“Is teaching reading through top-down technique by using think-pair-share strategy improving students’ reading comprehension”

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Problem

Every English learner has to master all of basic skills in English, they are listening, reading, speaking and writing.  Listening will guide us to the best pronunciation of native speakers. Reading will give us knowledge and bring us to the right understanding of sentence style and arrangement. Speaking indicates someone’s ability in English speech. And through writing, it can prove someone’s ability in English. Good writing implicates good understanding in English. So that, every students have to master all of these skills if they want to be a good English learner.

The writer chose reading in this research. One of the most important skills in English is reading. Through reading a learner can pay all of their curious about world and everything in their mind. Knowledge, information, science, motivation, religion, life guide and many more are available in paper or internet if the learners want to search and read it. Therefore, reading skill is important for language learners to be mastered in order to get success in learning.

Students have to read in order to enrich their knowledge. “The fundamental goal of any reading activity is knowing enough science concepts and knowing the language in example comprehending or understanding”.(Sukirah 1988: 3). As the researcher knows, students used to ask everything, their empty head need to be filled, and it’s not easy to make them contented with teacher’s answers.

Reading will help everyone who needs help. Mother could know everything about children caring, a farmer would increase their harvest because they read new finding in agriculture technology, and students who read much should be the first who bring new idea for the better life. That is the amazing of reading.

The researcher found some facts in the field is not satisfied for the teacher. The researcher found that students get difficulties in reading. Reading English text as foreign language is a big problem for them. “Reading in target language is really difficult for them. They are required to have adequate knowledge of the language which has different system, including vocabulary and structure, as well as possible. They will fail otherwise”. (Sukirah 1988:3)

Azies and Alwasilah in Watnawati (2009) stated that, the main purpose of conducting reading activity in schooling are : Identify the topic, state main idea, recognize word reference, recognize synonyms and antonyms, identification the location of information, understanding factual details, recognizing line of reasoning. In this research, the researcher focus on identify the topic, state main idea, recognize word reference, recognize synonyms and antonyms, identification the location of information, and inference.

To achieve this purpose, it is necessary for the students to comprehend their reading texts. However, conducting reading activity with deep comprehension is not easy. It has been revealed that reading is a complex process in which many factors can be involved. As a matter of fact, the students often feel unable to comprehend their reading text. They frequently feel hard to figure out ideas in the text that they have just read.

The researcher experience in teaching practice found that most of students just read the material but they can not catch the core and details of the text. They read the text word by word and when they feel that there are so many difficulties and new words they stop and lose motivation to continue. Just view of them who want to check in dictionary or ask to others and teacher.  From discussion with some Islamic Junior High School ( MTsN) Pauh Kambar students, Padang Pariaman regency, it is obvious that the students have the same case.

This table bellow shows students’ mark in daily examination of reading skill.

Table 1. 1

Average Score of Daily Examination

No	Class	Listening	Reading	Speaking	Writing
1	VIII. 1	60, 5	57, 3	77, 9	59, 9
2	VIII. 2	72, 6	51, 5	75, 3	60, 3
3	VIII. 3	71, 5	53, 4	73, 2	62, 3
4	VIII. 4	58, 5	55, 7	74, 4	61, 2
5	VIII. 5	71, 7	51, 8	75, 3	61, 4

           Source : From Teacher at MTsN Pauh Kambar

That table shows that the average score of reading test is low and not pass minimum standard of graduation mark, which required 70 to pass it. It means that there are so many students have to follow remedial examination.