Hipotesis,Tahun ke 5, No 1, Januari - April 2013

Background Reading is one of the important aspects that can influence the student success in learning English because with reading the student can increase their vocabulary and pronunciation. The main goal of learning English in Indonesia is not only for academic purpose but also for the development of science and technology as a part of Indonesia government program. The outcomes of reading in Indonesia are still far from we expect. Umar, H. Hawa (1998) stated that most of SMA students are neither able to comprehend English text book nor, to speak English perfectly. The most students are not able to write English and only a few can understand English, although they have learnt English for several years. For students who are studying language, reading is one of the skills which have to be learned and considered as the most important thing, because it can influence other language skills (listening, speaking, and writing). Through reading, we can get much knowledge, study new words, comprehend new ideas,

study how the words are used, how to implement the grammatical rules and gain the knowledge of information. Therefore, the teacher as a guide in learning process is demanded to be more creative to build up the students motivation to improve their ability in reading comprehension. There are some problems faced by the students in reading comprehension such as, lack of mastering vocabulary and students motivation itself. One way that has been prepared by the writer to help the students in reading comprehension is through graded exercise. This way is presented to stimulate the student to comprehend the text correctly. The explanation above becomes an indication that it is a way to improve reading comprehension of the student through graded exercise. Hopefully, graded exercise as an answer to solve many problems faced by the students to comprehend the English text. Based on some explanations above, the writer formulated research question as follows:To what extent can graded exercise improve reading comprehension of the second Semester Students Of
77

Nuraeni Kasim

STKIP YPUP Makassar. So, the objective of the research was to find out whether or not the use of the graded exercise improves reading comprehension of the second Semester Students of STKIP YPUP Makassar through graded exercise. Concept of Reading Many students said that they have read one book but when they were asked about the main idea of the book, they said nothing. It is not reading at all, except parting. Read one book without any comprehension, this reading cannot be called as reading. Some definitions of reading: Nunan (1989) states that reading is an interactive between what a reader already knows about given topics or subject and what the writer writes. Smith (1980) points out that reading is an active attempt, on the part of reader, to understand the writer message. The reader interacts with and tries to reconstruct what the writer wishes to communicate. Ophelia (1980) states that reading is the process of finding out information in passage. He continuous that during reading process, a reader tries to find out the ideas written in the passage. Based on the explanation above, it is clear that reading is an active process to interact with the writer through the written material which requires a motivation. Concentration for the reader in order to catch some usefull information from the writing they read. Concept of Reading Comprehension Definition of Reading Comprehension Reading comprehension is a term to identify those skills needed to understand and apply that information contained within written material. Kustaryo (1998) states reading comprehension is understanding or comprehending what has or have been read. David (1985) states that during reading comprehension process, the students must have full concentration in order to be able to catch all ideas written in passage, she asserts that a students reading ability is very important in reading comprehension because he or she can comprehend the text by being able to understand the meaning of words or sentences and the correlation among them. Improving Reading Comprehension Reading comprehension requires motivation, mental frameworks for holding ideas, concentration and good study techniques. According to Ottoin Fatimah (2008) there are two factors that can affect comprehension, they are:characteristics of the material to read and characteristics of the reader

Characteristics of the material being to read can be major black of comprehension. Otto states that the passage with concepts, technical vocabulary special meaning for words, and unfamiliar syntactical structures can limit comprehension. Characteristic of the reader according to Otto: the readers familiarity with the concept vocabulary presented decoding ability, purpose for reading and attitude toward reading. Reading comprehension not only depends on the readers. Smith points out that reading comprehension depends on the reader, writer and the teacher. Strategies for Teaching Comprehension According to Mattis (2000), there are three strategies for teaching comprehension. The third strategy is as follows: Making connections Readers make connections between books they read to their own lives. Teachers can help their students connect on a larger scale. They can connect things from books to real world happenings. By doing this, it enhances the students understanding. Questioning Questions are the key to understand text. They take us into understanding. Students need to feel that their questions are important. As a teacher, we need a model by asking and answering questions. When students ask questions they have a desire to learn for understanding. This leads to comprehension. Visualizing and inferring Visualizing is creating pictures in our mind. When students visualize, they create their understanding in their mind. Comprehension Skills A clue to improve your comprehension skills can be found by looking at the way is measured. A good comprehension test contains questions covering each of the other six skills listed: reading ability is based on three aspects: motivation, concentration, distraction. They are shortly explained as follow: Motivation. Our success in reading will also depend on motivation. This need or desire to achieve a certain goal that can make the difference between success and failure. Motivation can be influenced by internal and external factors. Internal factor means everything which comes from the reader themselves, where it can help to push students always read and interacts in reading process, while external factor means everything from out of readers themselves that can help the students to learn especially to read, as an example, reading material can be easily learnt, when the students understand everything has relationship
78

Hipotesis,Tahun ke 5, No 1, Januari - April 2013

with their environment. Concentration Concentration means focus on our attention clearly and completely on a purpose. This is a very easy to do when we are interested in what we are doing. Distraction We may find that our concentration is interrupted by various distractions. We have no control over some distractions, but we can control others. We can eliminate some distractions by choosing our place and time of reading carefully. Hypothesis This research presents the Null Hypothesis (Ho) there is no any significant difference between the students reading ability before and after reading comprehension through graded exercise. The alternative hypothesis (H1) there is a significant between the students reading comprehension before and after learning reading comprehension through graded exercise. RESEARCH METHOD Research Design The method that used in this research was preexperimental with one group pre-test and post-test design. The group did the pre-test before getting the treatment and did the post-test. The comparison of the pre-test and post-test score determines the success of the treatment (Gay:187). Research Variables This research has two variables: Independent variable was a teaching strategy that is graded exercise for reading comprehension. Dependent variable was the students reading comprehension. Population and Sample The population of this research was the second semester students of STKIP YPUP Makassar. It consisted of two classes. Each class consisted of 30 students. So the total numbers of the students were 60 students. SampleIn this research the writer used purposive sampling technique in one class. The sample consisted of one class from the second semester students of STKIP YPUP Macassar.Those students were chosen as sample because they were suitable for the material given. They also considered being appropriate with the level of the text that would be given in pre test or post test and treatment. Instrument of the Research The instrument of the research was reading test. There were two kinds of test used. The test involved 10 items for multiple choice, and 10 items for true-

false. The total number of the test were 20 items. Procedures of Collecting Data Procedures of collecting data were chronologically performs as follows: Pre test As a pre test, the students have been given a reading test. They worked individually in order to check their prior knowledge. It consisted of 20 items. It took 45 minutes. Treatment After giving pre-test, the students were given treatment for two times. The researcher presented three different reading titles of English text and assigned the student to work in a group of five. The students have been given English text for each group as a media in applying graded exercise. Post test Post test was used to find out the students reading achievement after the treatment was given. The test was the same as the pre test but different reading material. Technique of Data Analysis To analyze the data, the researcher followed the step below: Scoring the student correct answer of pre test and post test Score:(the students correct answer score )/(the total number of items ) X 10 ay, 1981 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Findings Before teaching reading through graded exrcises, the students score was categorized fair with the mean score 6,17. This means that the students still have low achievement in reading comprehension. After going the treatment through graded exercise, the students score was categorized good with the mean score 8,283. This means that the students achievement in reading comprehension is improved after being taught by using graded exercise. Based on the result of the t-test, the writer found that there was significant difference result of pre-test and post-test. It means that there was significant difference result of the pre-test before and after teaching and learning process by using graded exercises. Discission From the discussion above, it can be concluded that the second year students of SMP Hasauddin Gowa have good comprrehension after learning reading by using graded exercises. It means that using graded exercises in teaching reading subject can improve students achievement in reading comprehension.
79

Nuraeni Kasim

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION Conclusion Based on the findings and discussions of the research in the previous chapter, it can be concluded that the students achivement in reading comprehension is classified as (X_1= 6,17) before being taught by using graded exercise, and their achievement was improved (X_2 = 8,283) after being taught by using graded exercise. In the other words, it can be said that the use of graded exercise can improve the students reading comprehension. Suggestion Based on the conclusions above, the writer would like to suggest the following points: It is suggested that the teachers use graded exercise as an alternative way of teaching reading comprehension. it is suggested that the English teachers use various method, strategies and materials in teaching English. The teacher of English are suggested to use graded exercise in teaching reading comprehesion in order that the teacher is not monotone in teaching English and the students are not bore. The writer suggests that teacher should creative to courage students to take responsibility for their roles as an active learner.

BIBLIOGRAFY Alwi, Asryani. 2003. Motivating SLTP Students to Read English by Using Humorous Stories. Thesis Makassar: FBS UNM Makassar. Burns, C. Paul et al. 1984. Teaching Reading in todays Elementary School. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Carver, Ronald P. (1990). Reading rate: a review of r e s e a r c h a n d t h e o r y. Av a i l a b l e o n l i n e a t : http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu/ncbepubs/directions/04.htm. On July 8^th, 2011 Darnah. 2005. Improving the Students reading Comprehension through Graded Exercise. Thesis Makassar: FBS UNM Makassar. David, Russell. 1985. Personal Values in Reading, the Reading Teaching. Boston: Horn Book Inc. Day. 1980. Strategies for teaching comprehension. Available online: http//www. gmat. pacer. Com. On July 8^th, 2011. Departement Pendidikandan Kebudayaan. 1985.

Kurikulum SMA 1994. Bidang BahasaInggris Jakarta: Depdikbud. Fatimah. 2008. Using picture in Teaching reading Comprehension to the second year Students of SMP YPUP Makassar. Thesis Makassar: STKIP-YPUP Makassar. Gay, L. R. 1981. Educational Research. London: Charles Merrill Publishing Co. Abel and Homel Company. Gay, L. R. 1987. Educational Research. London: Charles Merrill Publishing Co. Abel and Homel Company Harmer, Jeremy. 1983. The Practice of English Language Teaching. New York USA: Longman Inc. Hasnah. 1999. The Correlation Between the Vocabulary Mastery and Reading Comprehension Ability of the Second Year Students of SMUN 1 Sinjai. Thesis Makassar: FBS UNM Makassar. Junardi. 2008. Improving reading comprehension of the third year students of SMP Tamalatea Makassar through Picture. Thesis Makassar: STKIP-YPUP Makassar. Khairul, K. 1998. Stimulating Students Interest to Read English by Using Imaginative Reading Material at SMUN 1 Bulukumba. A Thesis Faculty of Language and Art State University of Makassar. Kustaryo, Sukirah. 1998. Reading Technique of College Students. Jakarta: P2LPTK. Mattis. 2000. Strategies That Work. Available online at: http://wik. Ed. Uiuc. Edu/reading comprehension.On July 8^th, 2011 Nunan. 1989. Second Language Teaching and Learning. Boston: Horn Book Inc. Nuttall, Christine. 1982. Teaching Reading Skill in Foreign Language. London: British Library Cataloging in Publication. Ophelia. 1980. Teaching Reading Today. New York: Mc. Nelly Publishing Company. Perkins. 1992. Characteristics of Teaching Reading Comprehension Available online: http://revolution. Allbest/language/00356312-0.Html.On July8^th, 2011 Simon, Greenal and Swam, Michael. 1986. Effective Reading. Reading Skills for Advanced Students. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Smith J. Richard. 1980. Reading Instruction for Days Children. United States of America: Prentice Hall Inc. Tailor, Barbara Larry. A. Harris, P. David Pearson. 1983. Reading Difficulties. Random House: New York. Tangke, Peranika. 2006. The Correlation between the Reading Habit of the Students of SMA Frater Makassar and Their English Achievement. Thesis Makassar: FBS UNM Makassar. Umar, H. Hawa. 1998. The Achievement of Reading Comprehension of the Second Year Students of SMUN 1 Ternate Based on Curriculum 1994. Thesis Makassar: FBS UNM Makassar.

80