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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

1.1.

Background of the Study


The teaching and learning English is the priority of the lesson, which is
learnt from elementary, junior, senior high school, into the college or university.
In one of the instructional English process is the material of reading, moreover,
in the college at English Department. Many universities and colleges applied the
English lesson at English Department by applying the four skills, which one of
them is a Reading skill. At STKIP-PGRI reading skill share applied in the
Reading I until Reading V. According to the curriculum of English Education
Department that the reading course is presented into five series, namely of
Reading I, II, III, IV, and V.
The syllabus of Reading II mentions that the course of Reading II is the
second series of the reading course series given at the second semester and
stands for local curriculum. It continues on studying higher level of reading skill
including skimming, scanning, reading for through comprehension, critical
reading, and contextual uses of grammar. It is also more complex than Reading I.
The teaching and learning process are managed under simultaneous, practice and
aim at facilitating the student to brush up and improve their completed reading

proficiency on reading I in order to able to adjust or cope with reading III as well
as to hold intermediate level. (Syllabus, 2007:4)
Reading is one of English skills that every student of English Department
must have. By reading understanding grows and gets notion stressed on
vocabulary, besides, to arise many complexities in the text that has been read.
Reading is the process of introducing, understanding, and valuing in ideas, which
do not take as reflex mind, but it will be put consciously into the mind. Reading
texts also provide opportunities to study of language particularly of English
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language, for examples vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, and the way construct
sentences, paragraphs, and texts. (Harmer.2001:68).
If the students of STKIP-PGRI Banjarmasin understand main ideas, it will
make them easy to answers the question based on text. On the contrary, when
students cannot understand the main ideas, they will have problem to determine
main ideas in the texts, of course they will unable to answers the questions about
the main idea.
But, some students of English Department still made mistakes in Reading
test, especially when they got a test about finding Main Idea. Moreover, if the
students cannot find the main idea of a paragraph on the question sheet, it means
that they cannot write the right answers.

Based on preliminary study about the problems of student in reading texts to


find main ideas for student at STKIP-PGRI Banjarmasin, the researcher want to
find out the students ability in finding main idea and raised a research about
The Ability of the Reading II Students of STKIP PGRI Banjarmasin in
Finding Main Idea Academic Year 2012/2013
1.2.

Identification and formulation of the Problem


Based on the preliminary study before, the researcher found out that there
were many students who had some problems in reading especially in finding
main idea. The students seemed to have a lack of understanding about the
characteristic of main idea. As stated by Haris, the components of reading consist
of contents, text, idea, and style. One of those four components is main idea
((Haris, 1978:88). Finding main idea has been the organ concern of the research.
From the identification above, the researcher takes the research object about
the students ability of STKIP-PGRI Banjarmasin in finding main idea in a
paragraph, and the subject of the research is the reading II students of STKIPPGRI Banjarmasin academic year 2012/2013. Then, the problem is formulated
as follow:
How is the ability of the reading II students of STKIP-PGRI
Banjarmasin in finding main idea academic year 2012/2013?

1.3. Purpose of the Study

The research objective is to describe the students ability in finding main


idea at English Department of STKIP PGRI Banjarmasin academic year
2012/2013.
1.4. Significance of the Study

It is divided into two aspects: implication and application.


1. Implication
The result of the research will give contribution to the theoretical basis of
teaching reading and reading skills especially in finding main idea.
2. Application
a. For the lecturer
The result research can be used as an input to improve the technique of
teaching reading skills especially in finding main idea of a descriptive
paragraph.
b. For students
The result research can be used as a feed back for them to improve their
reading ability especially in finding main idea of a descriptive
paragraph.
c. For other researcher
The result research can be used as meaningful information to do further
research similar object or other object.

1.5.

Working Theory

The main idea of a paragraph or story is what the passage is mostly talking
about. Everything else in in the written work tells more about the main idea.
Students well identify a main idea:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

In a title
In the first sentence of a paragraph
In the middle of a paragraph
Expressed in two sentences
Implied, or stated

(Http://Lesson-planmaterial.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_find_the_main_idea.)
It is important to be able to find the main idea in a paragraph. The main idea
tells what the paragraph is mostly about. All of the other sentences are details
that tell more about the main idea. Sometimes the main idea is not written
explicitly by sentences.
(Http://www.ehow.com/how_4540359_find_main_idea.paragraph.html)

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1.

Meaning of Ability
Ability means capacity or power (to do something physical or
mental)(Hornby, A.S, 1987:2 in Rahmawati) According to Chaplin, Ability
(Kemampuan, kecakapan, ketangkasan, bakat, kesanggupan) merupakan tenaga
(daya kuat) untuk melakukan sesuatu.(Http://www.Diglib.petra.ac.id). William
in rahmawati (2011, p.6) states that Ability is the quality of being able to do
something or tratural or acquired skill or talent.
According to Noufeldt and Guralnik (in rahmawati, 2011, p. 6) : Ability is
being able: power to do (something physical or metal) skill expertness, or lets a
(specified) ability, cap a city or tendency. From the statement, we know that we
need and should have ability if we want to do something well and to do
something satisfactory but not necessarily outstandingly.

2.2.

Nature of Reading
There are various definitions of reading purposed by some experts. From
Eskey says that there is not yet a completely valid explanation of reading but
however imperfect the definition constitutes a necessary first step. ( Eskey, 19b6:
14). Christine Nuttal defines reading as the meaningful interpretation of printed
on written verbal symbol. (Nuttal, 1982: 14). It means that reading is a result of
the interaction between the perceptions of graphic symbols that represent

language and the readers language skills, cognitive skills, and the knowledge of
the world.
Reading is an active cognitive process of interacting with print and
monitoring comprehension to establish meaning (Clark and Silberstein, 1987:
15). Reading is instantaneous recognition of various written symbols,
simultaneous

association

of

these

symbols

with

existing

knowledge,

comprehension of the information and ideas communicated. It means that when a


reader interacts with a printed text, his prior knowledge combined with it and the
visual (written) information results in his comprehension by the message that he
got on the text.
When considering reading theory, it is also important to maintain a realistic
perspective on the importance and utility of reading models. Much discussion on
construction models of reading is basically the assumed process involved in
reading as well as their operational interaction (Eskey, 1986: 15). As such they
play a vital role in the exploration of reading: they both force more careful
consideration of the assumptions and explicit explanation of the contribution
made by the various processes.
To develop theory which is open to validation, it is important to consider
that a model of reading should be compatible with ongoing research. At the time,
perhaps the greatest danger in going from theory to practice is the human
propensity to remain too committed to any theoretical orientation in the face of
that does seem to work in the classroom, and how students react to these
procedures.

2.3.

Kinds of Text
The types of text taught consist of recount, narrative, procedure

descriptive, new items, spoof, report, analytical, hortatory exposition, discussion


and review (BNSP DepDiknas. 2007).
Recount is telling the experience of someone, it is included of narrative
essay. Then procedure descriptive is telling about the information situation or
condition around of someone or the natural situation it is included of descriptive
essay. A news item is telling about the content of condition such as the news in
the television or radio, spoof is telling about the content of demonstration.
Report text is telling about the real situation on the happening, they are included
of exposition essay.
Descriptive essays are purposed to describe some object, thus, for
instance, some place, feeling, person, or something, etc, so that the reader will be
able to imagine the whole picture of the thing described.
Based on perception in the time. Narrative is telling of a story, the
succession of events is given in chronological order. An argumentative essay is
to show that your assertion (opinion, theory, and hypothesis) about some
phenomenon or phenomena is correct or more truthful than others.
The expository text type it aims at explanation, i.e. the cognitive analysis
and subsequent syntheses of complex facts. Example: An essay on Rhetoric:

What is it and why do we study it? then the analytical and hortatory talks about
the exposition text.
Argumentative is the act forming reasons, making inductions, drawing
conclusions, and applying them to the case in discussion; the operation of
inferring propositions, not known or admitted as true, from facts or principles
known, admitted, or proved to be true. (Sudarwati. 2002: 32).
According to Alice C. Ommagio (1986, p.150) Reading is a language
process. The other language skill I English learning wont be successful without
reading. Reading is ready by the students to get information. The text in reading
is read though understanding. It is not only read without more but also it needed
to master by the students. So, the students will be easier to understand the text of
reading and know what the technique have to use in reading a text. In order to
understand how be as teachers can help students enhance the reading skill, we
need to think about both the purpose for which they read and stages or sequenced
steps trough which they must go to achieve those goals of purposes (Alice C
Ommagio, 1986 : 150).
In the teaching of reading we need to design reading activities that
correspond to all of these purposes and processes reading. This means that for
any given assignment, we should vary our reading activities according to the
type of text with which students are working and the purpose for which they are

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reading. In addition, activities need be design that help students develop specific
reading skill (Ommagio,1986 : 151).
Reading is an effort to interpret the writers idea or though into the
readers though. That kind of idea basically reflects that fundamental base in
reading as the transmission of intelligible massage from the reading text to the
reader. Teaching English language especially teaching reading cannot avoid the
printed instructional materials such as students book, teacher manual, students
work sheets and so on. Such materials will be entirely useless when they are not
read. Both the teacher and the students must read them well (Edward, 1972: 23).
Brown said in reality, reading is intentional. One reads because one is looking
for something trough the printed material. She has may look for some important
information likely to be found in the material (Brown, 1992, p. 302).
It is easy to identify main idea that is directly expressed in the text. But
the main idea is not always clearly stated. It is more difficult to identify main
idea. (Columbia Collega,2000)
Reading is a lesson English language that is very important in particular
finding main idea in the text. (Lenski et al, 1999). For example, a text may
include information about Thomas Jefferson and his biracial children, these
details are included to engage student interest yet they tend to pull student
attention away from identifying the main idea of a passage.

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The ability to determine importance in text requires the use of related


comprehension strategies such as drawing inferences and summarizing
information, both of which require the student to think critically about the
information being read. a good reader is able to sift and sort through text and
pull out the essential or key ideas while the struggling reader tends to pay
attention to everything in the text. Nonfiction reading is to learn so therefore
determining main ideas is crucial when reading information if anything is to be
learned (Harvey and Goudvis, 2000)
It means that the reader should understand about the text because to
understand the main idea, the reading text must be known, then the reader will be
easier to get the idea of the text.
2.4. Finding Main Idea
The main idea is the essence of the paragraph, or rather
what the author is trying to get across to the reader (Hancock,
1986: 54).

In other words, it is what the author wants a

reader to know about. So, the main idea is important idea that
the author develops throughout the paragraph. Then, the
function of the entire paragraphs is to explain, develop, and
support the main idea.
Usually one sentence expresses the main idea. This
sentence is called the topic sentence (Mc Whorter, 1986: 76).

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The topic sentence can be located anywhere in the paragraph.


However, there are several positions where it is most likely to be
found. Most often the topic sentence in placed in the first
sentence in the paragraph. In this type of paragraph, the author
first states his/her main point and then explains it. It is
important to know that a paragraph discusses things related to
the topic. Understanding what a paragraph contains will read to
the understanding of the topic sentence and the main idea of
the paragraph.
In the process to understand this sentence, we try to relate
it to something familiar, some schema which account for the
event

described

(Carrel

and

Eisterhold,

1987:

221).

In

conclusion, understanding the characteristics of main idea


facilitate the students in identifying or finding main idea of
descriptive paragraph. Main idea of the paragraph is the basic
subject that all the sentences are related to. The main idea in a
paragraph is in order to understand the information they are
reading.
Finding the topic and the main idea is the best of
comprehending paragraph. The main idea generally describes
the details in the paragraph. Comprehending subject matter

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depends on identifying the main idea. Thats why it is important


to understand the main idea. (Sutiono, 2006: 119)
Mc Whorther states that main idea is a direct statement or
an implied idea about the topic. In order to understand to
content of the text or written material a good reader should be
able to find the main idea of each paragraph, then they can get
notion of the text. Then he stated that There are three elements
of paragraph such as: (1) Topic: the one thing the entire
paragraph talks about, (2) Main idea: a direct statement or a
implied idea about the topic, (3) Details: the proof, reasons or
example that explain or support the paragraphs main idea. A
paragraph provides explanation, support or proof for the main
idea (expressed or unexpressed) about a particular topic.
(Worther in norhidayati, 2009: 14)
Based on the explanation above, it can be conclude that
there are two major kinds of main idea. First, main idea can be
stated directly through the topic sentence, if we read the topic
sentence, we will get the main idea directly. Second, main idea
can be indirectly stated or implied, it means that we have to
read the whole paragraph in order to get the general notion or
the main idea of the paragraph.

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Focusing on the main idea is often one sentence in the


paragraph tells the reader exactly what the rest of the
paragraph gives the main idea. Furthermore, it is assumed that
main idea sentence (if is often called a topic sentence or topic
statement) might appear in one of several places. (Wiener and
Bazerman, 1985: 45).
Generalizing

the

topic

correctly

means

knows

that

knowledge about a reading topic helps to improve reading


comprehension. A valuable way to help a reader interpret what
he reads and to get deeper meanings from it, is by developing
skills in generalizing.
Generalizing allows you to apply information you have
learned in a broader, less specific sense. Generalizing carries
you step beyond a conclusion can draw about a specific set of
details. (Wiener and Bazerman, 1985: 169).
The teaching of main idea has been combined with the text
which the teacher give to the students supplied with some
questions with the particularly in the form of the essays, then
they should answer the questions based on the text. The
teaching of main idea is always coming out with essay of the
paragraph in text. The main idea of a paragraph answer the
question: what is the main point or points the author is

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expressing about the topic? the stated main idea is found in


one or two sentences within the paragraph.
An explicit main idea may be anywhere in the paragraph,
but is typically found in these locations:

first sentence, last

sentence, middle of paragraph, or a combination of two


sentences. The main idea of the text is very clear and it could
be found easily in the text. In this case, the main idea can be
seen and not hiding.
An implied main idea is a sentence that the student
composes rather than a statement found in the selection. It
means that the reader should read carefully how the sentence
and meaning of the sentence per sentences by using the clues,
it means that the main idea indirectly showing up in the reading
text. (Horald in Norhidayati, 2009:13)

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CHAPTER III
METHOD OF RESEARCH

3.1. Research Location


The location of research is STKIP PGRI Banjarmasin. It is
situated on Jl. Sultan Adam Komp. H. Iyus Blok A No 18
Banjarmasin.
3.2.Research Design
The research will use descriptive and quantitive method. It
is descriptive because this research wants to describe the
students ability on finding main idea. It is

in line what

Suharsimi Arikunto said in her book Prosedur Penelitian Suatu


Pendekatan Praktek , she says, Apabila penelitian bermaksud
mengetahui keadaan sesuatu mengenai apa dan bagaimana,
berapa

banyak,

penelitiannya

sejauh

bersifat

mana

deskriptif,

dan
yaitu

bagaimana,
menjelaskan

menerangkan peristiwa (Arikunto, 2002 : 30)

maka
atau

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The research is quantitative as well because the data


obtained in the form of individual score will be analyzed in
mathematical or statistical formula in the form of figures.

3.3. The Procedure of Data Collection


1. Research Instrument
The instrument of this research was in written test essays form. The
instrument consist of 20 questions which each question contained a
paragraph (consist of 4 6 sentences).
2. Data Source
The data will be obtained directly from the result of the
test which is given to and done by the second semester
students of the English Education Department STKIP PGRI
Banjarmasin in academic year 2012/2013.
3. Technique of Collecting Data
The technique of collecting data on this research will be
planned as follow:
- Give the test instrument to the second semester
-

students.
Collecting the students answers sheet.
Analyzed and calculating the test result of all students.

3.4. Population and Sampling


1. Population
The population is the second semester students who are taking Reading II in
academic 2012/2013 since they have learned about main idea and have practice
in finding main idea in a paragraph or text. The number of the students is 60

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students. They are divided into 2 classes, namely morning class with 31
students, and afternoon class with 29 students.
Table 3.4.
Population
No

Class

Population

1.

Morning

31

2.

Afternoon

29

Total

60

2. Sampling
The sampling technique is used purposive sampling.
According to Suharsimi Arikunto, Purposive sampling. Dilakukan
dengan cara mengambil subjek bukan didasarkan atas strata,
random/ daerah tetapi didasarkan atas adanya tujuan tertentu.
Ini dilakukan karena beberapa pertimbangan misal alasan
keterbatasan waktu, tenaga dan dana sehingga tidak dapat
mengambil sampel yang besar dan jauh. (Arikunto, 2002: 117).
3.5.
Technique of Data Analysis
The researcher will apply the test once. The test will be
applied to all students who take Reading II at STKIP PGRI
Banjarmasin, in order to know how far the students ability of
finding main idea in descriptive paragraph.

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In order to know how far the students ability in finding main


idea of descriptive paragraph in Reading II. The researcher will
use classification table below:
In analyzing the data which have been collected, the
researcher uses the following steps:
a. Scoring
In this research, to find out the ability of students in
finding the main idea, the researcher used individual score
formula.
To find out individual score the following formula is used:
R
S = N x 100
S = Score
R = Total of Correct answer
N = total items
(Materi Sosialisasidan pelatihan KTSP, in Rahmawati, 2011:
15)
Then the researcher gives mean score to the students
answer by using the following formula:
fx
X
=
N
X
= Mean score
fx = total score obtained
N
= Total number of students (Arikunto, 1992: 27)
b. Result
The result of the calculation using mean formula will be
interpreted based on the following table of score interpretation.
This table of score interpretation is constructed based on
theoretical norm category, which has been converted into the

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following table of interpretation: To count the value of scale


from 1 5 table of conversion used to change the number by
the scale of 1 5 :
Scale
1

Qualification
Excellent

Good

Average

Poor

5
(Arikunto, 2002: 18)

Fail

The scale is used by 5 in qualification of 100


M + (1, 5 SD) up = Excellent
M + (0, 5 SD) up = Good
M (0, 5 SD) up

= Average

M (1, 5 SD) up

= Poor

M (1, 5 SD) down

= Fail

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