083400066

THE EFFECT OF ACTIVATING AND CONNECTING
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
TO STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION AT
SMA N 1 GUNUNG TULEH PASAMAN BARAT
THESIS
Submitted to State College for Islamic Studies (STAIN) Padangsidimpuan

as a Partial Fulfillment of Requirement for the Degree of Islamic
Educational Scholar ( S.Pd.I )in English Program
Written by:
MIRNA WATI
Reg. No. 08 3400066
ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
TARBIYAH DEPARTEMENT
STATE COLLEGE FOR ISLAMIC STUDIES
STAIN PADANGSIDIMPUAN
2013
THE EFFECT OF ACTIVATING AND CONNECTING
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE TO STUDENTS’
READING COMPREHENSION
AT SMA N 1 GUNUNG TULEH
PASAMAN BARAT
THESIS
Submitted to State College for Islamic Studies (STAIN) Padangsidimpuan

as a Partial Fulfillment of Requirement for the Degree of Islamic
Educational Scholar ( S.Pd.I )in English Program
Written by:
MIRNA WATI
Reg. No. 08 3400066
Advisor I Advisor II
Reyendriani Fahmei Lubis, M.Ag Eka Sustri Harida, M. Pd

NIP. 19710510 200003 2 001 NIP. 19750917 200312 2 002
ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
TARBIYAH DEPARTEMENT
STAIN PADANGSIDIMPUAN
2013
KEMENTERIAN AGAMA
SEKOLAH TINGGI AGAMA ISLAM NEGERI
(STAIN)
PADANGSIDIMPUAN
Sekretariat : Jl. Imam Bonjol Km. 4,5 Sihitang Telp. 0634-22080 Padangsidimpuan
Padangsidimpuan, 28 May 2013
Term : Munaqosyah To:
a.n. Mirna Wati Bapak Ketua STAIN Padangsidimpuan
I Term : 5 (five) Exemplar di-
Padangsidimpuan
Assalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.
After reading, studying and giving advice for necessary revise on thesis
belong to Mirna Wati, entitle “The Effect Of Activating And Connecting
Background Knowledge To Students’ Reading Comprehension At Sma N 1
Gunung Tuleh Pasaman Barat”. We assume that the thesis has been acceptable to
complete the assignments and fulfill the requirements for the degree of Sarjana
Pendidikan Islam (S.Pd.I), department of education in STAIN Padangsidimpuan.
Therefore, we hoped that she could be to defend her thesis in
Munaqosyah.
That’s all and thanks you for your attention.
Wssalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.
ADVISOR I ADVISOR II
Rayendriani Fahmei Lubis, M. Ag Eka Sustri Harida, M. Pd

NIP. 19710510 200003 2 001 NIP. 19750917 200312 2 002
Declaration of Authenticity Thesis
In the name of Allah, he beneficent and the merciful. I myself:
Name : MIRNA WATI
Registration Number : 08 340 0066
Departement/ Study Program : Tarbiyah/TBI-2
The Title of Thesis : The Effect Of Activating And Connecting
Background Knowledge To Students’ Reading
Comprehension At Sma N 1 Gunung Tuleh
Pasaman Barat
Declaring truly that the thesis I apply is really my own writing, except from
the quotation of the text books and the result of interview.
Then, if there is a prop or can be proved that the thesis is a derivation or fully
asking for illegal helping form the other side except the guiding of advisor team, then
State College for Islamic Studies (STAIN) Padangsidimpuan may off the bachelor
title and the certificate that I have accepted.
Padangsidimpuan, June 19th 2013

Declaration Maker
MIRNA WATI
Reg. No. 08 340 0066
RELIGION MINISTRY OF
PADANGSIDIMPUAN
EXAMINERS
SCHOLAR MUNAQOSYAH EXAMINATION
Name : MIRNA WATI

Student’s ID : 08 340 0066
Thesis : The Effect of Activating and Connecting Background
Knowledge to Student’s Reading comprehension at SMA
Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh Pasaman Barat
Chief, Secretary,
Dr. Erawadi, M.Ag. Rayendriani Fahmei Lubis, M.Ag

NIP. 19720326 199803 1 002 NIP. 19710510 200003 2 001
Members,
Dr. Erawadi, M.Ag. Rayendriani Fahmei Lubis, M.Ag

NIP. 19720326 199803 1 002 NIP. 19710510 200003 2 001
Eka Sustri Harida, M.Pd Zainuddin, S.S., M.Hum

NIP.19750917 200312 2 002 NIP. 19760610 200801 1 016
Proposed:
Place : Padangsidimpuan
Date : June, 19th 2013
Time : 13.30 PM until finish
Result/ Mark : 68, 62 / C
Predicate : very good
RELIGION MINISTRY OF
PADANGSIDIMPUAN
LEGALIZATION
Thesis : THE EFFECT OF ACTIVATING AND CONNECTING

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE TO STUDENTS’
READING COMPREHENSION AT SMA N 1 GUNUNG
TULEH PASAMAN BARAT
Written By :
Name : MIRNA WATI
Reg. No. : 08 340 0066
Had been accepted as a partial fulfillment of requirement

for degree of Islamic educational scholar (S.Pd.I)
in English program
Padangsidimpuan, June 19th, 2013

Leader of State College
for Islamic Studies,
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Firstly, the researcher would like to express thanks to Allah SWT, the Most
Creator and Merciful who has given the health, time and chance for finishing this
thesis: “The effect of Activating and Connecting Background Knowledge to
Students Reading Comprehension at SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh pasaman
Barat”.
In writing this thesis, the researcher is assisted by some people and
institutions. Therefore, in this opportunity the researcher would like to express
gratitude to the following people:
1. Special thanks are due to Rayendriani Fahmei Lubis, M.Ag., as her advisor I
(one) who has guided the researcher to complete this research.
2. Special thanks are due to Eka Sustri Harida, M.Pd., as her advisor II (two) who
has guided the researcher to complete this research search.
3. Special thanks are due to D.R. H. Ibrahim Siregar, MCL, as the Chief of State
College for Islamic Studies (STAIN) Padangsidimpuan, and the assistants, who
have helped the researcher as their students in STAIN Padangsidimpuan.
4. Thanks are due to Hj. Zulhimma, S.Ag, M.Pd., as the Chief of Tarbiyah
Department and her staffs.
5. Thanks are due to the Leader of English Study Program, Rayendriani Fahmei
Lubis, M.Ag, who gladly supported every requirements of thesis.

6. Thanks are due to Drs. Samsuddin Pulungan, M.Ag., as the Chief of Library and
his staffs have borrowed the books to the researcher in this research..
7. Thanks are due to all lecturers who have taught, guided and also encouraged her
during studying in STAIN Padangsidimpuan..
8. Thanks are due to the Head Master of SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh Pasaman
Barat, Drs. Arman, for his allowance to the research establishment, information
giving, and data collection ad minttace of thesis.
9. Thanks are due to Yosel Fiani, S.Pd, as the English teacher at the research school
to collaborate with the in completing the thesis data collection.
10. Special thanks are due to my parents who have given support and motivation
during studying in STAIN Padangsidimpuan.
11. Thanks are due to my brothers and my sisters who have given support and
motivation during studying in STAIN Padangsidimpuan.
12. Thanks are due to all of my best friends who worked together in sad for some
cases, confusion sharing, and discussion, supportive words to finis the thesis well
done.
This thesis is still so far from being perfect based on the weakness of the
researcher. Therefore, the researcher expects the constructive criticisms and
suggestions from the readers in order to improve this thesis.
Padangsidimpuan, 08 May 2013
MIRNA WATI
Reg. No: 08 340 0066
Name : MIRNA WATI
Reg. No : 08 340 0066
Dep./ Study Program : Tarbiyah/ TBI
Year : 2012/ 2013
Thesis : The Effect of Activating and Connecting Background

Knowledge to Students’ Reading Comprehension at SMA
ABSTRACT
This research was titled the effect of activating and connecting background
knowledge strategy to students’ reading comprehension at SMA Negeri 1 Gunung
Tuleh Pasaman Barat. This research was conducted because of the low reading
comprehension of the grade XI SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh Pasaman Barat in
academic year 2012 / 2013. The research is aimed to know the effect of activating
and connecting background knowledge to students reading comprehension at SMA
Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh Pasaman Barat.
Based on the result research showed that action hypothesis can be in

acceptance. That was that there is a significant effect of activating and connecting
background knowledge to students’ reading comprehension at SMA Negeri 1 Gunung
Tuleh Pasaman Barat. From the score of the coefficient of t0 2.2549. It is compared
with the score of tt on degree of freedom (df) 58 or (N1 + N2 - 2) = 33 + 33 -2 = 64.
So, the score of tt 2.00 of 5% significant degree. It means that the score of to is
greater than the score of tt namely = 2.25 > 2.00. From the score, the hypothesis is
accepted.
Based on the above, the result of the research was concluded that by using
activating and connecting background knowledge the students’ reading
comprehension at Grade XI SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh improve. It can be shown
by students’ post test in experimental class in each assessment criteria. Hopefully, it
will be continuously practiced by English teacher or other learning forward.
i
TABLE CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE
LEGALIZATON ADVISOR SHEET
AGREEMENT ADVISOR SHEET
DEGLARATION LETTER OF WRITING OWN THESIS
LEGALIZATON OF EXAMINER SHEET
AGREEMENT OF CHIEF SHEET
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ v
LIST OF TABLE ................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................ viii
CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Problem ................................................................ 1
B. Identification of the Problem ............................................................. 3
C. Limitation of the Problem ................................................................... 4
D. Definition of the Operational Variable ............................................... 4
E. The Formulation of the Problem……………………..... .................... 5
F. The Aims of the Research…. .............................................................. 5
G. The Significances of the Research ...................................................... 5
CHAPTER II: THE THEORETICAL DESCRIPTION

A. Description of Theory .......................................................................... 7
1. Description of Reading Comprehension ........................................ 7
2. Description of Reading Strategies .................................................. 26
3. Activating and Connection Background Knowledge ..................... 33
B. Review of Related Finding................................................................... 38
C. Conceptual Framework ........................................................................ 39
D. Hypothesis ............................................................................................ 40
CHAPTER III : THE METHODOLOGY OF THE RESEARCH

A. Place and Schedule of the Research .................................................... 44
B. Research Design ................................................................................... 44
v
C. Population and sample ......................................................................... 45
1. Population ...................................................................................... 45
2. Sample ........................................................................................... 45
D. Instrument of the research............ ...................................................... 46
E. Validity ............................................................................................... 47
F. Procedure of Research ........................................................................ 48
G. Technique of Data Analysis ............................................................... 50
CHAPTER IV : THE RESULT OF THE RESEARCH

A. Description of the Data ...................................................................... 52
1. Experment Class ............................................................................ 52
2. Control Class ................................................................................... 57
B. The Hypothesis testing ........................................................................ 63
C. Limitation of the Research .................................................................. 65
CHPATER V : THE CONCLUSIONS AND THE SUGGESTIONS

A. Conclusions ........................................................................................... 66
B. Implication of the Research .................................................................. 66
C. Suggestions ............................................................................................ 67
REFERENCES
CURRICULUM VITAE
APPENDICES
vi
THE LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 : Research Design....................................................................................... 42

Table 2 : Population of Research ............................................................................. 43
Table 3 : Samples of Research ................................................................................. 44
Table 4 : Indicator of reading Comprehension ........................................................ 45
Table 5 : Criteria of the Score .................................................................................. 49
Table 6 : Mean, Median, and Mode Score of reading Comprehension
of Pre Test in Experimental Class ............................................................. 50
Table 7 : The Distribution Frequency in Reading Comprehension of Pre test
In Experimental Class ............................................................................... 51
Table 8 : Mean, Median, and Mode Score of Reading Comprehension in
Post test in Experimental Class ................................................................ 53
Table 9 : The Distribution Frequency in Reading Comprehension of Post test
In Experimental Class .............................................................................. 54
Table 10 : Mean, Median and Mode Scores in Pre test in Control Class ................ 56
Table 11 : The Distribution Frequency in Reading Comprehension of Pre test
In Control Group ..................................................................................... 56
Table 12 : Mean, Median and Mode scores of Post Test in Control Class .............. 59
Table 13 : The Distribution Frequency in Reading Comprehension of post test
In Control Class ..................................................................................... 59
vii
THE LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 : Conceptual Framework ......................................................................... 40

Figure 2 : The Position of Mean Score of Reading Comprehension of Pre Test in
Experimental Class ............................................................................... 51
Figure 3 : Histogram Frequency of Reading Comprehension of Pre Test in
Experimental Class ................................................................................ 52
Figure 4 : The Position of Mean Score of Reading Comprehension of Post test in
Experimental Class .................................................................................. 53
Figure 5 : Histogram frequency of Reading Comprehension Post Test in
Experimental Class .................................................................................. 55
Figure 6 : The Position of Mean Score of Reading Comprehension of Pre test in
Control Class ........................................................................................... 56
Figure 7 : Histogram frequency of Reading Comprehension of Pre Test in Control
Class ........................................................................................................ 58
Figure 8 : The Position of Mean Score of Reading Comprehension of Post test in
Control Class ........................................................................................... 59
Figure 9 : Histogram frequency of Reading Comprehension of Post Test in Control
Class ........................................................................................................ 61
viii
Appendix 1
RENCANA PELAKSANAAN PEMBELAJARAN

(RPP) EXPERIMENTAL CLASS
Nama Sekolah : SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh

Mata Pelajaran : Bahasa Inggris
Kelas/Semester : XI/II
Alokasi Waktu : 2 x 45 menit
Pertemuan ke :1
Standar kompetensi : MEMBACA

11. Memahami makna teks fungsional pendek dan essay berbentuk narrative, spoof,
dan Hortatory exposition dalam konteks kehidupan sehari0hari dan mengakses
ilmu pengetahuan.
Kompetensi Dasar
11.2. Merespon makna dalam teks fungsional pendek (missal, banner, poster,
pamphlet, dan lain-lain) resmi dan tidak resmi yang menggunakan ragam
bahasa lisan secara akurat, lancar, dan berterima dalam konteks kehidupan
sehari-hari dan untuk mengakses ilmu pengetahuan dalam teks berbentuk
narrative, spoof dan hortatory exposition.
Indikator Nilai Karakter

Mengidentifikasi jenis teks spoof. Religius, kerja keras, kreatif,
Menemukan makna kalimat yang mandiri, demokratis, rasa ingin
dibahas. tahu, komunikatif, gemar membaca
Mendapatkan informasi tertentu dari
teks.
Menemukan tema dan isi teks.
Menemukan tujuan komunikasi teks.
A. Tujuan pembelajaran
1. Peserta didik mampu mengidentifikasi jenis teks spoof.
2. Peserta didik mampu menemukan makna kalimat yang dibahas.
3. Peserta didik mampu mendapatkan informasi tertentu dari teks.
4. Peserta didik mampu menemukan tema dan isi teks.
5. Peserta didik mampu menemukan tujuan komunikasi teks
B. Materi Ajar: Spoof

Private Conversation
Last week I went to the theatre. I had a very good seat. The play was very
interesting. I did not enjoy it. A young man and a young woman were sitting
behind me. They were talking very loudly. I got very angry. I could not hear the
actors. I turned around. I looked at the man and the young woman angrily. They
did not pay any attention. In the end, I could not bear it. I turned around again. “I
could not hear a word” I said angrily.” It‟s none of your business” the young man
said rudely. “This is a private conversation”
(From: English New
Concept)
C. Strategy Pembelajaran: Activating and connecting background knowledge.
TM PT KMTT
Mengidentifikasi teks Menyuruh siswa Menyuruh siswa
fungsional pendek yang memahami teks dirumah mencari
berbentuk spoof spoof. teks spoof.
Menemukan maksud dan Mencari makna Menentukan
tujuan dari teks kata tertentu dari generic
teks yang didengar. structurenya
Menjawab
pertanyaan
berdasarkan teks.
Langkah – Langkah Pembelajaran

1. Kegiatan Awal
o Berdoa sebagai unkapan rasa syukur
o Menyampaikan indicator dan kompetensi dasar yang harus dicapai
o Memberi motivasi
2. Kegiatan Inti
Eksplorasi
o Memberikan stimulus atau mengantifkan background knowledge siswa
berupa pemberian materi tentang teks spoof.
o Membacakan teks spoof.
o Menghubungkan prior knowledge siswa dengan masteri yang dipelajari.
o Menjelaskan bagian – bagian penting dalam teks spoof.
o Melibatkan peserta didik secara aktif dalam kegiatan pembelajaran.
Elaborasi
o Membiasakan siswa mampu membuat teks spoof dan menentukan generic
structure nya.
o Memfasilitasi peserta didik melalui pemberian tugas mengerjakan latihan
soal yang ada dalam buku.
o Pemberian kesempatan untuk berpikir dan menganalisis teks spoof dan
bagian – bagian penting teks.
Konfirmasi
o Memberikan umpan balik pada peserta didik dengen memberikan
penguatan dalam bentuk lisan pada siswa yang telah menyelesaikan
tugasnya.
o Memberikan motivasi pada peserta didik yang kurang dan belum bias
mengikuti pelajaran.
o Memberikan konfirmasi pada hasil tugas yang sudah dikerjakan oleh
sisiwa.
3. Kegiatan Akhir
o Pesera didik diminta membuat rangkuman tentang materi yang dipelajari.
o Peserta didik diberikan PR yang terkait dengan materi yang dipelajari.
o Menyampaikan rencana pelajaran pada pertemuan berikutnya.
D. Alat/Bahan/Sumber Belajar: English Alive, Yudistira

E. Penilaian
Tekhnik : Tertulis
Bentuk : Essay
Instrument : Find a spoof text and then rewrite what you have got from the
text.
Penilaian : depend on the students‟ answer
skorperolehan
Nilai x100%
skormaksimal
Padangsidimpuan, 2013
Diketahui Mahasiswa STAIN Padangsidimpuan
Guru Mapel B. Inggris
YOSELFIANI,S.S MIRNA WATI

NIP. 197910102010012013 Reg. No: 08 3400066
Disetujui
Kepala SMA N 1 Gunung Tuleh
DRS. ARMAN
NIP.196006211988031006
Appendix 2


Alokasi Waktu : 2 x 45 Menit
Pertemuan ke :2

dan Hortatory exposition dalam konteks kehidupan sehari-hari dan mengakses
ilmu pengetahuan.
Kompetensi Dasar

Mengidentifikasi jenis teks Religius, kerja keras, kreatif,
exposition. mandiri, demokratis, rasa ingin
Menemukan makna kalimat yang tahu, komunikatif, gemar membaca
dibahas.
teks.
F. Tujuan pembelajaran
1. Peserta didik mampu mengidentifikasi jenis teks exposition.
G. Materi Ajar: exposition text
SMOKING IN RESTAURANT SHOULD BE BANNED

Smoking in restaurant is just not on. It must not be allowed because it is
rude, harmful to others and dangerous for the smokers.
Firstly, smoking in a restaurant is impolite. The smell of the smoke affects
all people and can turn them of their food. People pay to taste good food and not
to be put of by foul smelling smoke.
Another reason smoking should not be allowed in restaurant is the harm. It
can do to others passive smoker that is breathing in smoke made by a smoker can
lead to asthma attracts and even cancer.
Finally, smoking is dangerous and a health risk to the smokers. Cigarettes
cause heart and lung diseases and people should not smoke anywhere, not just in
restaurants.
Therefore, smoking in restaurants is impolite, harmful to other and a
health risk to the smokers and should not be allowed in any restaurants
H. Strategy Pembelajaran: Activating and connecting background knowledge.
TM PT KMTT
berbentuk exposition exposition teks exposition.
Menjawab
pertanyaan
berdasarkan teks.

1. Kegiatan Awal
o Berdoa sebagai ungkapan rasa syukur
o Memberi motivasi
2. Kegiatan Inti
Eksplorasi
berupa pemberian materi tentang teks report.
o Membacakan teks exposition.
o Menjelaskan bagian – bagian penting dalam teks exposition.
Elaborasi
o Membiasakan siswa mampu membuat teks exposition dan menentukan
generic structure nya.
o Pemberian kesempatan untuk berpikir dan menganalisis teks exposition
dan bagian – bagian penting teks.
Konfirmasi
tugasnya.
o Memberikan motivasi pada peserta didik yang kurang dan belum bias
sisiwa.
3. Kegiatan Akhir
I. Alat/Bahan/Sumber Belajar: English Alive, Yudistira

J. Penilaian
Tekhnik : Tertulis
Bentuk : Essay
Instrument : Find a exposition text and then rewrite what you have got
from the text.
skorperolehan
Nilai x100%
skormaksimal
DRS. ARMAN MIRNA WATI

Reg. No: 08 3400066
Appendix 3


Pertemuan ke :3
ilmu pengetahuan.
Kompetensi Dasar

Mengidentifikasi jenis teks narrative. Religius, kerja keras, kreatif,
teks.
K. Tujuan pembelajaran
1. Peserta didik mampu mengidentifikasi jenis teks narrative.
L. Materi Ajar: Narrative
Snow White
Once upon a time there lived a little girl named Snow White. She lived with her
Aunt and uncle because her parents were dead.
One day she heard her uncle and aunt talking about leaving Snow White in the
castle because they both wanted to go to America and they didn‟t have enough
money to take Snow White.
Snow White did not want her uncle and aunt to do this so she decided it would be
best if she ran away. The next morning she ran away from home when her aunt
and uncle were breakfast. She ran away into woods.
She was very tired and hungry.
Then she saw this little cottage. She knocked but no one answered so she went
inside and fell asleep.
Meanwhile, the seven dwarfs were coming home from work. They went inside.
There they found Snow white sleeping. Then Snow White woke up. She saw the
dwarfs. The dwarfs said, „what is your name?‟ Snow White said,‟my name is
Snow White‟.
Doc said, if you wish, you may live here with us‟. Snow White said,‟oh could (I)
thank you‟. Then Snow White told the dwarfs the whole story and Snow White
and the seven dwarfs lived happily ever after.
.
M. Strategy Pembelajaran: Activating and connecting background knowledge.
TM PT KMTT
berbentuk narrative narrative. teks narrative.
Menjawab
pertanyaan
berdasarkan teks.

1. Kegiatan Awal
o Berdoa sebagai unkapan rasa syukur
o Memberi motivasi
2. Kegiatan Inti
Eksplorasi
berupa pemberian materi tentang teks narrative.
o Membacakan teks narrative.
o Menjelaskan bagian – bagian penting dalam teks narrative.
Elaborasi
o Membiasakan siswa mampu membuat teks narrative dan menentukan
generic structure nya.
o Pemberian kesempatan untuk berpikir dan menganalisis teks narrative dan
bagian – bagian penting teks.
Konfirmasi
tugasnya.
o Memberikan motivasi pada peserta didik yang kurang dan belum bisa
sisiwa.
3. Kegiatan Akhir
N. Alat/Bahan/Sumber Belajar: English Alive, Yudistira

O. Penilaian
Tekhnik : Tertulis
Bentuk : Essay
Instrument : Find a narrative text and then rewrite what you have got from
the text.
skorperolehan
Nilai x100%
skormaksimal

Reg. No: 08 3400066
Appendix 4

(RPP) CONTROL CLASS

Alokasi Waktu : 2 x 45 menit
Pertemuan ke :1

ilmu pengetahuan.
Kompetensi Dasar

Mengidentifikasi jenis teks spoof. Religius, kerja keras, kreatif,
teks.
P. Tujuan pembelajaran
1. Peserta didik mampu mengidentifikasi jenis teks spoof.
Q. Materi Ajar: Spoof

Private Conversation
Last week I went to the theatre. I had a very good seat. The play was very
interesting. I did not enjoy it. A young man and a young woman were sitting
behind me. They were talking very loudly. I got very angry. I could not hear the
actors. I turned around. I looked at the man and the young woman angrily. They
did not pay any attention. In the end, I could not bear it. I turned around again. “I
could not hear a word” I said angrily.” It‟s none of your business” the young man
said rudely. “This is a private conversation”
(From: English New
Concept)
R. Strategy Pembelajaran: Activating and connecting background knowledge.
TM PT KMTT
berbentuk spoof spoof. teks spoof.
Menjawab
pertanyaan
berdasarkan teks.

1. Kegiatan Awal
o Memberi motivasi
2. Kegiatan Inti
Eksplorasi
o Memberikan stimulus berupa pemberian materi tentang teks spoof
o Menyuruh peserta didik membuat konsep pertanyaan tentang teks.
o Membacakan teks spoof.
o Menemukan informasi baru dari teks yang dibaca.
o Mengumpulkan pertanyaan dan informasi baru yang diperoleh dari teks.
o Mengklarifikasi informasi yang diperoleh.
Elaborasi
o Membiasakan siswa mampu membuat spoof dan menentukan generic
structure nya.
o Memfasilitasi peserta didik melalui pemberian masalah yang ada dalam
buku.
o Pemberian kesempatan untuk berpikir, menyusun konsep pertanyaan dan
menganalisis solusi yang memungkinkan untuk masalah yang diajukan
o Siswa mengajukan solusi dan klarifikasi terhadap permasalahan.
Konfirmasi
tugasnya.
siswa.
3. Kegiatan Akhir
o Menyampaikan rencana pelajaran pada pertemuan berikutnya
S. Alat/Bahan/Sumber Belajar: English Alive, Yudistira

T. Penilaian
Tekhnik : Tertulis
Bentuk : Essay
Instrument : Find a spoof text and then rewrite what you have got from the
text.
skorperolehan
Nilai x100%
skormaksimal
Guru Mapel B. Inggris
YOSELFIANI,S.S MIRNA WATI

NIP. 197910102010012013 Reg. No: 08 3400066
Disetujui
DRS. ARMAN
Appendix 5 NIP.196006211988031006

(RPP) CONTROL CLASS

Pertemuan ke :2

dan Hortatory exposition dalam konteks kehidupan sehari-hari dan mengakses
ilmu pengetahuan.
Kompetensi Dasar

Mengidentifikasi jenis teks Religius, kerja keras, kreatif,
exposition. mandiri, demokratis, rasa ingin
Menemukan makna kalimat yang tahu, komunikatif, gemar membaca
dibahas.
teks.
U. Tujuan pembelajaran
1. Peserta didik mampu mengidentifikasi jenis teks exposition.
V. Materi Ajar: exposition text
SMOKING IN RESTAURANT SHOULD BE BANNED

Smoking in restaurant is just not on. It must not be allowed because it is
rude, harmful to others and dangerous for the smokers.
Firstly, smoking in a restaurant is impolite. The smell of the smoke affects
all people and can turn them of their food. People pay to taste good food and not
to be put of by foul smelling smoke.
Another reason smoking should not be allowed in restaurant is the harm. It
can do to others passive smoker that is breathing in smoke made by a smoker can
lead to asthma attracts and even cancer.
Finally, smoking is dangerous and a health risk to the smokers. Cigarettes
cause heart and lung diseases and people should not smoke anywhere, not just in
restaurants.
Therefore, smoking in restaurants is impolite, harmful to other and a
health risk to the smokers and should not be allowed in any restaurants
W. Strategy Pembelajaran: Activating and connecting background knowledge.
TM PT KMTT
berbentuk exposition exposition teks exposition.
Menjawab
pertanyaan
berdasarkan teks.
1. Kegiatan Awal
o Memberi motivasi
2. Kegiatan Inti
Eksplorasi
o Memberikan stimulus berupa pemberian materi tentang teks analytical
exposition.
o Membacakan teks analytical exposition.
Elaborasi
o Membiasakan siswa mampu membuat teks analytical exposition dan
menentukan generic structure nya.
buku.
Konfirmasi
tugasnya.
siswa.
3. Kegiatan Akhir
X. Alat/Bahan/Sumber Belajar: English Alive, Yudistira

Y. Penilaian
Tekhnik : Tertulis
Bentuk : Essay
Instrument : Find a exposition text and then rewrite what you have got
from the text.
skorperolehan
Nilai x100%
skormaksimal

Reg. No: 08 3400066
Appendix 6

(RPP) CONTROL CLASS

Pertemuan ke :3
ilmu pengetahuan.
Kompetensi Dasar

Mengidentifikasi jenis teks narrative. Religius, kerja keras, kreatif,
teks.
Z. Tujuan pembelajaran
1. Peserta didik mampu mengidentifikasi jenis teks narrative.
AA. Materi Ajar: Narrative
Snow White
Once upon a time there lived a little girl named Snow White. She lived with her
Aunt and uncle because her parents were dead.
One day she heard her uncle and aunt talking about leaving Snow White in the
castle because they both wanted to go to America and they didn‟t have enough
money to take Snow White.
Snow White did not want her uncle and aunt to do this so she decided it would be
best if she ran away. The next morning she ran away from home when her aunt
and uncle were breakfast. She ran away into woods.
She was very tired and hungry.
Then she saw this little cottage. She knocked but no one answered so she went
inside and fell asleep.
Meanwhile, the seven dwarfs were coming home from work. They went inside.
There they found Snow white sleeping. Then Snow White woke up. She saw the
dwarfs. The dwarfs said, „what is your name?‟ Snow White said,‟my name is
Snow White‟.
Doc said, if you wish, you may live here with us‟. Snow White said,‟oh could (I)
thank you‟. Then Snow White told the dwarfs the whole story and Snow White
and the seven dwarfs lived happily ever after.
.
BB. Strategy Pembelajaran: Activating and connecting background

knowledge.
TM PT KMTT
berbentuk narrative narrative. teks narrative.
Menjawab
pertanyaan
berdasarkan teks.
1. Kegiatan Awal
o Memberi motivasi
2. Kegiatan Inti
Eksplorasi
o Memberikan stimulus berupa pemberian materi tentang teks analytical
exposition.
o Membacakan teks analytical exposition.
Elaborasi
o Membiasakan siswa mampu membuat teks analytical exposition dan
menentukan generic structure nya.
buku.
Konfirmasi
tugasnya.
siswa.
3. Kegiatan Akhir
o Menyampaikan rencana pelajaran pada pertemuan berikutnya
CC. Alat/Bahan/Sumber Belajar: English Alive, Yudistira

DD. Penilaian
Tekhnik : Tertulis
Bentuk : Essay
Instrument : Find a narrative text and then rewrite what you have got from
the text.
skorperolehan
Nilai x100%
skormaksimal

Reg. No: 08 3400066
Appendix 7
The Result of Pretest in Experimental Class
No. Initial Name Pretest in Experimental

Class
1 AF 30
2 AH 75
3 AL 70
4 AN 50
5 AO 40
6 AR 35
7 AT 30
8 AV 45
9 BS 75
10 DS 55
11 ES 30
12 ED 65
13 FR 35
14 FJ 50
15 FA 75
16 GA 45
17 GG 35
18 HA 65
19 LP 35
20 MF 65
21 NF 85
22 PA 30
23 RM 45
24 RG 45
25 RS 30
26 RR 65
27 SA 30
28 VD 30
29 WS 60
30 WF 45
31 YN 65
32 LI 30
33 ZV 45
1610
a. Mean or variable 1 or Mx
X 1610
Mx = = = 48.78
N 33
b. Median or variable 1 or Mex
Xn Xn
1
Mex = 2 2
2
X 33 X 33
1
= 2 2
2
X 16.5 X 17
=
2
45 35
=
2
= 40
c. Mode = 35
Appendix 8
THE CALCULATION OF VALIDITY
The Calculation of validity from the data gathering can be seen on the below:
N XY X Y
rxy
2 2
N X2 X N Y2 Y
33 139925 2165 2050

2 2
33 147375 2165 33 134350 2050
4617525 4438250
4863375 4678596 4433550 4202500
179275
14779 231050
179275
3414687950
179275
58435.331
= 3.06
After getting the data from research‟s test, it showed that 5 items was valid from
10 items of test, so there were 5 items invalid they were: 1, 3, 6, 7, and 10. Therefore
the researcher took 5 valid test of essay test.

Appendix 8
The Result of Post Test in Control Class
No. Initial Name Post Test in Control Class

1 AT 85
2 AA 30
3 AM 45
4 AD 75
5 AF 90
6 AP 65
7 BA 55
8 DA 50
9 DP 65
10 ED 70
11 ES 55
12 HI 65
13 HM 45
14 HE 35
15 IP 50
16 LA 60
17 LI 60
18 MP 65
19 MA 80
20 MS 75
21 NR 75
22 ND 85
23 NH 65
24 RJ 55
25 RS 80
26 RW 55
27 RH 75
28 RR 45
29 SM 65
30 SN 55
31 ST 65
32 SI 40
33 SR 70
2050
Appendix 9
The Result of Post Test in Experimental Class
No. Initial Name Post test in Experimental

Class
1 AF 90
2 AH 40
3 AL 55
4 AN 75
5 AO 95
6 AR 55
7 AT 45
8 AV 70
9 BS 75
10 DS 75
11 ES 60
12 ED 65
13 FR 60
14 FJ 30
15 FA 50
16 GA 65
17 GG 65
18 HA 55
19 LP 80
20 MF 75
21 NF 65
22 PA 70
23 RM 65
24 RG 50
25 RS 85
26 RR 60
27 SA 70
28 VD 45
29 WS 85
30 WF 80
31 YN 85
32 LI 60
33 ZV 65
2165
Appendix 10
The Data of Reading Comprehension by Using Activating and Connecting
Background Knowledge and Conventional Method at the Grade IX Students of
SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh
No Initial Name Variable X Initial Name Variable Y

1. AF 90 AT 85
2. AH 40 AA 30
3. AL 55 AM 45
4. AN 75 AD 75
5. AO 95 AF 90
6. AR 55 AP 65
7. AT 45 BA 55
8. AV 70 DA 50
9. BS 75 DP 65
10. DS 75 ED 70
11. ES 60 ES 55
12. ED 65 HI 65
13. FR 65 HM 60
14. FJ 30 HE 35
15. FA 50 IP 50
16. GA 60 LA 45
17. GG 65 LI 60
18. HA 55 MP 65
19. LP 80 MA 80
20. MF 75 MS 75
21. NF 65 NR 75
22. PA 70 ND 85
23. RM 65 NH 65
24. RG 50 RJ 55
25. RS 85 RS 80
26. RR 60 RW 55
27. SA 70 RH 75
28. VD 45 RR 45
29. WS 85 SM 65
30 WF 80 SN 55
31 YN 85 ST 65
32 LI 60 SI 40
33 ZV 65 SR 70
Appendix 11
The Data of Reading Comprehension by Using Activating and Connecting
Background Knowledge and Conventional Method at the Grade IX Students of
SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh
No Variable X Variable Y X2 Y2 XY
1. 90 85 8100 7225 7650
2. 40 30 1600 900 1200
3. 55 45 3025 2025 2475
4. 75 75 5625 5625 5625
5. 95 90 9025 8100 8550
6. 55 65 3025 4225 3575
7. 45 55 225 3025 2475
8. 70 50 4900 2500 3500
9. 75 65 5625 4225 4875
10. 75 70 5625 4900 5250
11. 60 55 3600 3025 3300
12. 65 65 4225 4225 4225
13. 60 45 3600 2025 2700
14. 30 35 900 1225 1050
15. 50 50 2500 2500 2500
16. 65 60 4225 3600 3900
17. 65 60 4225 3600 3900
18. 55 65 3025 4225 3575
19. 80 80 6400 6400 6400
20. 75 75 5625 5625 5625
21. 65 75 4225 5625 4875
22. 70 85 4900 7225 5950
23. 65 65 4225 4225 4225
24. 50 55 2500 3025 2750
25. 85 80 7225 6400 6800
26. 60 55 3600 3025 3300
27. 70 75 4900 5625 5250
28. 45 45 2025 2025 2025
29. 85 65 7225 4225 5525
30 80 55 6400 3025 4400
31 85 65 7225 4225 5525
32 60 40 3600 1600 2400
33 65 70 4225 4900 4550
Total 2165 2050 147375 134350 139925
Mean 65.60 61.12
Appendix 12
THE CALCULATION OF T – TEST
1. The calculation of the reading comprehension data by using activating
and connecting background knowledge to the grade XI studnets of
SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh.
a. Mean of variable 1 or Mx
X 1255
Mx = = = 38.03
N 33
Yn Yn
1
Mey = 2 2
2
Y33 Y33
1
= 2 2
2
Y16.5 Y17
=
2
65 65
=
2
= 65
c. Mode = 65
d. Standard deviasion of variable 1 or X variable
X 2165
SDx 65.60
N 33
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Problems
Language as a means of communication is a central fact of human
existence and social process. It performs two basic functions of human beings.
First, to be enable them to think in very complex ways by providing a structure
for naming and expression the relationship between concepts and the second to
make them better to communicate with one other. These two basic functions of
language obviously closely related to each other.
English is one foreign language in Indonesia that is provided as
compulsory subject to students of the primary school, junior high school and even
in higher education level. One of the objectives of teaching English to the
students is to improve their ability in four language skills: listening, speaking,
reading and writing. From the objectives above, English teacher should develop
minimal the students’ reading ability. It is because reading is minimum
requirement in studying English.
There are many reasons why getting students to read English text, and it is
an important part of the teacher’s job in the first place. The first is for studying in
classroom. The other is for pleasuring. The next can be for looking the
information for finding jobs. It is also for getting jobs. It also may be for another
reasons.
1
2
Reading also provides opportunities to study language such as,
vocabularies, paragraphs, texts, punctuations and others. It means that in reading
comprehension new vocabulary may occur to the reader. In this case, a reader
needs top enlarge his/her vocabulary in order to be easier in understanding a text
or in getting the information from the text. It also makes the reader more
comprehend or well-known the kinds of the text through reading material.
In the teaching learning processes, the problem of teaching is not only the
teaching material but also the strategy of teaching. The teaching process will not
give a good result if the way of teaching was not suitable to the students’
condition. Therefore, teaching strategy will make the teaching learning process
run well. The teacher must know the suitable strategy for the students to make the
students more comfortable in the class especially in learning reading skill. It can
guarantee the interesting teaching reading condition in the class. If the class has
been interesting, it is of course the students will enjoy in learning an teaching
process.
Based on the researcher’s pre-research, most of senior high school in
SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh were not interested in reading comprehension so
the process of teaching reading could not run well. Most of them are passive in
the class. This situation happened because the method or the strategy of teaching
which was used not suitable. The teacher taught reading comprehension by
translating the text. Therefore, the students always open the dictionary when they
want to find out the main idea of the reading text. In fact, teacher still did not use
3
suitable strategies to teach reading comprehension. So, the teaching learning
process did not run well.
Due to the fact above, it indicates that many senior high school graduates
in SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh are still very poor in English. It still finds most
of the senior high school graduates do not have the required ability in reading
comprehension. Most of them still have many difficulties in reading
comprehension.
They are many ways in teaching reading to students. One of them is by
using activating and connecting strategy. In this strategy the teacher asks the
students to activate their background knowledge. Then, connect when reading the
information every word in the text comprehensively. Activating and connecting
hopefully can help students in reading comprehension.
By looking at the reason above, the researcher is interested to chose the
topic: “The effect of activating and connecting background knowledge to
students’ reading comprehension at SMA N 1 Gunung Tuleh Pasaman Barat”.
B. Identification of the Problem
Based on background the researcher has identified the problems of the
research as following: Many students get difficulties in learning English
especially to comprehend reading. The problem is caused by less of interest, and
do not have appropriate reading strategies and open dictionary when they are
reading. The other factor is teaching strategy which makes students do not
comprehend reading.
4
C. Limitation of the Problem
As has been mentioned before, this research is dealing with reading
comprehension and the strategies. So, the scope of the study has been limited just
in activating and connecting background knowledge strategy and students’
reading comprehension.
D. Definition of the Operational Variable
To avoid miscommunication between writer and reader in the title of his
study, researcher gave the definition of the operational variable as follows:
1. Activating and connecting background knowledge.
Activating is to make such as a device or chemical process start
working.1 Connecting is to join together two of more things to be joined
together.2 Background knowledge is mental structure in which we store all the
information we know about people, places, objects, or activities.”3 So, activating
and connecting background knowledge is strategy that used by the readers to
know information that is essential in understanding a situation or problem by
connecting and activating prior knowledge to what to be read.
2. Students’ Reading Comprehension
Student is a person who is studying at a university or college.4 Reading
is a fluent process of readers combining information from a text and their own
1
Oxford Advanced, Learner’s Dictionary, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 13
2
Ibid., p. 274.
3
Judi Moreilon, Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension, Maximazing
Your Impact, (Chicago: America libarary Association, 2007), p. 20
4
Ibid., p. 1187.
5
background knowledge to build meaning.5 Comprehension is the ability to
understand, or an exercise that train the students to understand a language.6
Reading comprehension means the ability to combine information based on the
text to build meaning. So, students’ reading comprehension is the ability to
combine information based on the text to build meaning.
E. The Formulation of the Problem
Based on the background of the problem on this research, the researcher
formulates the problem as “is there any significant effect of activating and
connecting background knowledge to students’ reading comprehension at SMA
Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh Pasaman Barat?”
F. The Aims of the Research
Based on the formulation of the problem on this research, the researcher
makes the aim of the research to know the effect of activating and connecting
background knowledge to students reading comprehension at SMA Negeri 1
Gunung Tuleh Pasaman Barat.
G. The Significance of the Research
This research is hopefully gives significances as follows:
1. As an input for the head master in guiding English teacher.
2. As an input for the teacher in teaching learning process especially learning
reading.
5
David Nunan, Practical English Language Teahing, (New York: MC Graw Hill, 2003), p. 68.
6
A. S Hornby, Op. Cit, p. 263.
6
3. As an information for another researcher to do a further research in the same
field.
CHAPTER II
THE THEORETICAL DESCRIPTION
A. Description of Theory
In this sub chapter the researcher elaborates some theories relevant to
the study. It begins with theories related to reading comprehension and activating
and connecting background knowledge strategy.
1. Description of Reading Comprehension
a. Reading Comprehension
Reading is a fluent process of readers combining information from
a text and their own background knowledge to build meaning. 1 Then,
Reading is essential skills for learners of English as a second language.
For most of the learners it is the most important skill to be mastered in
order to ensure success not only in learning English is required.2
Further, Chair says,
Reading is informed by a vision of proficient readers who are

capable of acquiring new knowledge and understanding new
concepts, are capable of applying textual information
appropriately, and are capable of being engaged in the reading
process and reflecting on what is being read.3
1
David Nunan, Op. Cit., p. 68.
2
Ibid., p. 69.
3
Catherine Snow Chair, Reading for Understanding Toward and R&D Program in Reading
Comprehension, (Santa Monica: Rand, 2002), p. xiii
7
8
The quotation means that reading is a process of acquiring or
understanding a new knowledge or concept from reading material. The
process is of course a reader focus on his/her reading material.
Further, Finochiaro and Bonomo stated in Tarigan, “Reading is
bringing meaning to and getting meaning from printed or written
material.”4 Similarly, Windowson stated in Hedge, “Reading can be seen as
a kind of a dialogue between the reader and the text, or even between the
reader and author.”5
Furthermore, Otto states,
Reading is not just saying the words. Reading must always be a

meaning getting process.6 Reading is the meaningful
interpretation of written or printed verbal symbol. It can apply
also to the interpretation of mathematical symbols, use
connotation, codes, and other symbolic system. Reading is
extension of oral communication and builds upon listening and
speaking skills.7
So, it can be concluded that reading is interactive process between
the reader and text, to get meaning.
According to A.S Hornby, the word “comprehension” means the
ability to understand or an exercise that train the students to understand a
language.8 Similarly, Jennifer Serravalo says, “Comprehension is at the
4
Henry Guntur Tarigan, Membaca Sebagai Suatu Keterampilan Berbahasa, (Bandung:
Aksara, 2005), p. 8.
5
Trian Hedge, Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom, (Hongkong: Oxford
University Press, 2000), p. 188.
6
Wayne Otto, et.al, Op. Cit., p. 147.
7
A.J Harris, How to Increase Reading Ability, (New York: David Mckay Company, 1969), p.3.
8
Ibid., p. 68.
9
hearth of what it means to really read.”9 The quotations mean that
comprehension is the process of trying to understand reading material
deeply, both of explicit and implicit information of the reading material
which want to be conveyed by the researcher.
Furthermore, Serravalo explains that
It is often so challenging to assess comprehension because it is

invisible-without a students down what is going through her/his
head, or talking to another about what she/he is thinking, it
becomes challenging to see the reader‟s processing.
Comprehension skill assessment is also so complicated because
none of these seven skills is static.10
The quotation points out that the process of assessing
comprehension is very challenging because it is invisible and also it is the
process of mental for the reader. The way in which a reader uses each of
skill depends upon so many variables including but not limited to genre,
text level/difficulty, the reader‟s prior experience with the topic, and the
text structure. For example, a child may have really thoughtful ideas about
character when reading realistic fiction story about a child is school
because the topic and genre are familiar.
According to Linda J. Dorn and Carla Sofas “Comprehension is a
complex process regulated by cognitive, emotional, perceptual and social
experiences.11 When individuals read, they apply a range of
9
Jennifer Serravalo, Teaching Reading in Small Groups, (Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2010), p.43
10
Ibid., p. 44
11
Linda J. Dorn and Carla Soffos, Teaching for Deep Comprehension, A Reading Workshop
Approach, (Portland: Stenhouse Publisher, 2005), p. 14.
10
comprehending strategies to monitor and sustain their meaning. So,
comprehension is student ability to understand a language.
By inferring from the previous definition, it can be said that
comprehension is mental process of a reader, namely; cognitive,
emotional, perceptual and social experiences. In this process a reader tries
to understand reading material deeply, both explicit and implicit
information of the reading material.
Talking about reading comprehension, Goodman in Otto defined
“Reading comprehension as interaction between thought and language and
bases evaluation of success in comprehension on the extend to which the
reader‟s message.”12 It means that reading comprehension is trying to infer
the idea through interaction between reader and reading material. To
comprehend the written material readers must use variety of skills such as
readers must be able to draw conclusion. Identify main ideas, and
recognize details from the selection.
In line with Goodman, Klingner, et.al. say, “Reading
comprehension is the process of constructing meaning by coordinating a
number of complex processes that include word reading, word and world
knowledge, and fluency.”13 It means that reading comprehension is the
process of constructing meaning. The process is very complex because
12
Wayne Otto, at .al, How to Teach Reading, (USA: Addison Weslay Publishing company,
1979), p 151-153.
13
Jennethe K. Klingner, et.al., Teaching Reading Comprehension to Students with Reading
Difficulties, (New York: The Guildford Press, 2007), p. 2
11
will involve the initialing word, inferring the word more connecting
knowledge about the word.
Similarly, John D. Mc Neil “Reading comprehension is finding
determinant meanings (author‟s intent and implicit meanings of the
text)”.14 It means that reading is a process of finding the meaning of ideas
both explicitly and implicitly. Explicitly means the idea can be found
directly in the reading material or is written in the text. So, the reader does
not need to interpretation the meaning of all the words. While implicitly
means that the idea is not written in the reading material directly. Do, the
reader needs to interpretation the meaning of the words deeply.
Based on the explanation above, the researcher concludes that
reading comprehension is the process of understanding the ideas which are
author want to be conveyed both explicitly and implicitly. In
understanding the information the reader should comprehend whole text in
order to get the correct and accurate information.
b. Categories of Reading Comprehension
In constructing the meaning of a text, readers may engage in
different types or levels of thinking. Donna M. Scanlon, et.al., say, “Three
levels of comprehension are typically identified: literal, inferential, and
critical.”15
14
John D. Mc Neil, Reading Comprehension, (Los Angles: Hopencollins Published, 1991), p. 1
15
Donna M. Scanlon, et. al., Op. Cit., p. 275
12
Furthermore, Smith in Otto suggested that Reading comprehension
may be divided into four categories.
They are:
a. Literal comprehension: getting the direct meaning that has
been explicitly stated
b. Interpretation: identifying ideas not explicitly stated.
c. Critical reading: evaluating what is read.
d. Creative reading: applying ideas read to new situation.16
1) Literal comprehension
Literal comprehension is getting the information from the
reading material directly. The information has explicitly stated. It also
can be said as comprehending the text through understanding word to
word from the reading material.
2) Interpretation
Interpretation means trying to getting information from the
reading material both explicit and implicit. In this process the reader
tries to interpret the information by assimilation and accommodation.
Assimilation means the new information that is gotten from the
reading material, while accommodation means the information that is
gotten through making perception to the reader knowledge.
3) Critical reading
Critical reading is evaluating what has been read by the reader.
Evaluating means making revising to the information that has been
16
Wayne Otto Op. .Cit., p. 35
13
gotten from reading material. A critical reader will respect to the
information in reading material.
4) Creative reading
Creative reading is applying ideas read to new situation. It means
that the information which is gotten from the reading material will be
applied in new context. This applying of course through making
manipulation knowledge to the new context or situation.
The quotation means that reading comprehension is divided into
four categories, namely; 1) literal comprehension, 2) interpretation, 3)
critical reading, and 4) creative reading.
c. Factor Affecting Reading Comprehension
Many factors affect comprehension of printed materials, some of
the factor are characteristic of the material to be read, other are related to
the reader. When attempt to quite comprehension, the teacher should
consider both kinds of factors.17
1) Characteristic of material
Using children own language patterns in written materials can
lead to improved comprehension by young readers. Characteristic of
the material being read can be a major block to comprehension. When
assigning passages for children to read, teacher must be a ware of
17
Ibid., p. 47-151.
14
these potential roadblock and must prepare the student to dear with
them.
2) Characteristic of the reader
Another important in a reader ability to comprehend is the
decoding skill of the reader. If the reader is attempting to get only a
general idea of what the passage is about, the comprehension of small
details will most likely be low. If the reader‟s only purpose for reading
a selection is to complete a class assignment, comprehension may be
minimal because no real focus has guided the reader.
However, characteristic of the reader is if reading is perceived
as a something to be done only under duress, comprehension may
suffer because the reader‟s only purpose is to get. If reading is seen as
pronouncing words comprehension will be minimal because the
reader‟s attention is on accuracy of decoding and not on meaning
getting.
Furthermore, Smith and Barrelt in Otto have divided reading
comprehension according to the kind of the response required by the
reader18. A different approach to identifying manageable elements of
reading comprehension is to base levels of comprehension on the unit
of comprehension as well as on the response required by the reader.
Carver in Otto suggests four levels of comprehension, namely: 1)
18
Ibid., p. 154.
15
word level, 2) sentence level, 3) unit of paragraph level, and 4) large
of element reasoning level.19
The first level is the world level. Before one can understand a
complete sentence, one must known the meaning of at least most of
the words in the sentence, as they are used in that sentence.
The second level is the sentence. The reader must combine the
words in the sentence and understand what the whole sentence means.
The process of combining is not simply additive. Fluent readers do not
read or, comprehend one word at time, in a linier fashion and then add
up the meanings. Furthermore, the meaning of a particular sentence, as
with a particular word, depends in part on the meanings of the
sentences that surround it.
The third level involved the unit of the paragraph. Readers
comprehend the words and sentences in a paragraph and also develop
an understanding of the meaning of the paragraph it self. This third
level of reading comprehension, like other levels, does not involve just
one skill. In comprehending a paragraph a reader may identify the
main idea, draw an inference, or use the information in the paragraph
to determine cause and effect.
The fourth level of comprehension contains a large element of
reasoning. Reasoning resembles the critical and creative levels of
19
Ibid., p. 154-156
16
reading comprehension. This level associated with no particular unit
and may involve, or tangential meanings of the prose.
d. Principles in Teaching Reading Comprehension
There are some principles in teaching reading comprehension.
According to Harmer the principles in teaching reading are:
1) Reading is not passive skill

Reading is an in credibly active occupation, to do it
successfully. We have to understand what the word mean.
2) Students need to be engaged with what they are reading.
Student who are not engaged with the reading text not
actively interested in what they are doing are less likely to
benefit from it.
3) Student should be encouraged to respond to the content of a
reading text, not just to the language.
4) Prediction is a major factor in reading
When we read texts in our own language. We frequently
have a good idea of the content before we actually read.
Book covers give as a hint of what‟s in the book photographs
and headlines hint at what articles are about and report look
like reports before we read a single word.
5) Match the task to the topic
We could give students hamlet‟s soliloquy „to be or not to
be‟ ask them to say how many times the infinitive is used, we
could give them a restaurant menu and ask them to list the
ingredients alphabetically.
6) Good teacher exploit reading texts to the full reading text is
full of sentences. Words, ideas, descriptions etc, it does not
make sense just to get student to read it and then drop it to
move on to some time thing else.20
According to David Nunan, there are many principles in teaching
reading comprehension, they are : 1) Exploit the reader background
knowledge, 2) Build strong vocabulary base, 3) Teach for comprehension,
4)Work on increasing reading rate, 5) Teach reading strategies, 6)
20
Jeremy Harmer, How to Teach English, (Malaysia: Longman, 2001), p. 70-71
17
Encourage reader to transform strategies into skills, 7) Build assessment
and evaluation into your teaching, and 8) Strive for continuous
improvement as a reading teacher.21
1) Exploit the reader‟s background knowledge.
It can influence reading comprehension background knowledge
includes all of the experiences that a reader brings to a text: life
experiences, educational experiences, knowledge of how texts can be
organized rhetorically, knowledge of how one‟s first language works,
knowledge of how the second language work, and cultural background
and knowledge. Reading comprehension can be significantly enhanced
if background knowledge can be activated by setting goal‟s, asking
questions, making predictions, teaching text structure and so on.
2) Build a strong vocabulary base
It is easier for the reader of academic texts to cope with special
terminology than with general vocabulary. They stress the great need
for a teaching program that builds general basic vocabulary.
3) Teach for comprehension
In many reading instruction programs, more emphasis and time
may be placed on testing reading comprehension then in teaching
readers how to comprehend. Monitoring comprehension is essential to

21
David Nunan, Op. Cit., p. 74
18
successful reading. Part of that monitoring process includes verifying
that the predictions being made are correct and checking that the
reader is making necessary adjustments when meaning is not obtained.
Cognition can be defined as thinking. Met cognition can be
defined as thinking about our thinking. In order to teach for
comprehension. It is my belief that readers must monitor their
comprehension processes and be able to discuss with the reader and
fellow reader what strategies they use comprehend. By doing this the
readers use both their cognitive and met cognitive skills.
4) Work on increasing reading rate
One great difficulty in the second language reading classroom
in that even when language learners can read, much of their reading is
not fluent. To assist students in increasing their reading rate, teacher
over emphasize accuracy which impedes fluency. One focus here is to
teach readers to reduce their dependence on a dictionary. Skills such as
scanning, skimming, predicting and identifying main ideas get
students to approach reading in different ways. Readers should spend
more time analyzing the content of the reading, and not focusing on
moving through the passage one word at a time.
5) Teach reading strategies
Strategies are the tools for active, self directed involvement
that is necessary for developing communicative ability. Strategies are

19
not a single event, but rather a creative sequence of events that learners
actively use.
A good technique to sensitive student to the strategies they use
is to get them to verbalize (or talk about) their thought processes as
they read. Reader can listen to the verbal report of another reader who
has just read the same material and it is often revealing to hear what
other readers have done to get meaning from a passage.
6) Encourage reader to transform strategies into skills
Strategies can be defined as conscious actions that leathers take
to achieve desired gals or objectives, while a skill is a strategy that has
become automatic. This characterization underscores the active role
that readers play in strategic reading. A learner consciously learn and
practice specific reading strategies more from conscious to un
conscious from strategy to skill.
For example, guessing the meaning of unknown vocabulary
from context can be listed as both a strategy and a skill in reading
texts.
7) Build assessment and evaluation into your teaching
Assessing growth and development in reading skills from both
a formal and an informal perspective requires time and training. Both
quantitative and qualitative assessment activities should be included
the reading classroom. Quantitative assessment will include
information from reading comprehension test as well as reading rate

20
data. Qualitative information can include reading journal responses,
reading interest surveys, and responses to reading strategy checklists.
8) Strive for continuous improvement as a reading teacher
The quality of the individual teacher is integral to success of
second/foreign language reader. Reading teachers need to be
passionate about their work. They should view themselves as
facilitators, helping each reader discover what work best.
Reading material is of course consists of some information
which is reserves to the reader. The information usually in text form
which derived from some text that consists of combining some paragraph.
Mc Whorter says, “A paragraph can be defined as a group of related ideas.
The sentences relate to one another in the sense that each is about a
common person, place, thing, or idea. This common subject or idea is
called the topic.”22
It means that reading material is consisted some idea or topic.
So, in understanding or comprehending the information from reading
material, a reader firstly, should determine the topic of reading material or
reading text. In here, after determining the topic or reading text, the reader
will determine the topic sentence or main idea. Reading text also provides
opportunities to study language: vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, and
the way to construct sentences, paragraph and texts. Jeremy Harmer says,
22
Kathleen T. Mc Whorter, Efficient and Flexible Reading, Third Edition. (New York:
The Lehigh Press, Inc, 2002), p. 168
21
“Good reading, texts can introduce interesting topics, stimulate discussion,
excite imaginative responses an be the springboard for well-rounded,
fascinating lesson.”23 Furthermore, Mc Shorter says, a paragraph is
structured around three essential elements: the topic, the main idea, and
supporting details.24 It means that in a paragraph or reading material
consists of three elements that relate each other and built a sense of
meaning.
1) Identifying the topic
Topic is main subject discussion in a text or paragraph.
Kathleen T. McWhorter says, “The topic is what the entire paragraph
is about.”25 the quotation means that in a paragraph, of course, has one
topic. The topic will be develop into main idea and then elaborate into
supporting details.
In determining or identifying the topic in a paragraph or
reading material, a reader must read the text firstly, may be skim or
scan the text. Kathleen T. Mc Whorter says, “to identify the topic of a
paragraph, ask your self this question: Who or What is the paragraph
about? Your answer to this question will be the topic of the
paragraph.”26 It means that the topic can be found by asking the
23
Jeremy Harmer, The Practice English Language Teaching, Third Edition Completely Revised and
Update, (Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd, 2003) p. 202
24
Kathleen T. Mc Whorter, op.cit, p. 167
25
Ibid., p.168
26
Ibid., p. 168
22
question who or what. That is the simple way to determine a topic in
reading material.
topic is what a text or paragraph tells about an it can be found by
asking question who or what is paragraph about.
2) Identifying the main idea
Main idea is the general point that should be discussed in a
paragraph. In finding the main idea usually uses the term skimming.
Skimming is the way to read reading material or text generally to
determine the main idea. In Wikipedia says, “Skimming involves
searching for main idea by reading the first and last paragraphs,
nothing other organizational cues, such as summaries, used by to
author.”27 Similarly, Kathleen T. Mc Whorter, “Skimming means
reading selectively to get a general idea of what an article is about.”28
Both quotations mean that skimming is a technique to read the text
fastly to get general information.
In skimming, the reader purpose should be to read only those
parts of an article or selection that contain the most important
information. The goal is to read what is most important a skip what is
least information. Kathleen T. Mc Whorter adds, “The basic task of
27
http://ababasoft.com/words/skimming001.html, Accessed on 28 February 2013, 08.15
pm
28
Kathleen T. Mc Whorter, Op. Cit., p. 79
23
skimming, then, is to identify those parts of any reading material that
contain the main idea.”29 The quotation pointed out the in skimming
process a reader must identify the part of reading material. Because the
reading material that is read will determine how reader should adapt a
reading technique.
Furthermore, Jeremy Harmer adds, “A term commonly used in
discussion about reading is skimming (which means running your eyes
over a text to get quick idea of the gist of a text).30 It means that the
reader uses skimming in finding contents of the texts generally. By
encouraging students to have a quick look at the text before plunging
into idea for detail, will help them to get the general understanding of
what it is all about. This will help them when and if they read to more
specific information.
In conclusion, skimming is used to quickly identify main ideas
of a text. It involves skipping large of the material; a reader should not
expect to retain the less important facts and details. Use skimming
only when your purpose for reading allows you to read for general
concepts rather than specific information
3) Identifying supporting idea
Scanning is reading in detail to get specific information or
supporting idea from the text. Kathleen T. Mc Whorter says,
29
Ibid., p. 80
30
Ibid., p. 202
24
“Scanning in reading is a technique for quickly looking through
reading matter to locate particular piece information – fact, a date, a
name, a statistic.”31 It means that a reader might be looking the answer
to a question or for a fact or detail that he/she needs to complete an
assignment.
Scanning is only used to get detail information from reading
material or text. Its purpose is to provide a reader with an organized
procedure that will enable reader to scan more effectively and
efficiently. Many readers do not scan as efficiently as possible because
they randomly search through material, hoping to stumble on the
information they are seeking. Scanning in this way is time consuming,
frustrating, and often forces the reader to give up and read the entire
section. The key to effective scanning is to approach the material in a
systematic manner.
In conclusion, scanning is effective only if a reader have a
purpose, so try to fix reader mind what he/she is looking for by
forming specific question about the topic. A balance has to be stuck
between real English on the one hand and the students capabilities and
interest on the other hands. There is some authentic written material
which beginner students can understand to some degree; menus,
timetable, signs and basic instructions, for example, and where
appropriate, we can use these. But for longer prose, we may want to
31
Ibid., p. 106
25
offer our students texts which, while being like English, are
nevertheless written or adapted especially for their level. Important
thing is that such texts are much like real English as possible.
The topic or types of reading texts are worth considering too. a
teacher should determine the situation or background of the students.
Because suitable text for the students can stimulate their learning
interest.
In addition, in other book Harmer said, “When training students to
read is not only to persuade them of the advantages of skimming and
scanning, but also to make them see that the way they read is vitally
important.”32 From the quotation above, it can be concluded that reading
comprehension is the students‟ ability to get information from text with some
techniques, activities or exercises. Such view of reading comprehension is
associated with particular pedagogical. And then in order to obtain the
materials maximally reading comprehension needs more attention.
Based on the explanation previously, the researcher concludes that
reading comprehension is reading comprehension is acquiring information
from context and combining disparate elements into a new whole. It is the
process of using one‟s existing knowledge (schemata) to interpret text in order
to construct meaning. There are many indicators that can be use in acquiring
information in reading comprehension process, such as: 1) identifying the
32
Jeremy Harmer, How to teach English An Introduction to the Practice of English
Language Teaching, (Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd, 2003), p. 69
26
topic of the text, 2) Skimming for main idea and 3) scanning for details
information
2. Description of Reading Strategies
a. Reading Strategies
Reading strategies is an organization and application of teaching
technique, teaching materials, teaching aids and supplementary materials
by the teacher, with the aim of achieving the teaching and learning
objectives. It focuses on the goals which will be achieved in reading
process. Ellen McIntyre, et. al.,
The reading instructional model is designed so that children do not

slip through the cracks. Regular classroom instruction should
provide the intensive (research-based) strategies through engaging
(culturally responsive) pedagogy that will meet all students‟ needs.
That is the goal: the prevention of reading difficulties. But in
reality, even with expert teaching, some children need additional
help.33
According to Geoffrey R. Roberts, “Reading was regarded as being
predominantly a process of recognition rather than as the utilization of a
variety of cues from which could be constructed meaningful thoughts”34 It
means that in order to understand fully what is involved in learning to read,
so far as it affects what they do, children must be shown how to use the
facts that they are learning. Unfortunately, this is not as simple as at first
appears. The facts that can be learned, such as the sounds that can be
33
Ellen McIntyre, Reading Instructional for Diverse Classroom, (New York: The Guilfield
Press, 2011). p. 253
34
Geoffrey R. Roberts, Learning to Teach Reading, (London: Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd.,
1999), p.4
27
attached to letters, letter strings, syllables and even some words, vary
according to their setting.
Then, Wina Sanjaya said that generally, strategy defined as an outline
to achieve a specific purpose.35 It can be concluded that a plan of teacher in
learning process. Reading strategies are ways to reach goal in
understanding written text or printed material for solving the problems in
constructing meaning.
Based on the explanation above, the researcher concludes that teaching
strategy is organization or application of reading strategies in teaching
reading. The application is hoped in order to make better understanding of
the student in reading process.
b. Kinds of Reading Strategies
According to Brown, there are ten strategies can be practically
applied in reading a text, namely:
Identify the purpose of reading, use grapheme rules and pattern

to aid in bottom up decoding, use efficient silent reading
technique for relatively rapid comprehension, skimming,
scanning, semantic mapping and clustering, guessing, vocabulary
analysis, distinguish between literal and implied meaning, and
capitalize on discourse markers to process relationship.36
1) Identify the Purpose of Reading
35
Wina Sanjaya, Strategi Pembelajaran Berorientasi Proses Pendidikan, (Jakarta: Prenada
Media Group, 2010), p. 127
36
H. Douglas Brown, Teaching by Principles : An Interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy, (Englewood Cliffs, Nj: Prentice Hall Regents, 1994), p. 298-300
28
Efficient in reading consist of clearly identifying the purpose in
reading something. By doing so, teacher know what they are looking
for and can weed out potential detracting information, whenever
teacher are teaching a reading technique. They must make sure
students know their purpose in reading something.
2) Use Grapheme rules and Pattern to aid in bottom up Decoding (for
beginning level learners).
At the beginning levels of learning English, are of the difficulties
students encounter in learning to reads is making the correspondences
between spoken and written English.
3) Use Efficient Silent Reading Technique for relatively Rapid
Comprehension (for immediate to advance level)
You‟re intermediate to advanced level students need to be speed
readers, but you can help them to increase efficiency by teaching a few
silent reading rules:
a. You don‟t need you to “pronounce” each word to your self
b. Try to visually perceive to more than one word at a time,
preferably phrases.
c. Try to infer its meaning through is context
d. Unless a word absolutely to global understanding, skip over it and
try to infers its meaning
4) Skimming
29
Skimming consist of quickly running one‟s eyes across a whole a text
(an essay, article, or chapter, for example) to get the gist. Skimming
gives the readers the advantage of being able to predict the purpose of
the passage. The main topic or message, and possibly and some of the
developing or supporting ideas.
5) Scanning
Scanning or quickly searching for some particular pieces of
information in a text. Scanning exercises may ask students to look for
names or dates, to find a definition of key concept, or to list a certain
list a certain number of supporting detail. The purpose of scanning is
to extract specific information without reading through the whole text.
6) Semantic Mapping and Clustering
The strategy of semantic mapping, or grouping ideas into meaningful
clusters, help the reader to provide some order to the choose making
some semantic such semantic maps can be done individually, but they
make for a productively group work technique as students collectively
induce order and hierarchy to a passage.
7) Guessing
There is an extremely bread category learners can use guessing to their
advantage to:
a. Guess the meaning of words
b. Guess the grammatical relationship (e.g. a pronounce reference)
c. Guess the discourse relationship

30
d. Infer implied meaning
e. Guess about a cultural reference
f. Guess content message
You can help learners become accurate guessers by encouraging
them to use effective compensation strategies in which they fill
gaps in their competence by intelligent attempts to use whatever
clues are available to them.
8) Vocabulary Analysis
One way for learners to make guessing pay off when the don‟t
immediately recognize a word to analyze it in term of what they know
about it. Several techniques are useful here:
a. Look for the prefixes (co-, inter-, un-, etc) that may give clues
b. Look for suffixes (-tion, -tive, -ally, etc) that may indicate part of
speech it is.
c. Look for roots that are familiar
d. Look for grammatical context that may signal information
e. Look at the semantic context (topic) for clues.
9) Distinguish between literal and implied meaning
The requires application of sophisticated top-down processing skills.
The fact that not all language can be interpreted appropriately by
attending to its literal, syntactic surface structure makes special
demands and readers.
10) Capitalize on discourse markers to process relationship

31
There are many discourses in English that signal relationship among
ideas as expressed through phrases, clauses and sentences a clear
comprehension of such markers can greatly enhance learners reading
efficiency.
Hosenfield et. al in Hadly suggested, A sequence of seven
steps to help students developed successful reading strategies which
approaching any text:
1) Each students to self-report while reading. The self report

procedure as one in which students are encouraged to
“think aloud” as they try to attach meaning to a second
language text as students report their thinking processes:
the teacher has an opportunity to diagnose reading
difficulties and identify specific reading strategies.
2) Identify students reading strategies. The teacher records
whether a given individual‟s use of such strategies is
satisfactory, unsatisfactory, or nonexistence.
3) Help students to understand to concept of strategy and to
recognize that some strategies are successful, some
unsuccessful, and others only moderately successful.
4) Help students to identify successful strategies used when
reading in their native language.
5) Help students to identify successful strategies for reading
text in second language similar to step 4. Teacher help
students identify word solving strategies in the second
language that parallel those they used in their native
language.
6) Provide instruction and practice for specific reading
strategies. Instruction in contextual guessing and other
successful reading strategies can be given with a variety
of short text so that students can see their wide
applicability across reading tasks.
7) Repeat step 2 : identify student‟s reading strategies.
Strategies can be recorded again on the checklist and
method against these use before the reading instruction
sequence began. However, they caution against using this
comparison as a basis for assigned a grade in reading,
since the interview procedure and the checklist are meant
32
as diagnostic, rather than evaluative, tools for

improvement of reading strategies.37
There are many experts writing about reading strategies, about how to
read effectively and efficiently. Some researchers, for example, Harris and
Graham in Klingger, et.al., say,
The scaffolding of instruction is integral to reciprocal teaching.

The teacher guides students in using the strategies and gradually
turns over this responsibility of strategy application to the
students themselves. First the teacher explains the purpose for
learning comprehension strategies, telling students that the
primary goal is for them to become better readers (i.e., more
“strategic” and better comprehend). Following this purpose-
setting statement, the teacher models the entire process of
reading a passage and applying the strategies by using think-a
loud so that students can see “the big picture.38
Furthermore they explain the steps as follow:
Predicting
1. Description: Predicting involves finding clues in the structure and
content of a passage that might suggest what will happen next.
2. Rationale: Predicting activates prior knowledge and motivates
students to continue reading the passage to determine if their
predictions were correct.
3. Method: To learn this strategy, students are instructed to use the
title to make initial predictions about the story and then to use
clues in the story to make additional predictions before reading
each new paragraph or section of text. Students share predictions
with one another.
Clarifying
1. Description: Clarifying involves discerning when there is a
breakdown in comprehension and taking steps to restore meaning.
2. Rationale: Clarifying assures that the passage will make sense to
the reader.
37
Alice Omagio Hadley, Teaching language in Context, (USA: Heinle & Heinle, 2001), p. 223-
224.
38
Jenneth K. Klingger, et.al, Op. Cit., p. 133
33
3. Method: To learn this strategy, students are instructed to be alert to

occasions when they are not understanding the meaning of text,
and when this occurs to process the text again. For instance, if a
word did not make sense to the student, he or she would be
instructed to try to define the word by reading the sentences that
precede and follow it. Students are also taught to attend to words
such as or, which may signal the meaning of an unfamiliar word,
and to be certain they know to what referents such as them, it, and
they refer (anaphora). If, after rereading the passage, something is
still not clear, students are instructed to request assistance.
Summarizing
1. Description: A summary is a one- or two-sentence statement that
tells the most important ideas contained in a paragraph or section
of text. The summary should contain only the most important ideas
and should not include unimportant details. A summary should be
in the student‟s own words.
2. Rationale: Summarizing can improve understanding and memory
of what is read.
3. Method: Students are instructed to locate the topic sentence of a
paragraph. If there is no topic sentence, they are taught to make up
their own topic sentence by combining the sentences they have
underlined as containing the most relevant ideas. Students are then
instructed to locate the most important details that support the
topic sentence and to delete what is unimportant or redundant.
Finally, they are instructed to restate the main idea and supporting
details in their own words.
Question Generating
1. Description: Questions are constructed about important
information, rather than about unimportant details, in the text.
2. Rationale: Question generation allows readers to self-test their
understanding of the text and helps them to identify what is
important in the story.
3. Method: To learn this strategy, students are instructed to select
important information from the paragraph and use the words who,
how, when, where, and why to make up questions. Students are
taught to ask questions about the main idea of the passage,
questions about important details, and questions for which the
passage does not provide the answer.39
The quotations indicate that reading strategy helps the reader get
information from the text easier. It has design or step that should be followed
39
Ibid., p.134
34
by the reader to get the author message from the reading materials. Further,
Judi Moreilon says, “Understanding the importance of background knowledge
to comprehension is critical because we connect new information with prior
knowledge before we integrate and organize the new information.”40 It means
that background knowledge is very crucial to be understood in reading
comprehension because it will help us to connect idea before making
inference or prediction moreover synthesis.
Based on the reading strategies previously, the researcher chooses
activating and connecting background knowledge because she thinks
background knowledge takes important role in getting information from the
text. As stated by Judi Moreilon, background knowledge will influence the
process of making inferring, predicting, synthesizing and moreover making
summarizing from reading material. It will give basic assumption to the
information is being read.
By assessing students‟ schemas and activating or building background
knowledge, they offer students critical support for comprehension By
explicitly modeling and practicing prior knowledge assessment, educators can
help students develop their own procedures for assessing their background
knowledge before they begin explorations into new learning territories. They
can help children determine what they already know or if they need to build
their background knowledge before they begin. If students determine that they
need more prior knowledge, educators should give them time to build it
40
Judi Moreilon, Op. Cit., p. 19.
35
before encountering a new concept. They can also provide students with
background knowledge as a means of demonstrating the critical importance of
these understandings to reading comprehension. When explicitly taught, this
strategy provides children with both the rationale and the experience of
utilizing background knowledge to support effective reading.
3. Activating and Connecting Background Knowledge
a. Activating background knowledge
According to Donna M. Scanlon et.al., “Knowledge is an essential
component of reading comprehension, because every text takes for
granted the readers‟ familiarity with a whole range of unspoken and
unwritten facts about the cultural and natural world.”41 Then, Sharon
Walpole and Michael McKenna, “Experiences and general funds of
knowledge are not quite the same as vocabulary. Limited prior knowledge,
whether or not we express it as word knowledge, invariably influences
comprehension. For a specific selection, ignorance of factual information
that the author assumes the reader knows will pose a significant pitfall for
any reader.”42
Anderson & Pearson in Ellen McIntyre, et.al, “Activating prior
knowledge strategy is designed to elicit information from children about
the topic on which they will soon read. At times it means bringing
41
Donna M. Scanlon et al., Early Intervention for Reading Difficulties, The Interactive
Strategies Approach, (New York: The Guildford Press, 2010), p. 279
42
Sharon Walpole and Michael McKenna, Differentiate Reading Instruction, Strategy for the
Primary Grade, (New York: The Guildford Press, 2007), p. 23
36
knowledge children already have to the surface, and at other times it
means providing new knowledge they can apply to the reading act.”43 It
means that activating background knowledge is students try to memorize
what they have learn after that they connect to the material is being
studied. Then, they make a new information from it..
Then, Judi Moreilon says, “Background knowledge is what the
reader brings to the reading event.”44 Background knowledge is the reader
experience which is brought is reading process. The experience will affect
the reader in understanding the information from the text.
Readers
- Activate relevant prior knowledge before, during, and after reading
- Decide it they need additional background information about the topic,
format, or language of the text they will be reading
- Use their schema to enhance their understandings and to provide a
framework for learning new information
- Add to / change their schema as they discover new ideas and / or
information in their reading
Pearson, et.al. say,
“Reading is a process of actively constructing of meaning and

connecting prior knowledge with new information. There are three
kinds of prior knowledge or schema :
- Specific knowledge about topic of the text
- General world knowledge about social relationships and casual
structures
43
Ellen McIntyre, et.al., Op. Cit., p. 120
44
Judi Moreilon, Loc. Cit.
37
- Knowledge about the text‟s organization (genre)”45
Good readers use their prior knowledge to :
- Make predictions
- Visualize
- Ask questions to monitor comprehension
- Draw inferences
- Confirm hypothesis… that‟s what is expected
- Determine what is important in the text
- Demonstrate to others that they have understood what they have
read
b. Connecting Background Knowledge
Connecting is a comprehension strategy that readers use to help them
construct meaning from the text being read. By hooking background
knowledge and prior experiences to what is happening in a text, readers are
able to heighten their engagement and understand the story
better. Connections generally take three forms:46
1) Text to self (relating what is read to a person‟s own experiences)
2) Text to text (relating what is read to knowledge of events or text structures
in other books)
45
Mark Edmundson, Reading Strategies, http://www.readinglady.com/mosaic/tools/Schema%
20handout%20by%20Deb%20Smith. pdf, on retrieved on October 15 guided Reading, 2012, Accessed
on January 21th 2013, 08.10 p.m.
46
Barbara and Tracey, Reading Comprehension, http://www.literacy-builders.com/free-
resources/154-connecting-reading-literacy-a-z, on retrieved on October 15 Guide Reading, 2012.
Accessed on January 21th 2013, 08.10 p.m.
38
3) Text to world (relating what is read to what reader knows and understands
has happened in the world in which they reside)
Sharon Vaugh and Sylvia Linan Thompson said, “Good teachers are
aware that the background knowledge of a few students does not represent
that of the whole class. They should help students make connections based on
what they know and set a purpose for reading.”47 It means that good teacher
will active the background knowledge of the students before going to reading
process. It is done in order to connect the prior knowledge so the information
of the text can be adopted well.
Connections enable readers to use what is known about a text to make
predictions, identify potential difficulties in constructing meaning, and
recognize when they don‟t have enough background information to make
sense out of what they are reading.
Readers can make connections while reading, synthesizing new
information, deepening existing understandings, broadening beliefs and
informing misconceptions.
There are three types of connections :48
Text to Self : Connections between different books and the reader‟s current
personal background knowledge and experience base :
- Choose texts with characters the same age as the students, or
had similar problems and experiences
47
Sharon Vaugh and Sylvia Linan Thompson, Research-Based of Reading Instruction,
(Alexanderia: Trecey franklin, 2004), p. 105
48
Ibid.
39
- Share connections from past experiences
Text to Text : Connections between books and different authors
- Comparing characters, their personalities, and actions
- Comparing story events and plot lines
- Comparing lessons, themes, or messages in stories
- Finding common themes, writing style, or perspectives
in the work of a single author
- Comparing treatment of common themes by different
authors
- Comparing different versions of familiar stories
Text to World: Connections between books and information about
the world around us
- We must build background knowledge to help our
students be successful with gaining new information.
- Encouraging our students to build text to world
connections supports our efforts to teach students social
studies
c. Making Connections
Once you have pre read an assignment, an important neat step is to
call to mind what you already know about the subject. Do this by making
connections between the material to be read and your background
knowledge and experience.

40
There are several reasons for making such connections, learning
occurs more easily if you can relate new information to information
already stored. Tasks become more interesting and meaningful if you can
connect them to your own experience or to a subject you have already
learned. Finally, material that is familiar and meaningful is easier to learn
than that which is not.49
activating and connecting background knowledge is very crucial in
reading comprehension. It will influence the process of making inferring,
predicting, synthesizing and moreover making summarizing from reading
material. It will give basic assumption to the information is being read
B. Review of Related Findings
This research is related to Darlin Siregar (2010) STKIP “Tapanuli
Selatan” Padangsidimpuan, research on the title “The Differential effect of
Discovery and Inquiry Methor in Reading Comprehension at XI Grade of
SMA Negeri 2 Padangsidimpuan. The result find out the data of the
respondents in reading comprehension indicates that has various score from
30 up to 90 the mean of this variable is 79.7 from the students score in reading
comprehension it shown that there are 11 students unable to answer the
question or low category between 55 – 65.50
49
Ibid., p. 33
50
Darlin Siregar Siregar, The Differential Effect of Discoveru and Inquiry Method in
Reading Comprehension, (Padangsidimpuan: NP, 2010)
41
This research is also related to Ahmad Ramadan (2010) UGN
Padangsidimpuan, research on the title "The Correlation Between Sentence
Mastery and Reading Comprehensioin (A Study at The XI Grade of SMA
Negeri 4 Padangsidimpuan". Where find out the data of the respondents in
reading comprehennsion mastery indicates that has various score from 45 up
to 95 the mean of this variable is 84.33 from the students score in vocabulary
mastery it shown that there are 9 students unable to answer the question or
low category between 65 – 75.51
In relation with that, the researcher wanted to know and wanted to try
a new thing to do a research whether the different vocabulary mastery
between boarding school and high school graduation
C. Conceptual Framework
Getting some information from reading text is one of students problem
which have the overcame by the teacher. Many students always feel this
subject is very difficult to do. So, the score of their reading is very low.
Therefore, to solve this problem, the teacher must use a new strategy which
can attract the student attention on teaching reading comprehension.
Teaching activating and connecting background knowledge can help
the students to increase their ability in reading comprehension through this
strategy, the students can be motivated to more active in the class. This
51
Ahmad Ramadan, The Correlation Between Sentence Mastery and Reading
COmprehensioinl (A Study at the XI Grade of SMA Negeri 4 Padangsidimpuan in 2009/2010)
Padangsidimpuan: UGN, 2010
42
strategy will overcome students‟ difficulties in getting some interesting
message or information of reading text and also given the teacher easily to
prepare the material and comprehensive in their teaching reading
comprehension.
In order to be clear and brief, the conceptual framework can be drawn
as follow:
The lack of
Students‟ students‟ reading
Problem comprehension
Reading Activating and

comprehension connecting
improve background
knowledge
Figure 1: Conceptual
framework
D. Hypothesis
43
In quantitative studies, hypothesis is prediction the researcher holds about
the relationship among variables.52 These hypothesis are predictions about the
outcomes of the results and they may be written as alternative hypothesis
specifying the exact result to be expected (more, less, higher or lower of
something). Iqbal Hasan stated that : “Hipotesis adalah pernyataan atau dugaan
yang bersifat sementara terhadap suatu masalah penelitian yang kebenarannya
masih lemah sehingga harus diuji secara empiris”.53
In other word, hypothesis are predictions or assumptions for a temporary
in a problem that the truth must be tested empirically. Researcher has the
hypothesis of this study that “there is a significant effect of activating and
connecting background knowledge to students‟ reading comprehension in SMA
N I Gunung Tuleh Pasaman Barat.
52
John W. Crewell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods
Approaches – Second Edition, (United State of America: Sage Publications inc, 2003), p. 108.
53
Iqbal Hasan, Analisis Data Penelitian Dengan Statistik, (Jakarta: PT. Bumi Aksara,
2008), p. 31.
CHAPTER III
THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Place and Schedule of the Research
The research has been done in SMA N 1 Gunung Tuleh Pasaman
Barat. The researcher chose this school as the place of research because
researcher graduated from this school and this title has never researched in
this location yet. The process of research has been done from February 2012
up to May 2013.
B. Research Design
The researcher design is experimental study. It is meant that to collect
the data, two groups are used. They are experiment and control groups. The
experiment group is the group that received the treatment by teaching
activating and connecting background knowledge in reading comprehension,
while the control group is the group that received treatment by teaching
questioning` method. The design could be figured as the following.
Table 1. Research Design
Group Treatment
Experimental group Pre test Teaching reading by Post test
activating and connecting
background strategy
Control group Pre test Teaching reading by Post test
asking students to read
44
45
C. The Population and Sample
a. Population
Suharsimi Arikunto said that, population adalah keseluruhan
subjek penelitian.1 Population is all of the subjek element in a study. The
population of this was the Eleventh grade students of SMA N 1 Gunung
Tuleh Pasaman Barat. That consisted of four classes of the eleventh grade
students with the total number of the students, as shown in table bellow:
Table 2. Population of Research
No Class Number of students

1 XI IPA 1 32 students
2 XI IPA 2 36 students
3 XI IPS 1 32 students
4 XI IPS 2 42 students
Total Number 142 students
b. Sample
The researcher predicted that every sample in population in same
levels, then she took the sample of each class by cluster sampling. The
sample of the research was students from XI IPA 1 and XI IPS 1. She
took those classes because she thought that both had presented the
population with relevance to level students’ thought in general.
1
Suharsimi Arikunto, Prosedur Penelitian suatu Pendekatan Praktek, (Jakarta: Rineka Cipta,
2006), p. 130
46
Table 3. Sample of Research
Experimental Group Control Group
XI IPA 1 (33 students) XI IPS 1 (33 students)
Experimental group was a class which is treated by using activating and
connecting students’ background, while control group is a class without
treatment. The control group is taught by questioning method (conventional
method).
D. Instrumentation of Research
The research instrument plays an important role to collect the data.
This research use administrating a test that is essay test. These test type can be
scored objectively and can be measured learning out come directly. In this
research, the test consisted of 5 questions essay tests to prepare the students’
reading comprehension. The test gave to both groups. To find out the scores
of the students’ answer, the researcher gives 20 score for each item. Thus, the
maximum score of the test is 100.
Further, reading comprehension is a skill which should be mastered by
students to read the text. The indicators of reading comprehension can be seen
on the following table:

47
Table 4
Indicator of Reading Comprehension
No. Indicators Total test score

1 Students are able to find 1 20
the topic sentence
the supporting idea
the main idea
Total 5 100
From the above indicator, the researcher gives the reading test like
pre-test and post-test to the students. The experimental groups and the control
group are given some materials. Which consisted of communication aspects
that will be taught by activating and connecting background knowledge and
the control group is taught by the asking to read.
E. Validity
Validity is quality of data gathering instrument or procedures that
enables it to measure what it is supposed to measure. According to Suharsimi
Arikunto, “Pearson product moment correlation can be used to analyze the
validity of item.”2 The quotation means that “r” product moment formula can
be used to test the validity of instrument.
2
Ibid., p. 243
48
The formula can be seen as follows:

3
N XY X Y
rxy
2 2
N X2 X N Y2 Y
Where:
rxy : The index correlation between X and Y variables

X : The total scores of X – distribution.
Y : The total scores of Y – distribution.
XY : The total multiplication of X and Y scores.
X2 : The total squared of X – distribution.
Y2 : The total squared of Y – distribution.
N : The total sample
After getting the data from research’s test, it showed that 5 items
was valid from 10 items of test, so there were 5 items invalid they were: 1, 3,
6, 7, and 10. Therefore the researcher took 5 valid test of essay test.
F. Procedure of the Research
In completing the data, the next step of this research is collecting the
data. The function of data collecting is to determine the result of the research,
in collecting data, the researcher uses some steps. They are:
a. Pre-test
The pre-test is conducted to find out the homogeneity of the
sample. The function of the pre test is to find the main scores of the
interactive strategy class and conventional class before the research give
treatment. In this case, the researcher has some procedures. There are:
3
Ibid., p. 274
49
1. The researcher prepares the test 5 item
2. The researcher distributes the paper of test to students of experimental
class and control class.
3. The researcher explains what the students to do
4. Giving time.
5. The students answer the question.
6. Collect their paper test of researcher.
7. The researcher checks the answer of students and find the mean score
of reading comprehension taught by using activating and connecting
background knowledge.
b. Treatment
After giving the pre test, the students were given the treatment.
The experimental class received the treatment taught by activating and
connecting background knowledge. In learning reading comprehension
while the control class just only taught by reading text. The treatment was
done in three meeting. The material was given is reading material about
spoof text.
c. Post test
After giving treatment the researcher conducted a post test which
the same test with the pre test, and had been conducted in the previous of
the research. This post test was the final test in the research especially
measuring the treatment, whether is significant or not. After conducting
the post test the researcher analyzed the data, and the researcher found out
50
the effect of using activating and connecting background knowledge in
experimental class. The research has procedure there were:
1. The researcher prepares the test 5 item
2. The researcher distributes the paper of test to students of experimental
class and control class.
3. The researcher explains what the students to do
4. Giving time (90 minutes)
5. The students answer the question
6. Collects their paper test to researcher
7. The researcher checks the answer of students and found the mean
score of reading comprehension taught by using activating and
connecting background knowledge.
G. Technique of Data Analysis
For data analysis, the writer uses statistical processes. They are
descriptive analysis and inferential analysis. Descriptive analysis is used to
describe, or summarize the data. For this step the writer starts by preparing
instrument, testing the validity of the instrument and giving the score (data).
The criteria of score can be seen on the below table:

51
Table 5
The Criteria of the Scores 4
No. Item s Criteria
1 80 – 100 Very Good
2 70 – 79 Good
3 60 – 69 Enough
4 0 - 59 Fail
To know the difference between the two classes, the researcher uses t-test
as formula bellow:
M1 M2
Tt =
X1 X 22 1 1
n1 n 2 2 n1 n2
Where: T : The value which the statistical significant

M1 : The average score of the experimental class
M2 : The average score of the control class
X12 : Deviation of the experimental class
X22 : Deviation of the control class
n1 : Number of experimental
n2 : Number of control
4
Muhibbin Syah, Psikologi Pendidikan Pendekatan Baru, (Bandung: Remaja Rosdakarya,
2000), p. 153
CHAPTER IV
THE RESULT OF RESEARCH
A. Description of the Data
The research was conducted in the eleventh grade students of SMA Negeri 1
Gunung Tuleh, Pasaman Barat. In collecting the data, the writer gave the test to the
students to get the data about reading comprehension by applying both methods.
1. Reading Comprehension by Using Activating and Connecting Background
Knowledge
a. The Result of Pre – test
After collecting the data, the researcher found that the lowest score of
the students before conducting the activating and connecting background
knowledge the lowest score is 30 and the highest score is 85. In order to
know the description of the data, after doing calculation, it is found that the
average or mean is 48.78, the median is 40 and the mode is 35.
In order to be clear and brief can be seen on the table below:
Table 5
Mean, Median and Mode Scores before Using Activating and
Connecting Background Knowledge at the Grade XI Students of SMA
No. Items Scores
1 Mean 48.78
2 Median 40
45
46
3 Mode 35
From the above calculation, the position of the mean for the reading
comprehension by using activating and connecting background knowledge can
be drawn as follows :
48.78
0 50 100
Figure 1 : The Position of Mean Score of Reading Comprehension before Using

Activating and Connecting Background Knowledge to the Grade XI
Students of SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh Pasaman Barat
The following table shows the data distribution for the students in reading
comprehension by using activating and connecting background knowledge.
Table 6
The Distribution Frequency in Reading Comprehension before Using
Activating and Connecting Background Knowledge in SMA Negeri 1
Gunung Tuleh Pasaman Barat
Class Interval Frequency Cumulative Frequency Relative Frequency
80 – 89 1 1 3.03%
70 – 79 4 5 12.12%
60 – 69 6 11 18.18%
50 – 59 3 14 9.09%
40 – 49 7 21 21.21%
30 - 39 12 33 36.36%
33 - 100%
Based on the frequency distribution above, the writer has found that the
student who gets the score 80 - 89, they are 1 students or 3.03%, the score 70-79
are 4 students or 12.12%, the score 60 - 69 are 6 students or 18.18%, the score 50
47
– 59 are 3 students or 9.09%%, the score 40 – 49 are 7 students or 21.21% and
the score of 30-39 are 12 students or 36.36%.
In order to get a description of the data clearly and completely, the writer
presents them in histogram in the following figure:
12
11
10
1
scores
0 34.5 44.5 54.5 64.5 74.5 84.5 100
Figure 2 : Histogram Frequency of Reading Comprehension by Using
Activating and Connecting Background Knowledge at the XI Grade
b. The Result of Pre – test

48
After collecting the data, the researcher found that the lowest score of the
students after conducting the activating and connecting background knowledge
the lowest score is 30 and the highest score is 90. In order to know the
description of the data, after doing calculation, it is found that the average or
mean is 65,61, the median is 65 and the mode is 65.
In order to be clear and brief can be seen on the table below:
Table 7
Mean, Median and Mode Scores by Using Activating and Connecting
Background Knowledge at the Grade XI Students of SMA Negeri 1 Gunung
Tuleh Pasaman Barat
No. Items Scores
1 Mean 65.60
2 Median 65
3 Mode 65
comprehension by using activating and connecting background knowledge can
be drawn as follows :
65.60
0 50 100
Figure 3 : The Position of Mean Score of Reading Comprehension by Using

Activating and connecting background knowledge to the Grade XI
49
comprehension by using activating and connecting background knowledge.
Table 8
The Distribution Frequency in Reading Comprehension by Using Activating
and Connecting Background Knowledge in SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh
Pasaman Barat
90 – 99 1 1 3.03%
80 – 89 4 5 12.12%
70 – 79 6 11 18.18%
60 – 69 9 20 27.27%
50 – 59 7 27 21.21%
40 – 49 4 31 12.12%
30 - 39 2 33 6.06%
33 - 100%
student who gets the score 90 – 99, they are 1 student or 3%, while the students
who get the score 80 - 89, they are 4 students or 12.12%, the score 70-79 are 6
students or 18.18%, the score 60 - 69 are 9 students or 27.27%, the score 50 – 59
are 7 students or 21.21%%, the score 40 – 49 are 4 students or 12.12% and the
score of 30-39 are 2 students or 3.03%.
10
8
50

Activating and Connecting Background Knowledge at the XI Grade
2. Reading Comprehension by Using Conventional Method
After collecting the data, the researcher found that the lowest score of the
students after conducting the conventional method the lowest score is 30 and the
highest score is 95. In order to know the description of the data, after doing
calculation, it is found that the average or mean is 61,12, the median is 60 and
the mode is 65.
In order to clear and brief can be seen on the table below:
Table 7
Mean, Median and Mode Scores by Using Conventional Method at the
Grade XI Students of SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh Pasaman Barat
51
No. Items Scores

1 Mean 61.12
2 Median 60
3 Mode 65
comprehension by using conventional method can be drawn as follows:
62.12
0 50 100
Figure 3 : The Position of Mean Score of Reading Comprehension by Using

Conventional Method to the Grade XI Students of SMA Negeri 1
comprehension by using conventional method.
Table 8
The Distribution Frequency in Reading Comprehension by Using
Conventional Method in SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh Pasaman Barat
90 – 99 2 2 6.06%
80 – 89 5 7 15.15%
70 – 79 7 14 21.21%
60 – 69 10 24 30.30%
50 – 59 5 29 21.21%
40 – 49 3 32 9.09%
52
30 - 39 1 33 3.03%
33 - 100%
student who gets the score 90 – 99, they are 2 students or 6.06%, while the
students who get the score 80 - 89, they are 5 students or 15.15%, who get the
score 70-79 are 7 students or 21.21%, the score 60 - 69 are 10 students or
30.30%, the score 50 – 59 are 5 students or 15.15%, the score 40 – 49 are 3
students or 9.09% and the score of 30-39 is 1 students or 3.03%.
10
8
+
7
1 scores
0 34.5 44.5 54.5 64.5 74.5 84.5 94.5 100
53

Conventional Method at the XI Grade Students of SMA Negeri 1
B. The Hypothesis Testing
Based on the explanation before, it can be found that the students’
achievement in reading comprehension by activating and connecting background
knowledge is better than by using conventional method or there is a significant effect
of activating and connecting background knowledge to students’ reading
comprehension at the XI grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh Pasaman
Barat.
The calculation of validity from the data gathering can be seen on the below:
N XY X Y
rxy
2 2
N X2 X N Y2 Y
33 139925 2165 2050

rxy
2 2
33 147375 2163 33 134350 2050
4617525 4438250
rxy
4863375 4678596 4433550 4202500
179275
rxy
14779 231050
54
179275
rxy
3414687950
179275
rxy
58435 ,331
rxy 3.06
To investigate the explanations, test of the hypothesis should be
administrated whether it is accepted or rejected. The alternative hypothesis can be
calculation table (tt) is lower than the calculation score (t0). In order to get the
calculation score (t0), the writer used the formula of “t” test with statistical analysis
as follows :
1. The calculation of the reading comprehension data by using activating and
connecting background knowledge to the grade XI students of SMA Negeri 1
Gunung Tuleh.
a. Mean or variable 1 or Mx
X 2165
Mx = = = 65.60
N 33
Xn Xn
1
Mex = 2 2
2
X 33 X 33
1
= 2 2
2
55
X 16.5 X 17
=
2
65 65
=
2
= 65
c. Mode = 65
d. Standard deviation of variable 1 or X variable
X 2165
SDx = = = 65 .60
N 33
= 8.1
e. Standard error of variable 1 or Y variable
SD X 8 .1 8.66
SEMX = =
N 1 32 5.65
= 1.43
2. The calculation of the reading comprehension data by using conventional method
to the grade XI students of SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh.
a. Mean or variable 1 or My
Y 2050
My = = = 62.12
N 33
b. Median or variable 1 or Mey
Yn Yn
1
Mey = 2 2
2
56
Y33 Y33
1
= 2 2
2
Y16.5 Y17
=
2
60 60
=
2
= 60
c. Mode = 65
d. Standard deviation of variable 1 or Y variable
Y 2050
SDy = = = 62 .121
N 33
= 7.88
e. Standard error of variable 1 or Y variable
SD y 7.88 7.88
SEMY = =
N 1 32 5.65
= 1.39
3. The calculation between the mean of variable X and Y, and calculation to get the
score of t0 at the grade XI students of SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh.
a. Standard error differences variables X1 and mean variable Y1 by formula as
follow :
2 2
SEM1-M2 = SEM 1 SEM 2
57
2 2
= 1.434 1.39
= 2.056 1.9
= 3.956
= 1.989
b. The value of t0 applying the formula as follow :
M1 M 2
(t0) =
SEM 1 M 2
65.60 61.12
=
1.989
4.485
=
1.989
= 2.2549
Based on the above calculation, the writer has found that the coefficient of t0
2.2549. It is compared with the score of tt on degree of freedom (df) 58 or (N1 + N2 -
2) = 33 + 33 -2 = 64. So, the score of tt 2.00 of 5% significant degree. It means that
the score of to is greater than the score of tt namely = 2.25 > 2.00. From the score,
the hypothesis is accepted.
C. The Limitation of the Research
As it is the first time for the writer to conduct a research, the writer realizes
that there are some mistakes and weaknesses that can be seen in this research. These
58
weaknesses are caused by lacking of the references books, fund, and the ability of
the writer in analyzing the data, writer’s time, also the writer’s knowledge.
In spite of those weaknesses, however, the writer can make it as the first
experience to do further research. Hopefully, this research might be as a reference
for other researchers in carrying out other research.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
Based on the result of this research, the conclusion can be formulated as
follows:
1. The result of the data description shows that the mean scores of students in
reading comprehension by using discovery is 65.60, it can be said that the criteria
is enough.
2. The result of the data description shows that the mean scores of students in
reading comprehension by using conventional is 62.12, it can be said that the
criteria is enough.
3. There is a significant comparison between discovery and conventional methods
in reading comprehension at the XI grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Gunung

59
Tuleh. It can be seen from the calculation and explanation that value of t0
namely, 2.25 > 2.00.
B. Implication of the Result Research
Based on the previous conclusion, it can be said that the students’ weakness in
reading comprehension is determined by their ability to skim the text to get main
idea. While skimming for main idea is the main point in reading comprehension.
Here, the writer proposes one solution for this problem that is applying group
discovery method.
By applying the activating and connecting background knowledgethrough
manipulating the kinds of strategy, the students can learn and try to solve their
problem independently. To develop the students’ reading comprehension the teacher
should stimulate the students through the treatments below:
1. The teachers should give more exercise for the students.

2. The teachers should give specific teaching about reading comprehension.
3. Use some media such as semantic mapping, picture and so on
4. In learning and teaching process, the teacher is expected to provide the complete
and relevant book.
C. Suggestions
Based on the conclusion and implication of the research that have been
mention previously, the writer offers some suggestion as follows:
1. English teacher should improve their English teaching and learning process
through applying discovery especially in reading comprehension.

60
2. The headmaster should give motivation to the teachers so that teaching and
learning process can be improved.
3. For the reader who wants to make the similar topic in future, the writer suggest
to make another variable that influence spoof text mastery.

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
Based on the result of this research, the conclusion can be formulated as follows:
1. The result of the data description shows that the mean scores of students in reading
comprehension by using discovery is 65.60, it can be said that the criteria is enough.
2. The result of the data description shows that the mean scores of students in reading
comprehension by using conventional is 62.12, it can be said that the criteria is
enough.
3. There is a significant comparison between discovery and conventional methods in
reading comprehension at the XI grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh. It
can be seen from the calculation and explanation that value of t0 namely, 2.25 > 2.00.
B. Implication of the Result Research
Based on the previous conclusion, it can be said that the students’ weakness in
reading comprehension is determined by their ability to skim the text to get main idea.
While skimming for main idea is the main point in reading comprehension. Here, the
writer proposes one solution for this problem that is applying group discovery method.
By applying the activating and connecting background knowledgethrough
manipulating the kinds of strategy, the students can learn and try to solve their problem
independently. To develop the students’ reading comprehension the teacher should
stimulate the students through the treatments below:
1. The teachers should give more exercise for the students.

2. The teachers should give specific teaching about reading comprehension.
44
45
3. Use some media such as semantic mapping, picture and so on

4. In learning and teaching process, the teacher is expected to provide the complete and
relevant book.
C. Suggestions
Based on the conclusion and implication of the research that have been mention
previously, the writer offers some suggestion as follows:
1. English teacher should improve their English teaching and learning process through
applying discovery especially in reading comprehension.
2. The headmaster should give motivation to the teachers so that teaching and learning
process can be improved.
3. For the reader who wants to make the similar topic in future, the writer suggest to
make another variable that influence spoof text mastery.

46
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CURRICULUM VITAE
Name : Mirna Wati
Registration Student Number : 08 340 0066
Place/Date of Birthday : Pasaman Barat/ 15 June 1989
Sex : Female
Address : Talang Kuning, Pasaman Barat
Father’s Name : Toharuddin
Mother’s Name : Nursila Wati (Almh.)
Educational Background
Primary School : SDN 08 Talang Kuning
Junior High School : MTS Nurul Islam
Senior High School : MAN Lembah Melintang
Institute : STAIN PADANGSIDIMPUAN

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THE EFFECT OF ACTIVATING AND CONNECTING

Submitted to State College for Islamic Studies (STAIN) Padangsidimpuan

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

Submitted to State College for Islamic Studies (STAIN) Padangsidimpuan

Reyendriani Fahmei Lubis, M.Ag Eka Sustri Harida, M. Pd

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

Assalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.

That’s all and thanks you for your attention.

Wssalamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.

Rayendriani Fahmei Lubis, M. Ag Eka Sustri Harida, M. Pd

Padangsidimpuan, June 19th 2013

Name : MIRNA WATI

Dr. Erawadi, M.Ag. Rayendriani Fahmei Lubis, M.Ag

Dr. Erawadi, M.Ag. Rayendriani Fahmei Lubis, M.Ag

Eka Sustri Harida, M.Pd Zainuddin, S.S., M.Hum

Thesis : THE EFFECT OF ACTIVATING AND CONNECTING

Had been accepted as a partial fulfillment of requirement

Padangsidimpuan, June 19th, 2013

thesis: “The effect of Activating and Connecting Background Knowledge to

Students Reading Comprehension at SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh pasaman

In writing this thesis, the researcher is assisted by some people and

institutions. Therefore, in this opportunity the researcher would like to express

gratitude to the following people:

(one) who has guided the researcher to complete this research.

has guided the researcher to complete this research search.

have helped the researcher as their students in STAIN Padangsidimpuan.

Department and her staffs.

Lubis, M.Ag, who gladly supported every requirements of thesis.

during studying in STAIN Padangsidimpuan..

giving, and data collection ad minttace of thesis.

to collaborate with the in completing the thesis data collection.

during studying in STAIN Padangsidimpuan.

motivation during studying in STAIN Padangsidimpuan.

researcher. Therefore, the researcher expects the constructive criticisms and

suggestions from the readers in order to improve this thesis.

Padangsidimpuan, 08 May 2013

Reg. No : 08 340 0066

Dep./ Study Program : Tarbiyah/ TBI

Year : 2012/ 2013

Thesis : The Effect of Activating and Connecting Background

Based on the result research showed that action hypothesis can be in

CHAPTER II: THE THEORETICAL DESCRIPTION

CHAPTER III : THE METHODOLOGY OF THE RESEARCH

CHAPTER IV : THE RESULT OF THE RESEARCH

CHPATER V : THE CONCLUSIONS AND THE SUGGESTIONS

Table 1 : Research Design....................................................................................... 42

Figure 1 : Conceptual Framework ......................................................................... 40

RENCANA PELAKSANAAN PEMBELAJARAN

Nama Sekolah : SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh

Standar kompetensi : MEMBACA

Indikator Nilai Karakter

B. Materi Ajar: Spoof

C. Strategy Pembelajaran: Activating and connecting background knowledge.

Langkah – Langkah Pembelajaran

D. Alat/Bahan/Sumber Belajar: English Alive, Yudistira

YOSELFIANI,S.S MIRNA WATI

RENCANA PELAKSANAAN PEMBELAJARAN

Nama Sekolah : SMA Negeri 1 Gunung Tuleh

Standar kompetensi : MEMBACA

Indikator Nilai Karakter