CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1. THE NATURE OF READING

According to Gibgons (1991:51) reading is a process of getting the meaning
from print. It means there is an interaction between the author and the writer in this
activity because the writer delivers her/his idea to the readers through the texts. The
readers can also improve their understanding through reading activity.
Similarly, Ling (2012: 147) states that reading is getting the text into the
correct meaning. In this case, the readers have to observe, interpret, and evaluate the
printed pages. It is a complex activity that involves both perception and thought. It
consists of two related processes: word recognition and comprehension.
Based on the opinion above, it can be recognized that reading is an interaction
and a thinking process of transferring printed letters into meaning in communicating
of message between the writer and the reader. It means that the readers have to
discover ideas from the text based on their background knowledge about the texts.
The readers should pay attention about supporting ideas in the text. It will be useful
for them to understand the content of the text as whole. Therefore, the readers should
be an active reader to get the factual information of the text.

There are also some experts who have opinion about the meaning of
reading comprehension. Rupp (2008: 57) mentions that reading comprehension is

complex, interactive and integrative and requires the effective interaction of multiple
mental components for the creation of multiple mental representation of text. It means
that reading comprehension is a complex activity that must be done effectively, as
well as interactively by the readers to get the necessary things state in the text.
Moreover, Linse (2005:71) reading comprehension is an ability to
understand a text by the readers. The readers do not only read the text but also
understand what the readers read or what the text talks about. It needs their
knowledge to provide the information so they know the message of the text itself.
From those statements, it can be inferred that reading and comprehension are two
things unit to be one, they cannot be separated, and they are unity. When readers
loose one of the elements, they do not do comprehension yet.
William Grabe (2002: 9) says that reading is the ability to draw meaning
from the print page and interpret this information appropriately. Purposes for reading
is: Reading to search for simple information, reading to skim quickly, reading to learn
from texts, reading to integrate information, reading to write (or search for
information need for writing), reading for critique texts, reading for general
comprehension.

Elizabeth S. Pang (2003: 14) states that reading is a skill that will empower
everyone who learns it. They will be able to benefit from the store of knowledge in
print materials and, ultimately, to contribute to that knowledge. Good teaching

21

enables students to learn to read and read to learn. Comprehension is a process of

driving meaning from connects to the text. It involves word knowledge
(vocabulary) as well as thinking and reasoning. Therefore, comprehension is not a
passive process, but an active one. The reader actively engages with the text to
construct meaning. This active engagement includes making use of prior
knowledge. It involves drawing inferences from the words and expressions that a
writer uses to communicate information, ideas and viewpoints.
Beatrice S & Mikulecky (2008:1) state that reading is a conscious and
unconscious thinking process. The reader applies many strategies to reconstruct the
meaning that the author is assumed to have intended. The reader does this by
comparing information in the text to his or her background knowledge and prior
experience. Effective reading is essential for success in acquiring a second
language. After all, reading is the basis of instruction in all aspects of language
learning: using textbooks for language courses, writing, revising, developing
vocabulary, acquiring grammar, editing, and using computer-assisted language
learning programs. Reading instruction, therefore, is an essential component of
every second-language curriculum. Understanding some important facts about
reading, literacy, and teaching methods is essential for providing effective
instruction in reading.
In reading comprehension, the reader involves some processes to understand
and comprehend the text more. Anderson (2003:109) states

that

in reading

comprehension, a reader must have the following understanding; in identifying the

22

main idea, following the procedure of the text, getting the impact, drawing the
inferences, and seeing the writers intention.

If the students can understand

information of the text that they read, so they will be successful to comprehend the
text as whole because they are actively engaged and interactive with the meaning of
the text.
In line with definition above, Brown (2003:187) says that there are several
skills

in

comprehending

of

reading

such

as:

topic,

main

idea,

expressions/idioms/phrases in context, inference (implied detailed), detail (scanning

for a specifically stated detail), excluding facts not written (unstated details),
supporting idea(s), and identifying meaning synonym, or opposite. It can be inferred
that students have to master some skills in reading such as getting the main idea,
contextual expression, implied meaning, supporting details, and finding the words
with similar and opposite meaning.
In addition, Khand (2004:4) states that reading comprehension is the activity
getting the content of the writer wants to explain. It is making meaning from the
text. Furthermore, the readers can comprehend the text through reading process that
includes the readers background knowledge. Reading comprehension is crucial for
students to be able to get the meaning out of their reading. Reading with
comprehension means understanding what has been read. It is an active thinking
process that depends not only on comprehension skills but also on the students
experiences and prior knowledge. Comprehension involves understanding the
vocabulary seeing the relationships among words and concept.

23

Similarly, King and Stanley (2004:8) explain that there are five aspects in the
process of reading comprehension. They are; finding factual information, finding
main idea, finding the meaning of vocabulary in context, identifying reference, and
making reference. The theory above can be described as follows;
a) Finding main idea
Reading concerns with meaning to a greater extend that it is with form. An
efficient

reader understands not only the ideas but also

their relative

significance as expressed by author, in order words, some of ideas are super

ordinate while other subordinates.
b) Finding factual information/ details
Factual information requires readers to scan specific details. There are many types
of question of factual information such as; question type of reason, purpose, result,
comparison, means, identify, time, and amount in which most of the answer can be
found in the text.
c) Finding the meaning of vocabulary in context
It means that the readers could develop the guessing ability to the word which is
unfamiliar with them, by relating the close meaning or unfamiliar words to the text
and the topic of the text that is read. The words have the same meaning as another
word.
d) Identifying references
Recognizing references words or phrases to which they refer will help readers
understand the reading passage. Students of English might learn many rules for the

24

sentences. Reference words are usual short and be frequently pronouns, such as: it,
she, he, this, those, and so on.
e) Making inference
The importance of reading is to understand what the writer wrote; it is expected
that reader can infer the writer wrote. In order words, a good reader is able to draw
inference logically and make accurate prediction.
It means that factual information requires reader to scan specific detail,
recognition of the main idea of a paragraph is very important because it helps the
reader understands the paragraph and contents of reading text, when the students find
the meaning of vocabulary in the context, it can develop his or her guessing ability to
the word which is unfamiliar with him or her by relating the close meaning of
unfamiliar words. In identifying of reference the words or phrase, the students are able
to identify the word which they refer to will help the students understand the reading
passage. In making inference, it is a skill where the students are able to read between
lines. It is divided into main attention, draw logical inferences and make accurate
predictions.
According to Zainil (2005) to understand paragraph involves the process in
identifying the paragraph elements such as; topic, main idea, details of paragraph and
references, paragraph developments such as coherence and cohesion between and
among the paragraph. From this opinion, it can be described that; topic, it is the word
or phrase as subject of paragraph and answer of the question what is the whole
paragraph about, and main idea, it is the sentence that states topic of paragraph. It is

25

the answer of the question what does the author say about the topic of paragraph. In
short, when the students have the abilities in identifying the elements of the passage, it
means the students find the essential information in the text.
So, based on experts opinion above, it can be inferred that reading
comprehensions is ones ability in comprehending the message of the English reading
materials. It is an interactive and thinking process of transferring printed letters into
meaning in order to communicate certain message between the writer and the reader. It
involves the process in identifying the text elements such as;

finding main idea,

details, the meaning of vocabulary in context, identifying reference, and making

reference. Then, those become indicators for reading comprehension of this research.

2.2. READING COMPREHENSION

Reading comprehension is one of the skills that must be developed at school.
This is caused that the reading comprehension has become something important for
students. The students success depends on their ability to read. If students reading
comprehension is lacking, it is possible to fail in learning or at least the students will
have difficulty in making progress. On the other hand if a student has an ability to
read with proper understanding, he or she would have a better chance to succeed in
learning. Presley (2012:140) states that the development of comprehension skills is a
long term developmental process which depends on language and text experiences
from early stage of life. Learning how to decode and learning to abstract the
meanings of vocabulary words are commonly encountered in texts.

26

Israel (2008:2122) states that reading comprehension is a complex cognitive

process. It is a complex process that is difficult to define, much less teach and assess.
Tankersley (2005:108) also argues that comprehension is a process not product.
Reader filters understanding through the lens of their motivation, their knowledge,
cognitive abilities and experience. In short, reading comprehension is the main goal
of reading and it is an active complex process to which each reader brings his or her
individual attitudes, interest, expectation, skills and prior knowledge to get the gist of
written language.

2.3. TEACHING READING

According to Nunan (2003: 68), teaching reading has at least two aspects.
Firstly, it can refer to teaching learners who are learning to read for the very first
time. Secondly, the aspect of teaching reading refers to teaching learners who
already have reading skill in their first language. It means that the readers are
demanded to read a lot so that they can have a good skill because in reading, it has
two important aspects which should have the readers. It shows that it can be
inferred that the readers must understand two important aspects to teach, in
order the students have a good skill in reading.
Moreover, Richards (2002: 273) says that reading receives a special focus on
teaching. There are three reasons for this: firstly, many foreign language
students often have reading as one of their most important goals. Secondly,
written text serves various pedagogical purposes. Thirdly, reading is a skill which

27

is highly value by students and teachers alike. It means that the reading is a skill
that has good assessment for the students and teachers.
Based on the explanation above, it can be inferred that teaching reading is a
process to get information and knowledge, reading is useful for other purposes;
any exposure to English to provide students understand it more, is a good thing for
language students, it also provides good models for English writing and provide
opportunities to study language.

2.4. DIRECTED READING ACTIVITY (DRA).

a. The concept of Directed Reading Activity
Directed Reading Activity (DRA) is teaching strategy used to guide students as they
read text. DRA is one of the oldest and most widely used frameworks for reading
instruction. DRA is commonly associated with based- reading instruction in the
elementary grades but can be used with students at all grade levels and with variety
of text (Barbara, 2002:133). Then, DRA is designed to assist teachers in providing
systematic group-reading instruction, in guiding and engaging students in reading
text, and in providing students with direct instruction in word recognition and
comprehension (Tierney and Readence, 2000:133). DRA is a three steps teaching
process that involves:
1. Pre-reading activities
In this step, students prior knowledge of the topic or concept is activated, or
background knowledge developed, and vocabulary words are introduced.
2. During-reading activity

28

There are two ways doing activities in this step. Firstly, the students read the
text and orally respond questions posed by the teacher. Secondly, the teacher
divides the text in three or four sections, students read silently, after reading a
section the teacher posses questions orally and engages students in discussion
before continuing to the next section.
3. Post-reading activities.
In this step, comprehension check and discussion may be followed by oral
rereading, or extension activities that connect the text with writing.
Crawford (2005:42) points out that the directed reading activity is a strategy
for directing the students silent reading with comprehension-level question. The
students read with stops, pausing to discuss every few paragraphs. The Directed
Reading Activity is a reading strategy designed to assist readers in
comprehending text that may be slightly above their reading levels. In MEL
Program, (2006-2007:21), adherence to the Directed Reading Activity steps
creates successful reading experiences for readers who may not otherwise
encounter success, especially in content area material. Betts (1946: 1) says that
DRA is a strategy that provides students with instructional support before,
during, and after reading. The teacher takes an active role as he or she prepares
students to read the text by pre-teaching important vocabulary, eliciting prior
knowledge, teaching students how to use a specific reading skill, and providing
a purpose for reading. In short, directed reading activity is a strategy that is used
to make the students comprehend the text by doing activities before, during, and
after reading.

29

Crawford (2005:42) tells the steps in applying directed reading activity strategy in the
classroom are as follows:
1. Begin with one or two anticipation activities designed to motivate students and to
activate or install needed background knowledge, including new vocabulary:
semantic map to gloss (introduce) the term yacht and activate background
knowledge, and prediction from terms to apply knowledge of additional vocabulary
from the story.
2. Before beginning the Directed Reading Activity, the teacher should chunk the text
by dividing it into manageable pieces for the students to read silently. Then, the
teacher should prepare one or two comprehension-level questions for each chunk to
be read by the students.
a. Chunk text with stops to support comprehension
b. Directed Reading Activity (DRA) to guide silent reading with higher order
questions
c. Discussion of responses to questions, with evidence provided through brief oral
reading
3. Provide a culminating activity that allows students to review their understandings of
the text and to apply them. In many lessons, this may be provided as a home task.
a. Think-Pair-Share activity to share new knowledge about characters
b. Completion of character map to share new knowledge (graphic organizer)
c. Predictions about characters based on character traits.
Then, Betts (1946: 1) states in an article the steps of directed reading activity are:

30

1. Choose a text. This strategy is intended to be used with expository texts.

2. Select vocabulary words from the text to be pre-taught. The words you choose
should be critical to comprehension of the passage and unfamiliar to most, if not all
students. Vocabulary should be taught in context. Write the words on the board in
sentences taken directly from the text. As a class, discuss what the words might
mean based on the context, structure (e.g., prefixes, roots, or suffixes), and/or sound
(i.e., deciding if the word sounds like another familiar word) of the word.
3. Elicit prior knowledge on the topic of the text. Ask students, "What do you already
know about _______?" or "What experiences do you have with ________?"
4. Teach students a skill that will help them comprehend the text. The skill you choose
will depend on the text. For example, if the text your students will be reading
compares two different things, you might focus on the skill of compare/contrast. If
the text is an editorial, you might talk about how to identify fact from the author's
opinion.
5. Give students a concrete purpose for reading. For example, "Read pages 283-287 to
find out what a tide pool is."
6. Have students read silently. Be available for questions as students read. Walk
around the room asking individual students comprehension questions.

31

7. After students have finished reading, ask the purpose-setting statement as a

question. For example, ask, "What is a tide pool?" Encourage a discussion that
grows from students' comments and questions.
8. Engage students in follow-up activities. These activities should be designed to
reinforce both the content of the text and the skill that students learned. Activities
might include writing activities, further reading, art projects, group mapping
activities, etc.
a. The purpose of using Directed Reading Activity
Directed Reading Activity has several purposes for the students:
1. Teaches word identification skills.
2. Elicits students' prior knowledge of the topic of the text.
3. Teaches specific reading skills.
4. Sets a purpose for reading.
5. Encourages students to monitor their comprehension while they are
reading.
In brief, Directed Reading Activity is a strategy that is not only increasing
the students comprehension in reading but also gives them a chance to socialize
with friends in classroom by discussing, giving opinion and identification skill that
all of this is very important for their future life.
Allan (2005: 42) states that Activity steps of DRA are as follows:
Step 1: Begin with one or two anticipation activities designed to motivate students
and to activate or install needed background knowledge, including new vocabulary:

32

semantic map to gloss (introduce) the term yacht and activate background
knowledge, and prediction from terms to apply knowledge of additional vocabulary
from the story.
Step 2: Before beginning the Directed Reading Activity, the teacher should chunk
the text by dividing it into manageable pieces for the students to read silently. Then
the teacher should prepare one or two comprehension-level questions for each
chunk to be read by the students.
1. Chunk text with stops to support comprehension
2. Directed Reading Activity (DRA) to guide silent reading with higher order
questions
3. Discussion of responses to questions, with evidence provided through brief oral
reading
Step 3: Provide a culminating activity that allows students to review their
understandings of the text and to apply them. In many lessons, this may be provided
as a home task.
1. Think-Pair-Share activity to share new knowledge about characters
2. Completion of character map to share new knowledge (graphic organizer)
3. Predictions about characters based on character traits
REFLECTIONS: Teachers will notice that comprehension improves quickly when
students focus on finding answers to comprehension-level questions instead of just
reading aloud. They enjoy the discussion of their answers because there is usually
more than one correct answer or more than one opinion about the correct answer.

33

2.5.

DIRECTED READING-THINKING ACTIVITY (DR-TA)

The directed reading thinking activity (DRTA) is a strategy which guides the
students to comprehend the text. It is associated with the DRA (directed reading
activity) developed by Russell Straufer (1969). The directed reading thinking activity
is a plan for directing childrens reading of either story in content area selections and
for encouraging interaction with decoding text (Burns, 1984: 310). The researcher
thinks this strategy can be effectively implemented to help the students to improve
their ability in reading comprehension.
The DRA or DRTA method is designed to support students reading
comprehension by guiding them to key points in the text and providing opportunities
to discuss its meaning with their classmates (Crawford, 2005: 42). Hence, the
implementation of DRTA method helps the students so much in searching any
information related to the text to find the key point of it. DRTA emphasizes the
information of each paragraph that requires them to deepen their understanding about
the paragraphs, and to enlarge their knowledge and experiences.
Stall (2008: 364) states that directed reading thinking activity (DRTA) is an
instructional framework that views reading as a problem-solving process best
accomplished in a social context. The value of DRTA is to make prediction before
reading each section (Odwan, 2012: 138). Furthermore, Strauffer (1969; in Stall,
2008: 364) states that the teachers roles to select an instructional level text, divide
the text into meaningful section of text. It means that students are responsible for

34

establishing their own purposes for reading, generating predictions, justifying those
predictions, independently reading the text, and verifying or revising predictions
based on evaluations of information in the text during the teacher led-discussion of
each section. Strauffer (1969) recommended using DRTA with narrative and nonnarrative text at all grade levels. It means this strategy can be applied generally for all
different kind of text.
Inquiry is native to the mind. Children are by nature curious and inquiring
and they will be in school if they are permitted to inquire. It is possible to direct the
reading thinking process in such a way that children will be encouraged to think when
reading to speculate, to search, to evaluate, and to use. Stauffer (1969) further points
out that teacher can motivate effort and concentrate his/her students by involving the
students intellectually and encouraging them to formulate questions and hypothesis,
to process information, and to evaluate tentative solutions. The directed reading
thinking activity is directed toward accomplishing these goals. Teacher monitors the
students when they read, in the framework of diagnostic difficulties and offer help
when the students are difficult interaction with decoding text (Burns, 1984: 310).
DRTA is one metacognitive strategy that enhances understanding and
comprehension text. This strategy helps to strengthen reading and critical thinking
skill. It monitors the readers awareness of whether or not comprehension is occurring
(Bauman, 1992: 144). Furthermore, Willis (2008: 155) states that metacognitive is
thinking about thinking. Metacognitive can be taught to help the students mentally
process the information they read and to recognize what they do and do not

35

understand. Moreover, Westwood (2008: 34) states that the DRTA strategies motivate
students to apply the students metacognitive skills because students think appropriate
with train of tough themselves. In this case, DRTA stimulates the students prior
knowledge, involves the students to be active in taking part of constructing the
meaning of text and enhance the students comprehension monitoring ability.
Allan (2005: 44) states that Activity steps of DR-TA are as follows:
Step 1: Prepare the text by marking four or five good stopping points. Plan stopping
points to fall at moments of suspense in the story.
Step 2: On the chalk board or on chart paper, prepare a chart like the one below.
Explain to the students that they will be reading the story, one bit at a time. Remind
them that it is important not to read beyond the stopping points. They will be making
predictions and reading to confirm those predictions.
Step 3: Ask the students to read the title of the story. Talk about the genre. Name the
author. Show the cover illustration, and read the title. Then ask for their prediction
about what will happen in the story. Write those predictions in the space labeled
What do you think will happen? after the title. Ask the students why they think so.
Then enter their reasons under Why?
Step 4: Now, ask the students to read to the first stopping point, and when they have
reached it, they should go back and consider the prediction they made before, and say
what actually happened. You should record their ideas in the space called What did it
happen?

36

Step 5: The teacher reviews the predictions and asks which ones are coming true so
far. The teacher asks them to read aloud parts of the text that confirm or disconfirm
their predictions.
Step 6: Then, the students should predict what they think will happen in the next
block of text, and offer new predictions, with the evidence that led to their making
those predictions to be entered in the spaces provided. Then, they should read on,
check their prediction against what did it happen, make new predictions, dictate
evidence for those predictions, and read the last section.
Step 7: Finally, they should check their last predictions against what actually
happened in the story, and dictate their findings about what happened, to be recorded
in the space on the form.

2.6

NARRATIVE TEXT
Narrative text is one of the text types that must be mastered by academic
students. The students have to know what the purposes of the text area, the social
function of the text, organizational structure of the text types and the language feature
that can be used in the narrative text.
To support students in comprehending of reading texts, knowledge about the
types of texts is needed, Depdiknas (2006) explains that there are thirteen genres of
the texts that must be known by academic students, namely: Narrative, recount,

37

procedure, descriptive, news item, analytical exposition, hortatory exposition, report,

spoof, explanation, discussion, review, and anecdote.
2.7

RELATED STUDIES
Related studies require some previous researches conducted by other
researchers in which they are relevant to this research itself. Besides, the related
studies have to analyze what the point that focuses on, inform the design, find the
conclusion of the previous researches, as follows:
a) Michelle (1999) carried out a research entitled How Do I Teach My Students to
Paraphrase

Academic

Content

in

Order

to

Improve

Their

Reading

Comprehension?. The samples of the study were 24 students of J.E.B. Stuart

High School, the finding showed that their students became better equipped to
handle difficult reading assignments and, in the process, were more successful at
learning the substance of what they were reading.
b) Bellert, Graham, & Walsh (2004) carried out a research entitled Learning
Difficulties Use Paraphrasing Strategies to Improve Reading Comprehension. It
was done to those participants from 27 male students were initially selected for the
study from two Year 8 specialist English Enhancement classes at boys semi-private
secondary school in the North Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. This finding showed
that there was an improvement in reading comprehension ability for the students
exposed to the paraphrasing strategy.
c) Maryam, Hossein and Ahmad (2012) carried out a research entitled The Effects
of L1 Translation vs. Paraphrasing the Literary Texts on Female and Male Students

38

Reading Comprehension. The data for this study were collected through two
comprehension tests and a personal questionnaire from 40 English students who
study at University of Isfahan. The findings of the present study would help
teachers and teacher trainers to construct and implement L1 and paraphrase in
literature classes more effectively.
d) Lee and Von Colln (2003) conducted a single-case quasi-experimental study using
an ABAB reversal design (baseline, RAP Paraphrasing Strategy, baseline, RAP
Paraphrasing Strategy) to measure the effects of the RAP Paraphrasing Strategy on
the reading-comprehension skills of a 12-year-old, African-American student (an
extremely small sample size). The instructional steps included describing,
modeling, and engaging in verbal practice for the first phase of the intervention,
and participating in controlled practice and feedback, engaging in advanced
practice and feedback, and post-testing and making commitments for the second
phase of the intervention. Relevant data for this study were based upon a
paraphrasing score in a researcher-designed assessment (based upon the
recommendations

of Schumaker, Denton,

and Deschler, 1984) and

comprehension score in a researcher-designed assessment, given multiple times

during the study.
e) Guastello, Beasley, and Sinatra (2000) carried out an experimental study
comparing the effect of semantic mapping on the reading comprehension of 62
junior high-school students when compared with utilizing traditional instruction on
the reading comprehension of 62 other junior-high-school students with expository
text for 8 days (large sample sizes). The participants in this study were low-

39

achieving seventh graders. The students in the experimental condition were

introduced to the study unit, were provided with a model and rationale for using
semantic mapping, and with the guidance of their teacher produced their own
concept maps while reading the text. The students in the comparison group were
taught with traditional instruction. Data for this study were obtained from the
Comprehensive Assessment Program (CAP), Level H (in this study comprised of
tests measuring the students achievement in reading and science) administered as
a pretest, and a teacher-designed test (measuring the students knowledge of the
content and vocabulary of the text read in the study) utilized as both a pretest and a
posttest. The students were allowed to take home their instructional materials (the
semantic map for the students in the experimental condition and the textbook for
the students in the comparison condition) to study in preparation for the posttest
assessment. The results of this study are as follows. The results suggest that the
experimental and comparison groups scored in a similar manner on the CAP and
the teacher-designed pretest. Nevertheless, a large difference was present in
posttest gains. Due to the fact that the pretest was statistically significantly related
to posttest scores, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was carried out using the
pretest scores as the covariate. The assumption of homogeneity of variance did not
appear to be violated, and the pretest was revealed to be a statistically significant
covariate. The ANCOVA also demonstrated a statistically significant treatment
main effect in favor of the experimental group. In addition, utilizing an estimate of
pooled variance, the effect size for the experimental condition was 5.98,

40

suggesting that semantic mapping argument the reading-comprehension scores of

the students in the experimental group by approximately six standard deviations in
comparison with the students in the comparison group.
f) Joseph (2002) conducted a quasi-experimental study to measure the effects of
semantic mapping on the reading-comprehension skills of the tenth-grade students
for 2 days (after the students were taught to use semantic mapping for 2 months).
The students were divided into groups of 20 and 29 students (the first group
reading the first article first and the second group reading the second article first
and both groups reading the opposite articles the following day). Data were
obtained from two reading-comprehension tests designed by the researcher, one
test administered after the students read each article. All of the students received
the instruction on semantic mapping. The students were instructed to create a
semantic map before taking the second test, but not the first. As per a pairedsamples t-test, the effects of semantic mapping were statistically significant for the
second group of students, but not statistically significant for the first group.
Analyzed together, the effects of semantic mapping for the whole group of
students was not statistically significant, but was strong nonetheless. Willits (2002)
carried out a study with an action research design in part to ascertain the effects of
semantic maps and learning styles on the reading-comprehension skills of 18
seventh graders in geography, one of whom was diagnosed with attention-deficit
disorder (ADD), one of whom was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder
(ADD) and LD, and one of which was diagnosed with attention-deficit

41

hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for 15 weeks. Relevant data were obtained from
the Learning Style Inventory for Grades 5-12 administered before the semanticmapping intervention, textbook chapter tests (comprised of multiple-choice,
matching questions, and chapter essay questions), delayed-recall essay questions,
and individual interviews with the participants on their preference for semantic
mapping conducted with a 5-point Likert Scale (5 indicating a high preference and
1 indicating a low preference). The students were to construct semantic maps to
answer the essay questions (for the three chapter essays following the instruction
on semantic mapping and for the second delayed-recall essay question).
g) Asan (2007) carried out a study with a nonequivalent comparison group design to
measure the effects of semantic mapping on the reading-comprehension skills of
fifth-grade students in Turkey for 5 days. Twenty-three students were divided into
an experimental group (13 students, provided with an introduction to semantic
mapping with the Inspiration Program, traditional instruction, and the task to
construct a semantic map with the Inspiration Program) and a comparison group
(10 students receiving only traditional instruction). Data were obtained from a
comprehension test (used as a pretest and a posttest) designed by the teacher (via
consulting with the researcher), a semantic map scoring rubric, and an open-ended
student interview question. The students in the experimental group were instructed
to create a semantic map the day before taking the posttest. The relevant results are
as follows. The results of a paired-sample t-test indicated that the increase in
scores for the experimental group (but not the comparison group) from the pretest

42

to the posttest was statistically significant. In addition, the correlations between

semantic map scores and the corresponding map multiple-choice scores (as
measured by the semantic map scoring rubric) were high overall. The researcher
stated that these findings suggest that the students were performing equivalently
on the semantic map items and reading-comprehension test items designed to
measure the same subject matter. Finally, 54% of the students found that semantic
mapping was useful for organizing their ideas, 61% of the students stated that
using the Inspiration Program was enjoyable, and 61% of the students stated that
learning to utilize the Inspiration Program and connecting ideas was a simple
strategy.

2.8 OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS AND INDICATORS.

Operational concept is a main element to avoid misunderstanding and
misinterpreting in a specific study. As a concept, it is still operated in an abstract from the
research planning which should be interpreted into particularly words in order to be easy to
measure. The operational concept in this research can be seen on the table below:
h)
Independent
i)
Variable
j)
(X)
k)
l)
(X1)
2.6.2.DRA
Indicators.

Dependent
Variable
Treatment of
DRA& DR-TA
Strategies

DR-TA( X2)
43

(Y)
Reading
Comprehension
(Y1)

a. Directed Reading Activity (DRA) Strategy

1. Teacher prepares and chunks the text into manageable pieces.
2. Teacher prepares one or two the comprehension-level questions for each
chunk.
3. Teacher activates the background knowledge of the students, including
vocabularies.
4. Teacher divides the class into groups of five or six.
5. Teacher shares the reading that already prepared.
6. Teacher asks the students to read the first chunk of the text silently and look
for the answer of the questions.
7. Teacher reads the question to all students and point out one of them to
answer then read aloud the sentences that prove the answer and then
discussing with another student/ groups.
8. Teacher asks the students to read the next chunk of the text and do the same
activities until the end of the text.
9. Teacher asks the students to make summary of the text in group work.
10. Finally, teacher calls two or three groups to read their summary in front of
the classroom.

b. Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA) Strategy

1) The teacher prepares the text by marking four or five good stopping points.
2) The teacher prepares a chart on the white board or chart paper
3). The teacher asks student to read the title of the story, talks about genre, names
the author, then asks for their prediction about what will happen in the story.

44

4) The teacher asks the students to read to the first stopping point, and when they
have reached it, they should go back and consider the prediction they made
before and say what actually happen.
5) The teacher records their ideas in the space what did happen?
6) The teacher reviews the predictions and asks which ones are coming true so
far.
7) The teacher asks the students to predict what they think will happen in the
next block of text and offer new predictions
8) The teacher asks students to check their last prediction against what actually
happened in the story, and dictate their findings about what happened.

c. Students Reading Comprehension.

The students are able to identify:
1) The topic of the text
2) The main idea of each paragraph
3) The detailed information of the text
4) The specific information of the text
5) The unstated information of the text
6) Language feature
7) Language rhetoric
8) The moral value of the text

45

2.9

ASSUMPTIONS AND HYPOTHESES

2.9.1 The Assumption

In this research, the researcher knows that there are many strategies which the
teacher can use in teaching learning process to build the students capability in
English. It is assumed that using Directed Reading Activity (DRA) and Directed
Thinking Reading Activity (DR-TA) are suitable strategies to teach a reading
comprehension for the students and to increase their capability in Reading
comprehension. Allan (2005:44) states that DR-TA is suitable for students who have
had good success with DR-TA, because it encourages them to make their own
predictions.

2.9.2 Hyphotheses
Ho1

: There is no a significant difference on students reading comprehension pretest

mean score between an experimental group 1 and an experimental group 2 at
MAN 1 Pekanbaru.

46

Ha1

: There is a significant difference on students reading comprehension pretest

mean score between an experimental group 1 and an experimental group 2 at
MAN 1 Pekanbaru.

Ho2

: There is no a significant difference on students reading comprehension pretest

mean score between an experimental group 1 and a control group at MAN 1
Pekanbaru.

Ha2

: There is a significant difference on students reading comprehension pretest

mean score between an experimental group 1 and a control group at MAN 1
Pekanbaru.

Ho3

: There is no a significant difference on students reading comprehension of pretest

mean score between an experimental group 2 and a control group at MAN 1
Pekanbaru.

Ha3

: There is a significant difference on students reading comprehension of pretest

mean score between an experimental group 2 and a control group at MAN 1
Pekanbaru.

Ho4

: There is no a significant difference on students reading comprehension post-test

mean score between an experimental group 1 and an experimental group 2 at
MAN 1 Pekanbaru.

Ha4

: There is a significant difference on students reading comprehension post-test

mean score between an experimental group 1 and an experimental group 2 at
MAN 1 Pekanbaru.

47

Ho5

: There is no a significant difference on students reading comprehension posttest

mean score between an experimental group 1 and a control group at MAN 1
Pekanbaru.

Ha5

: There is a significant difference on students reading comprehension posttest

mean score between an experimental group 1 and a control group at MAN 1
Pekanbaru.

Ho6

: There is no significant difference on students reading comprehension of posttest

mean between an experimental group 2 and a control group at MAN 1
Pekanbaru.

Ha6

: There is a significant difference on students reading comprehension of posttest

mean between an experimental group 2 and a control group at MAN 1
Pekanbaru.

Ho7

: There is no significant improvement on students reading comprehension mean

score of pretest and posttest mean score of an experimental 1 at MAN 1
Pekanbaru.

Ho7

: There is a significant improvement on students reading comprehension mean

score of pretest and posttest mean score of an experimental 1 at MAN 1
Pekanbaru.

Ho8

: There is no significant difference on students reading comprehension mean score

of pretest and posttest mean score of an experimental 2 at MAN 1 Pekanbaru.

48

Ho8

: There is a significant improvement on students reading comprehension mean

score of pretest and posttest mean score of an experimental 2 at MAN 1
Pekanbaru.

Ho9

: There is no significant improvement on students reading comprehension mean

score of pretest and posttest mean score of a control group at MAN 1 Pekanbaru.

Ho9

: There is a significant improvement on students reading comprehension mean

score of pretest and posttest mean score of a control group at MAN 1 Pekanbaru.

49