meeting,
the teacher gave two narrative texts to the students
that were Malin Kundang and Snow White. Malin
Kundang was used to explain the concept of
narrative text to the students. After explaining, the
teacher asked the students to work in pair to discuss
the text of Snow White. While in the second
meeting, the teacher gave two other texts to the
students, Mantu’s Little Elephant and The Goose
That Laid Golden Eggs. They were asked to make a
class work then they had to make questions about
Adjusted Reading Materials for Reading Comprehension
5
the text and asked them to their opposite group. In
conclusion the researcher set the revised lesson plan
with two tasks of four different narrative texts in
two meetings. The researcher and the teacher also
prepared field notes to write all information and
everything happened during teaching learning
process. So it could be concluded that this stage was
the stage where they made a new scenario of the
teaching process.
2. Implementation Stage
It was the stage where the new scenario of the
teaching process was implemented. Here, the
teacher taught as she did regularly. She taught based
on the revised lesson plan which was formulated in
the planning stage. This stage was held in two
meeting. The first meeting was used by the teacher
to explain about the concept of narrative.
Example 1. Descriptive Note
Catatan Deskriptif:
Guru kemudian menunjukkan slide yang
sudah disiapkan, Didalam slide dijelaskan
apa itu teks naratif, generic structure,
tujuan komunikatif dan struktur
kebahasaan dari teks naratif sekaligus
sebuah contoh teks naratif. Contoh yang
diberikan adalah cerita Malin Kundang.
Selama menampilkan slide, guru juga
memberikan pertanyaan kepada siswanya
mengenai apa yang ada di dalam slide.
Guru : “Okay students, pay attention to
these slides please. Here, you can see that
narrative text is the text for …
Siswa : “Entertaining the readers”
(serentak)
Guru : “Good students. So if you want to
be entertained, you can read narrative text.
What about its generic structure? Let’s go
to the next slide. It consists of the first,
orientation. It is about the opening
paragraph where the characters of the story
are introduced. The second is complication.
It is the part where the problems in the
story developed. The third or the last is
resolution. What is resolution? Anyone
knows what is it?
…….
Here, the teacher ensured that all the students
have good understanding of narrative text before
they went to the next activity. The second meeting
was used to employ quiz.
Example 2. Descriptive Note
Catatan Deskriptif:
Guru menjelaskan apa yang akan dilakukan
hari ini. Mereka akan mengadakan kuis.
kemudian guru menjelaskan cara
memainkannya. Siswa mendengarkan
dengan seksama penjelasan yang diberikan
oleh guru. Salah satu siswa mengajukan
pertanyaan ketika tidak mengerti
penjelasan yang diberikan.
Guru : “Okay class, we are going to have a
quiz for today. I have divided you
into two groups. Then I will give
you two texts. The first text will
belong to group one and the second
will belong to group two. Then your
job is to read the text and make
questions based on it. The questions
must include comprehension
questions, vocabulary items and
grammar items. The questions can
be in the form of true/false, yes/no,
matching to synonyms, antonyms
and so on. You may use dictionary
while making questions. Each
member of the group has to
contribute at least two questions.
After having prepared the questions,
you have to read the other half of
the passage as you will have to
answer questions based on it. Any
questions so far?”
………..
It was to reduce students’ boredom during
reading process. It also showed how the students
understanding of narrative text delivered in the first
meeting.
3. Observation and Reflection in the Field Stage
This stage was coincided with the implementation
stage. It was done by the researcher. The researcher
observed the teaching learning process done by the
teacher. She used field notes to take note about what
happened in the class during the teaching learning
process.
Example 4. Descriptive Note
Catatan Deskriptif:
Guru melakukan apersepsi, ia menanyakan
pada siswanya hal-hal seputar teks naratif.
Guru : “Okay class, who knows what the
narrative text is?”
Siswa : “The text for entertaining the
readers ma’am” (menjawab serentak)
Guru : “That’s right. It is the text for
entertaining its readers. What about
the generic structure?”
Siswa : “Orientation, complication,
resolution ma’am”. (beberapa siswa)
Hanya beberapa siswa yang mampu
nenjawab pertanyaan dari guru mengenai
generic structure dari teks naratif.
Besides writing all the things happened, the
researcher also reflected the data which they have
gotten from the implementation stage. The result of
the reflection was realized in the form of reflective
data.
Example 4. Reflective Note
Catatan Reflektif:
Guru melakukan apersepsi untuk
Ejournal Unesa. Volume 01 Nomor 01 Tahun 2013, 0 - 216
mengetahui sejauh mana siswnya telah
memahami teks naratif. Hal ini
dimaksudkan agar tidak terjadi
pengulangan materi yang akan membuat
siswa bosan.
4. Reflection
It was the stage where the researcher and the
teacher made a review of the data. They gave
explanation of the data collected in the field notes.
Then they analyzed the students’ feedback during
the teaching learning process using appropriate
material. This feedback was as the measurement of
how the students’ comprehension.
To measure the students’ comprehension, the
researcher and the teacher had to make the criteria.
They were set from the research questions of the
study. If the students could accomplish all the
criteria stated in the research questions, the cycle of
the study was successful. From the first task, the
researcher indicated that 75% of the numbers of the
students have been able to categorize the text of
Snow White based on its generic structure and make
inferences while reading the text. The second task
indicated that 75% of the numbers of the students
have been able to identify the moral value of the
texts, Mantu’s Little Elephants and The Goose That
Laid Golden Eggs, ask questions of the texts as well
as answer the questions. Those result indicated that
the goals of the study have been accomplished. So
the next cycle was not needed.
Data Collection Technique
The researcher was the key instrument of the study
while data collection technique for this study was by
using observation which was done in form of qualitative
data. Wallace (1998) states qualitative is used to describe
data which are amenable to be counted or measured in an
objective war and are therefore “subjective”. Data will be
presented in the form of words, phrases or sentences.
Meanwhile,
The aimed of qualitative approaches is to offer
descriptions, interpretations and clarification of
naturalistic social context. Qualitative research draws
on the data collected by the researcher to make sense
of the human behavior within the research context
(Burns: 1999).
The researcher used unstructured field notes to write
all the information and also everything happened during
the teaching and learning process. Still according to
Wallace (1998) making field notes can prevent the
researcher from trouble and confusion in presenting data
caused by continuing to the next things. It helped her to
organize the data before the data was being analized. The
field notes organized into descriptive and reflective notes.
Descriptive note contains of the description of what
happens during the teaching and learning process (see
Example 3), while reflective note was used to write what
the researcher’s opinions and comments about all the
activity in the teaching and learning process (see
Example 4).
Data Analysis
As Susanto (2007) states in his book that data which
the researcher gets from the observation using
unstructured format is very plentiful, but not all the data
are relevant with the requirement, they need to be
classified and proceed systematically. The relevant data
would be classified based on the research question of the
study. After reducing un-relevant data, the researcher
classified relevant data based on the research questions of
the study. There were four research questions. The first
was about students’ ability in categorizing a narrative text
based on its generic structure.
The second data was about the students’ ability in
identifying the moral value of the narrative text. The third
was about the students’ ability in answering the questions
of the narrative text. The last was about the students’
ability in inferring the narrative text.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The Teaching Process of a Reading Class
Before conducting classroom observations, the
researcher discussed with the teacher about the problems
encountered during the previous learning process. After
that the teacher gave the lesson plan used in the previous
study. The researcher then examined all the data obtained
from the description of the teacher and the previous
lesson plan. After that she could conclude that the reason
why students have difficulty in reading comprehension
was due to materials using by the teacher too difficult.
The text used was beyond the ability of her students. This
resulted in many more students who were silent during
the learning process. Moreover, some students spoke with
their friends. They surrendered to read as bored and not
interested in the text provided by the teacher. Even if
there were students who were reading, they were
dependent on a dictionary to find the meaning of difficult
words. This was very time-consuming. As a result, the
purpose of reading that was comprehension was not
achieved properly.
Based on the previous lesson, the researcher made
the revised lesson plan. In her revised lesson plan the
researcher chose the appropriate material based on the
teacher’s description of her students ability. This was
done to make the students did not feel difficult to
comprehend the texts given. The researcher also
reformulated more specific indicators based on the basic
competence, adjusted the learning objectives to the
indicators, and designed the learning activities which
would encourage students to participate as well as do the
process assessment correctly. Students’ activities focused
on making the students to comprehend the text. In this
study, the researcher made collaborative research with
the teacher. The teacher was the one who taught in the
reading class. The researcher observed the teaching
learning process followed by the students and took field
notes based on it.
Adjusted Reading Materials for Reading Comprehension
7
According to the observation done by the researcher
and data in the field notes, the researcher could say that
the students were very interested in doing reading
activities. They also had discussion with their couple
friend as well as their classmate in a big group. The
learning process generally was running concussively.
Although there were some students who found
difficulties, it did not disrupt the learning process in
reading class. By doing group discussion, they could
learn to work together with their friends. The smart
students would help their friends who found difficulties.
The role of teacher was also evident in the learning
process. Although the students could learn independently,
but the teacher kept her eyes on them when they had
discussions. The questions that were not answered by
group discussion then it will be answered by the teacher.
The use of appropriate materials that were in the revised
lesson plan greatly helped students in reading class.
The Students’ Ability in Categorizing the Narrative
Text Based on Its Generic Structure
The reading activities which was followed by the
students were based on the revised lesson plan (Appendix
2) made by the researcher. When preparing revised lesson
plan, the researcher should consider the appropriate
indicators to make students understood the text properly.
This indicator would be used to replace the indicators
used by the teacher in the previous lesson plan. Based on
the basic competence the students would learn the
narrative text, the important thing to do was to introduce
the narrative text itself to the students. It made them able
to know the generic structure of narrative text and
categorize text given by its generic structure. The data of
students' ability to categorize the narrative text based on
its generic structure when they had discussion would be
the answer for the first research question.
In the beginning of the class, the students were busy
with themselves. It was because they used the language
laboratory for today’s lesson. They needed few time to go
there and prepare themselves to get the lesson. After
awhile they could pay attention to the teacher. Then the
students were greeted by the teacher. (1)
(1) Teacher
Students
Teacher
Choirul
Teacher
Students
Teacher
Students
Antok
Teacher
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
“Assalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.”.
“Wa’alaikummusalam Wr.
Wb.” (In choir)
“Ayo Choirul silahkan
dipimpin untuk berdoa”
“Before we start our lesson
today, let’s pray together. Pray
begin. (Praying together)
Finish.”
“Good morning students, how
are you today?”
“Good morning ma’am, I’m
fine, thank you.”
“Do you fasting?”
“Yeees Ma’am”
“Ma’am fasting?”
“Of course Antok, I do.
This greeting purposed to warn the students that the
lesson would be started. The teacher also asked the
students to pray first before starting the lesson. The
teachers wanted to familiarize her students with good
habits so that this habit would be instilled in students.
After greeting, the teacher the students’ attendance list
was checked by the teacher. Then they got the
explanation about what they were going to do for the
lesson that day. The teacher read the basic competence
and the learning objective for them. It was purposed to
ensure that all the students knew what they needed to
achieve at the end of the study. However some students
complained to the teacher because they got many things
to study. (2)
(2) T
Mega
Dini
T
:
:
:
:
“Okay class, this is our basic
competence for the lesson today.
Merespon makna dan langkah
retorika dalam esai pendek
sederhana secara akurat, lancar
dan berterima yang berkaitan
dengan lingkungan sekitar
dalam teks berbentuk recount
dan narrative. For today, we will
learn about narrative text. After
studying, you are expected to be
able to recognize what narrative
text is, identify the
communicative purpose of
narrative text, identify the
generic structure of narrative
text, identify the language
features of narrative text and find
all the information stated in the
narrative text.”
“Waduh ma’am, kok banyak
banget yang harus dipelajari.”
“Iya ma’am.”
“Don’t worry students, we’ll do
it slowly. You can ask question
if you don’t understand. And
remember, it is not as difficult as
you think.”
Brown (2000) stated that teachers should subdivide
their techniques into pre-reading, during-reading, and
after-reading phases. It could be seen in dialogue (2) that
the teacher had divided her technique into pre-reading
phase. In this phase, she tried to tell the students about
what they were going to do. Then she introduced the
topic for the lesson to the students that was about
narrative text. There were so many indicators that had to
be mastered by the students for the day. Some students
complained. But teachers could calm them well. The
teacher convinced the students that all these materials
would not be a big problem because they would learn
slowly. This made the students feel comfortable with the
learning atmosphere in the classroom.
After giving explanation about the basic
competence and the learning objectives, the teacher gave
apperception for the students related to the goal they
wanted to achieve. (3)
Ejournal Unesa. Volume 01 Nomor 01 Tahun 2013, 0 - 216
(3) T
S
T
S
:
:
:
:
“Okay class, who knows what the
narrative text is?”
“The text for entertaining the
readers ma’am” (In choir)
“That’s right. It is the text for
entertaining its readers. What about
the generic structure?”
“Orientation, complication,
resolution ma’am”. (Some students)
Dialogue (3) indicated that not all the students
answered her question. It meant that not all the students
knew about the generic structure of narrative text. They
needed more explanation from the teacher about narrative
text. Then the teacher showed the slides of narrative text.
The slides explained about what the narrative text is, the
generic structure of narrative text, the communicative
purpose of narrative text, language features of narrative
text as well as an example of narrative text. The example
given was the story Malin Kundang. During the slide was
showed, the teacher also gave questions to the students
about what on the slide. (4)
(4) T
S
T
Mega
T
Dini
T
S
T
S
T
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
“Okay students, pay attention
to these slides please. Here,
you can see that narrative text
is the text for … “
“Entertaining the readers” (In
choir)
“Good students. So if you want
to be entertained, you can read
narrative text. What about its
generic structure? Let’s go to
the next slide. It consists of the
first, orientation. It is about the
opening paragraph where the
characters of the story are
introduced. The second is
complication. It is the part
where the problems in the story
developed. The third or the last
is resolution. What is
resolution? Anyone knows
what is it?”
“Problemnya diselesaikan
ma’am.”
“Good Mega, Here in
resolution, the problem of the
story is solved.”
“Kalo sad ending gimana
ma’am?”
“Good question Dini.
Resolution of narrative text can
be better or worse. If it is
better, it will be happy ending.
If it is worse, … “
“It will be sad ending ma’am.”
(In choir)
“Great students. Any questions
so far?”
“No Ma’am”
“The next is about the
Galuh
Mega
T
S
T
Honi
Yayank
T
Antok
T
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
communicative purpose of
narrative text. It is used to
amuse, entertain and to deal
with an actual or vicarious
experience in different ways.
Now I have question for you
students, how are the language
features of narrative text?”
“Pake ed ed Ma’am”
“Was were Ma’am”
“Is it right? Let’s check in this
next slide. The language
features of narrative text are
using past tense. So Mega and
Galuh are right. Yang pake ed
sama was atau were. It is
because the story happened in
the past time. Another language
feature is using pronoun. What
is pronoun?”
(Silent)
“Kata ganti orang, such as I,
we, she, he and it. Who can
mention the example of
narrative text?”
“Cinderella Ma’am”
“Malin Kundang”
“Good, students. Okay, have
you ever read the story of
Malin Kundang?”
“Pernah ma’am, yang anak
durhaka itu kan ma’am?”
“Yes, you’re right Antok.
Malin Kundang is one of the
examples of narrative text. You
can see in the slide.”
To make them more understand about narrative text,
the teacher used the story which is common for them.
According to Brown (2000), the teacher had to balance
authenticity and readability in choosing texts. The teacher
should adjust the text given to the abilities and needs of
her students. By doing this, the students would be more
interested to read a given text. The story used by the
teacher is Malin Kundang. The students were interested
to this story because they could use their knowledge to
comprehend the text. Then each student accepted a copy
of narrative text from the teacher. The teacher explained
the generic structure of the narrative text based on the
text given. It made the students can understand each part
of generic structure of narrative text easily. The teacher
tried to make her students reach the learning indicators.
(5)
(5) T
Della
T
Untari
:
:
:
:
“It is the text of Malin Kundang.
I’ll give you the copies. Please
spread it out, Della.”
(Spreading to her friends)
“Okay class, now look at the
text you have got. Which one is
the orientation?”
“Paragraf one Ma’am”
Adjusted Reading Materials for Reading Comprehension
9
T
Untari
T
Jatra
T
Jatra
T
S
T
Clara
T
S
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
“Good Untari. How can you say
like that?”
“Ehm anu Ma’am. Tokohnya
muncul di situ. Perkenalan”
“Great Untari. So in the first
paragraph, the writer introduces
the characters of the story, the
setting and we can say it is
introduction. What about the
conflict? Who knows?”
(Raising hand)
“Yes Jatra”
“Paragraf dua sampe yang
sebelumnya paragraph terakhir
Ma’am”
“Good answer Jatra. And the
resolution? Who knows?”
(Raising hand)
“Wow, many students raise their
hands. Good. Okay Clara, what
is the answer?”
“Last paragraph Ma’am”
“You are right Clara. I think all
of you have understood about
narrative text well. Give
applause for us”
(Clapping hands)
The students were asked to make pair group. They
got another narrative text. This time the text was Snow
White. They were asked to categorize narrative text they
got based on its generic structure. (6)
(6) T
S
T
Choirul
T
S
T
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
“Okay students, please make a
couple group. You may choose
it by yourself. Do it now!”
(Making a couple group)
“Help me to spread it out,
Choirul. A text for each
group.”
(Spreading the texts)
“It is Snow White story. Your
job is to categorize it based on
the generic structure. You can
work with your group. Any
questions?”
“No Ma’am”
“Good, you can work it now”
Dialogue (5) and (6) indicated that the teacher has
taught her students using “SQ3R” sequence. According
to Brown (2000) teacher should follow the “SQ3R”
sequence in their teaching. It could be seen from the
activities she used for teaching reading. Firstly the
teacher explained about the generic structure of narrative
text. She also gave several texts that were used to sharpen
the students’ understanding of narrative text. The step of
question was also used by the teacher. It was because
from the question that the students asked and answered,
the teacher could measure how far the students have
understood the lesson.
To make the students did not feel bored, the teacher
asked students to create a group. In addition to that, this
was done to make students able to work well together.
Some students seemed to easily categorize the narrative
text based on its generic structure, but some students still
seemed difficult to do so. For this reason was why the
teacher made the students work in groups. It was
intended that the students could help each other. The
students who already understood about narrative text
could help their friends who still did not understand about
it. (7)
(7) Galuh
Clara
Galuh
Clara
Galuh
Clara
:
:
:
:
:
:
:Paragraf yang “She fled to the
dungeon beneath the castle.
There the Queen mixed a potion
that would change her into an
old hag. Then she took an apple
and slowly dipped it into another
potion sampai habis itu masuk
complication ya?”
“Iya, itu complicationnya.”
“Bawahnya itu masa juga
complication lagi Ra?”
“Iyalah, kan dalam satu teks
narrative bisa punya lebih dari
satu complication.”
“Ada 4 complication ya berarti?
“
“Nah itu bener. Bisa loh
sebenarnya kamu.”
The dialogue (7) showed that a student tried to help
another. They discussed what they did not know. Brown
(2000) explained teachers should use techniques that are
intrinsically motivating. Divided the students to work in
groups was one of the ways in which the teacher could
motivate her students. The students who were not able to
comprehend the text well would be motivated by a friend
who was able to comprehend the text well. This would
impact on the learning outcomes of students which the
students were able to understand the reading text properly.
In the discussion, there were several groups that both
members found difficulties in categorizing the generic
structure of the text. It was because they have not really
understood what has been explained by the teacher. The
students who had difficulties ask the teacher for more
explanation (8)
(8) Yossia
T
Yossia
T
:
:
:
:
:
“Ma’am, kalo dari orientation
ke complication itu ada
jedanya atau enggak”
“What do you mean by Jeda?”
“Itu loh Ma’am, kaya
peralihan”
“Orientation is the paragraph
where the writer introduces the
character, the setting etc.
While complication is the
paragraph where the conflict
Ejournal Unesa. Volume 01 Nomor 01 Tahun 2013, 0 - 216
Yossia
T
:
:
appears. So when you find a
conflict in the paragraph you
read, it means that it is
complication. Is it clear?”
“Oalaah gitu Ma’am. Oke
Ma’am, understand”
“Good”
After all students were finished with their
discussion, the teacher asked the students to discuss it
together. What they have discussed with their groups.
This was done in order that the students really understood
about narrative text. Students seemed eager to discuss
with the teacher. They wanted to show that they have
mastered the material taught. (9)
(9) T
S
T
Dodi
T
S
T
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
“Okay students, have you
finished?”
“Yes Ma’am”
Great students. Now, we are
going to discuss it. Okay Dodi,
which one is the orientation?”
Itu Ma’am, yang paragraf
pertama. Yang long ago sampe
was very cruel”
“ Is it right students?
“Yes, Ma’am
“Okay class, go on to the next
……” (Continuing to the next
discussion)
At the end of the discussion session, the students
seemed to understand about the generic structure of
narrative text. It could be seen from the many students
who had been able to categorize narrative texts provided
by the teacher based on its generic structure. It was
supported by dialogue (7), dialogue (8) and dialogue (9).
The teacher did not have trouble when asking her
students to discuss the generic structure of narrative text.
When they still did not find the answer of their
discussion, then the student might ask the teacher. It was
which made the students able to properly categorize the
narrative text. Then the teacher could continue to the next
activities.
The Students’ Ability in Identifying the Moral Value
of the Narrative Text
The second research question to be answered by the
researcher was the ability of students in identifying the
moral value of the narrative text. Based on the description
of teachers when teaching reading using previous lesson
plan, many students did not comprehend the narrative text
delivered by the teacher, especially to identify the moral
value of the narrative text itself. Then the researcher
changed the narrative text given to students in the revised
lesson plan. This was done to make students were able to
comprehend the text better as well as able to identify the
moral value of narrative text. Brown (2000) stated in his
book that it needs the follow-up of the activities of reading
they did. The teacher had to make a follow up activities
after the students did reading activities. It will help her to
know her students’ reading understanding of the text.
What they have got of the text.
Then the teacher re-explained the last material to
assure that all students have understood the concept of
narrative text well. Later, she went on to the next
activities. Akgün (1997) did a study which concluded that
the teacher must try to use fun activities in the classes
before she makes the necessary changes according to the
specific needs and attitudes of your own students. The fun
activity which was used by the teacher was Quiz. The use
of “Quiz” was adapted from Raman (2004). He said that
the used of Quiz Game could motivate students to read
and sustain their interest in reading. When reading became
a game it took away the monotony that they appeared to
associate with the act of engaging with the printed
page. Then the teacher divided the students into two
groups. It was a big group. The students then gathered
with their group. It took a rather long time because some
students did not get along with the group. There were
some who did not join the group, but it could be overcome
after the teacher warned them. (10)
(10) T
Choirul
T
Jatra
T
Jatra
Aprianti
T
Jatra
T
S
T
Honi
T
Yuli
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
“Okay students, I will divide
you into two group”
(Demonstrating with hands)
“Ma’am kelompoknya pilih
sendiri atau dipilihkan?”
“I’ve chosen the group for this
quiz. The first group consists
of the students who were in
even numbers. The second
group consists of the students
who were in odd number… “
(Raising hand) “Ma’am”
“Yes Jatra”
“Even number itu apa
Ma’am?”
“Nomer genap ya Ma’am”
“Yes, you’re right Aprianti.
Even number means nomer
genap, while odd number
means nomer ganjil. Get it?”
“Oalah. Ngobrol dong Ma’am
kalo gitu maksudnya”
“Now, all of you please gather
with your group”
(Noisy)
“Ssssst, hayo Honi where is
your group? Go go, get your
group.”
“Yes yes Ma’am”
“Yuli, what are you doing?
Stop talking get your group
right now”
“Yes Ma’am” (Walking to her
group)
Then the teacher explained how to do quiz to the
students. (11)
(11) T : “Okay class, we are going to
have a quiz for today. I have
Adjusted Reading Materials for Reading Comprehension
11
Laura
T
Laura
T
:
:
:
:
divided you into two groups.
Then I will give you two texts.
The first text will belong to
group one and the second will
belong to group two. Then your
job is to read the text and make
questions based on it. The
questions must include
comprehension questions,
vocabulary items and grammar
items. The questions can be in
the form of true/false, yes/no,
matching to synonyms,
antonyms and so on. You may
use dictionary while making
questions. Each member of the
group has to contribute at least
two questions. After having
prepared the questions, you
have to read the other half of
the passage as you will have to
answer questions based on it.
Any questions so far?”
“Ma’am, what is
comprehension question? “
“Comprehension question is a
question which is related to the
text. It can be explicit meaning
which is written clearly in the
passage such as characters in
the story, or implicit meaning
which is not written clearly in
the passage such as main idea,
moral value and so on.”
“Oh, pelajaran yang bisa
diambil dari cerita gitu ya
Ma’am?”
“You’re right Laura. Your time
for reading and preparing the
questions are only 15 minutes
while for the next second text
you have only 5 minutes. So
your time is only 20 minutes for
all” (Demonstrating with hands)
Dialogue (10) and dialogue (11) indicated that the
teacher played the role as a leader of the class. She was
controlling her students before letting them worked with
the group. Valette & Disick (1972) explained that reading
involved internal behaviors. One of them was perception
where the teacher introduced the language. In the
dialogue 10, the teacher read the instruction for playing
quiz. It was the teacher’s way to introduce to her students
about the quiz. How they could play the quiz. In addition,
the teacher also used a simple instruction that was easily
understood by students. According to Brown (2000)
teaching reading skill should be in an interactive
curriculum, in which the teacher used quiz to teach
reading. Besides, she always remembered to use simple
instructions for her quiz. It was because she knew that her
students were lack of vocabularies. If she used the
complicated instruction, her students would not
understand what she said. It meant nothing.
The students then got a text of narrative. They read
it carefully. Each team also seemed keen to make
questions based on the text they read. They were quickly
able to make the question of the text. This was because
they have already known about the concept of narrative
text. (12.1) & (12.2)
Group 1
(12.1) Antok
Okta
Antok
Fitri
:
:
:
:
“Heh, kamu bikin pertanyaan
apa?” (Looking at Okta’s
question)
“Ealah Tok, baca dong. Bikin
apa kek”
“Fit, tanya apa dong?”
“Siapa tokohnya aja Tok,
nggak papa”
(Other members of group one were
discussing)
Group 2
(12.2) Wahyu
Mega
:
:
“Udah Meg?”
“Udah. Heh kalian udah
belum bikin pertanyaannya?
Buruan, mau abis waktunya”
(Other members of group two were
discussing)
After finished making question, they got another
text from their opposite team. They read it more carefully
because they would have questions about the text and had
to answer it correctly. Then the teacher explained the
rules of the game. The students could easily understand
the teacher’s explanation because she used simple
instructions. After knowing the rules, they looked more
enthusiastic to play the quiz.
During the quiz was held, many questions arose.
Some questions could be easily answered, but there were
some questions that needed more understanding. (13.1) &
(13.2)
Group 1
(13.1) Dina
Dodi
T
Dina
T
Group2
:
:
:
:
:
:
“Why did the elephant
screech?”
“Because they heard the word
snack”
“Is it correct Dina the answer
from Dodi?”
“Correct Ma’am”
“So, group 2 gets 1 point”
“Yeeeeee” (In choir)
Group 2
(13.2) Mega
Okta
T
Mega
:
:
:
:
“What is moral value of the
story of the Goose that Laid
Golden Eggs?”
“Mmm, We should not be
greedy”
“Is it correct Mega the
answer from Okta?”
“Correct Ma’am”
Ejournal Unesa. Volume 01 Nomor 01 Tahun 2013, 0 - 216
T
Group1
:
:
“So, group 1 gets 1 point”
“Yeeeeee” (In choir)
The dialogue above (13) showed that some students
have been able to reach an understanding of the explicit
message conveyed by the author. Taking from the results
of the quiz, the teacher discussed with the students
whether they still had difficulties or not. It was based on
Brown (2000) statement, since reading was unobservable
skill; the researcher indicated the students’
comprehension from how the students gave responses to
their teacher. At first only a student who asked to the
teacher, then another asked either. The students who
asked showed that he had understood what was being
taught by the teacher. Then the teacher gave explanation
clearly about the questions. (14)
(14) Dodi
T
Mega
T
Okta
T
Choirul
T
Untari
T
Mega
T
T + S
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
“Moral value itu apa?”
“Good question Dodi. Moral
value is the point of what we
can take from the story. So
you explain about what you
get after you read that story. Is
there any other questions?”
Loh Ma’am kalo gitu tujuan
penulisan itu apa Ma’am?
Beda ya sama moral value?”
“The purpose of writing is
something which is conveyed
by the writer to the reader.
Whereas moral value is what
the readers gain after reading /