JURNAL II

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH “DIRECTED READING-THINKING ACTIVITY” TECHNIQUE ON NARRATIVE TEXT AT THE SECOND SEMESTER OF ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF UNISKA

IN THE 2011/2012 ACADEMIC YEAR

ERWIN HARI K, M.Pd

erwinharikurniawan@gmail.com

Abstract

One of the important skills in comprehending and interpreting written language is reading. This reasearch is aimed at describing the way DRTA technique improves students’ reading comprehension achievement. This research was conducted at English Department of UNISKA Kediri using CAR. It was carried out at second semester at B-2. In applying the technique, it was preceded by preliminary study. The researcher got the data from direct observation, and also the score of students’ test before.in the process of treatment.

The findings showed that the researcher conducted the research in two cycles. In the first cycle, there were 11 students reached score under 75.00 as the Passing Grade. From the process in the second cycle, the students score average in reading comprehension of narrative text was 80.71 and there was no students got score under 75.00. It means that the second cycle was successful.    

Based on the findings, it can be concluded that DRTA technique improves students’ reading comprehension on narrative text.

Key words: DRTA Technique, Reading Comprehension

1.             Background

Reading means to understand the meaning of written or printed words. Cunningsworth, A (1995:85) says that reading is the one activity that can be done easily and without any equipment by students outside the classroom. All they need is access to suitable texts and reference material, such as a dictionary or wordlist.  Besides that, reading is also an activity where a complex act occurs. In this case, reading does not only involve the skill in understanding the scrip but also the relationship between the scrip. This is in line with the nation that the understanding of the message of a text should be the focus of the reading purpose (Hammer, 2000). The importance of reading is also stated by Grabe (2009: 4). According to Grabe, reading is also important to recognize that many people around the world read in more than one language. Large populations of people have learned to read in second or third languages for variety of reasons, including interactions within and across heterogeneous multilingual countries, large-scale immigration movements, global transportation, advanced education opportunities, and the spread of language of wider communication.

In this research, the researcher found some problems in teaching and learning process at UNISKA English Department. The researcher teaches in Writing II at the second semester. The result of reading comprehension preliminary test showed that many students still find difficulties in comprehending a reading text. The real fact, in preliminary of study, the students’ average score was still so far from the target. This matter leads the researcher to find out an appropriate way or solution to overcome. Several solutions can be proposed in order to improve of students as stated above. However, the ways would be advantageous for the student when they are provided with the activities, which help the students improve their, ability to comprehend a text. One of the reading strategies that can be used for bringing about an improvement in the students' ability in comprehending a text is DRTA.

Grabe (2009:232) expalaines “DRTA stands for Directed Reading-Thinking Activities in this approach, students relate background knowledge to the text, determine goals for reading, and then engage in predicting activities at set stopping for points throughout the text. The predicting practice develops monitoring processes and the discussion of predictions promotes main-idea comprehension and text-evaluation abilities. DRTA draws on empirical research, which demonstrates the effectiveness of predicting, clarifying, monitoring, and evaluating strategies, and so it has indirect but powerful support for its instructional activities reading ( Baumann et al.,1992:Kern, 2000:Stauffer, 1976:Trabasso&Bouchard,2000)”

A DRTA may be used with an individual, a small group, or a whole class. This activity can be easily adapted for a variety of subjects and reading levels. This strategy helps strengthen reading and critical thinking skills. Any problems encountered by the students on reading comprehension leads the researcher attracted to help them overcome their difficulties in making a research on the Classroom Action Research through DRTAtechnique at Second semester of English Department of UNISKA Kediri.

Based on the background of the research above, the research problem was formulated to be “How can DRTA technique improve students’ reading comprehension achievement?” 

Teaching Reading Purpose

In comprehending process of reading, there are a lot of methods and steps that readers pass through. Those processes lead the readers from the first thing to the final. It is started from getting a message from a text. Nuttall, C. (1982:4) states that we shall exclude from consideration any activity that does not have as its main purpose the extraction of meaning from writing. Our business is with the way the reader gets a message from a text. So we should establish what we mean by a message. To make the message possible, the writer must first put message into words. Once it is encoded, in either spoken or written form, it is available outside his min d as a text. The text is accessible to the mind of another person who hears or reads it. Once it is decoded, the message enters the mind of the decoder and communication is achieved.

Grabe (2009:231) says that there are Multiple-strategy approaches to strategy instruction. Those are: Know-Want to know-Learned (KWL), Experience-Text-Relate (ETR), Question-Answer-Response (QAR), Directed Reading and Thinking Activities (DRTA), Reciprocal Teaching, Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), Self-Explanation Reading Training (SERT), Direct Explanation, Questioning the Author, Transactional Strategies Instruction (TSI),   and Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI)

DRTA Strategy

Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA) is an instructional framework that views reading as a problem-solving process best accomplished in a social context (Stauffer, 1969). The lecturer’s role is to select an instructional level text, divide the text into meaningful sections, and facilitate discussion of each section of text. The students are responsible for establishing their own purposes for reading, generating predictions, justifying those predictions, independently reading the text, and verifying or revising predictions based on evaluations of information in the text during the lecturer-led discussion of each section.

Mather and Jaffe (2002:1) explains that the purpose of the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA) is to improve reading comprehension by promoting critical thinking in the reading process. Students are expected to learn to set a purpose for reading, read to prove or disprove a hypothesis, and evaluate the accuracy of their hypotheses based on the textual information. Students' active involvement in the reading process improves comprehension and retention of information. Other expected outcomes include increased ability to make logical predictions and support decisions based on given information.

Mather and Jaffe (2002) explain that in procedures of DRTA, there are some steps that can be taken. Those are direct the students to the title of the selection and introductory picture (if there is one) and ask the following questions, such as: based on the title (and picture), what do you think this story will be about? What do you think might happen in this story? Why? Lead a discussion wherein students state and give reasons for their predictions. Each student's prediction forms the basis for further reading, direct the students to read to a predetermined point for the purpose of verifying or disproving their predictions. Have the students close their books and ask questions to help them evaluate their predictions, such as: Were you correct? (Partially correct? Incorrect?) What will happen now? The following is requiring students to provide support from the text (e.g., state events from the text, read relevant sentences) in discussing the accuracy of their previous predictions. The last is encouraging the students to use evidence given by other students to make or refine their subsequent predictions. As students repeat the cycle (predict, read, evaluate) their diverse hypotheses should converge.

Narrative Text

Narrative is telling a story.   It’s  social  function  is to  entertain  or amuse the readers. The generic structure of narrative text is orientation, complication, and resolution. Orientation introduces main characters, setting, and time. Complication tells the problem happens among the characters. And resolution contains the problem resolved. It also has significant lexicogrammatical features, that are using adverbs, such as; long time ago, once upon a time, etc. And it uses past form. This kind of story is very familiar and very easy to find in daily life, because the themes of this story have close relationship with human life and human characteristics. Anderson‐Anderson (2002; 3) gives an example of narrative texts which includes: myths, fairytales, science fiction, and romance novels.

In short, narrative text is very suitable to be applied in the class room. Because the purpose of a narrative is to amuse, entertain and deal with actual or vicarious experience in different ways. Narrative deals with problematic events which lead to a crisis or turning point of some kind, which in turn finds a resolution.

Research Design

Research design used in this study is classroom action research. “Action research is a process designed to empower all participants in the educational process (students, instructors and other parties) with the means to improve the practices conducted within the educational experience” (Hopkins, 1993). All participants are known as the active members of the research process. Currently, this kind of research is called classroom action research.

Considering the explanation above, the researcher employs the collaborative action research design. The researcher works together with the other English lecturers to solve the reading skill problem in the class.

Furthermore, the researcher conducts the action in a cyclical process.  The procedure is done based on the cycles consisting of certain actions which covers the planning of the action, the implementation of the action, the observation, and the reflection.

Observing

The observation was conducted by using some instruments. They are the interview, field notes, questionnaire or self-observation checklist, and final work scoring rubric.

The interview is done to get more information about the students’ progress during teaching and learning process. The researcher can ask, especially in their comprehension of narrative text, how their ability before and after studying using the strategy is.

Field note is used to collect the qualitative data. During the teaching and learning process collaborator noted any findings that occur. The finding range from situation (atmosphere) of the class to unexpected things that may happen during the implementation.

Meanwhile, to collect the data about students’ participation the self-observation checklist or questionnaire is used. This observation checklist is handed out to the lecturer and he must observe himself and collaborator checked it. Questionnaire questions are provided by the researcher and the students can answer by choosing two choices in alphabet, they are; yes and no.

            Final work scoring rubric was given in the last time after giving the material or doing the cycle. It was used to know the students final score, so it can be included in quantitative data because it can be counted.

Summary of the Finding

Based on the finding, it can be concluded that Directed Reading Thinking Activities can improve the students’ reading achievement in reading comprehension of narrative text. The improvement can be known from the increasing scores of each cycle.

In the previous study, the researcher has explained that narrative text is a text that is used by the students to improve their skill in reading comprehension. DRTA technique can make students interested and happy in learning. As stated by Sukasih (2009) that DRTA learning model could develop students’ achievement from the learning aspect and content, and the percentage of students’ learning mastery

Besides that, Mather, N., & Jaffe, L. (2002:1) also explaines that the purpose of the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA) is to improve reading comprehension by promoting critical thinking in the reading process.

In this research, the text used in each meeting is selected carefully and accurately. The students are allowed to ask or open the dictionary if they get difficulty to find the unfamiliar words. The success and the failure depend on the book selected whether it is matched or not with the material.

By observing the students’ reading skill from preliminary study, it can be known that there was any improvement in their reading skill both on the first and the second cycle. They get significance improvement in the students’ reading achievement. In preliminary study, there is only 23.53% of students are successful. There are 14 students get the score under the criteria of success, Then in the first cycle, there is 35.29% of students successful, and there are 11 students are failed, it is still not successful, because their score is under the criteria of success. Then, the researcher does the second or the last cycle that shows no students get the score under the passing grade.

            The development of students ‘achievement from preliminary study, cycle 1, and cycle 2 can be seen in table below.

Table 1

		Preliminary Study	The 1st Cycle	The 2nd Cycle
N	Valid	17	17	17
	Missing	0	0	0
Mean		66.35	75.06	80.71
Median		64,00	72.00	80.00
Minimum		56	68	80.00
Maximum		80	92	96.00

            From the table above, the numbers of students are 17. Students’ mean, median, minimum score and maximum score improved, students’ reading comprehension achievement of narrative text through Directed Reading Thinking Activities is successful. Mean in preliminary study is 66.35, median is 64, minimum score is 56, and maximum score is 80, they are really under the criteria of success, and then, in cycle 1 after applying the strategy, the students’ score is getting better, mean is 75.06, median is 72.00, minimum score is 68.00 and maximum score is 92.00. They are still under the criteria of success, so the lecturer as the researcher does the cycle 2, he gets the score of students improved, mean is 80.71, median is 80.00, minimum score is 76.00 and maximum score is 96.00. So, the researcher stops the research in the second cycle, because it reaches success.

It means that by applying DRTA technique, it will be able to help students to create their own minds, ideas and share related to the text faced. By predicting and analyzing the text, these will make students enforced to understand the text. Automatically, their comprehension will be increased and improved.

DISCUSSION OF THE RESEARCH FINDING

Erliana (2010) in her thesis entitled “Using directed reading-thinking activity (DR-TA) to improve the students' reading comprehension at the English Education Study Program of STAIN Palangkaraya” finds that by using DRTA, students’ reading comprehension could be increased. The researcher applied the strategy to expository text. According to the researcher, expository text was the most difficult text taught in university level, especially at STAIN Palangkaraya. In short, DRTA technique practically can improve students’ reading comprehension achievement. Therefore, by using this technique with students will help them make prediction about what they will be reading with the generation of question they would like to have answered. This technique also help them to organize what they have learned when they finished reading.

Based on the result of the first treatment test and questionnaire, the researcher assumes that the first cycle implementation is not applied maximally. Most of students does not give more attention. Only few students are active in predicting in teaching learning process. They do not participate actively. They just keep silent because they are afraid to get the mistake in predicting or asking questions. Most students still get difficulty in responding their friend’s statement. Only the students who have good competence in the base gave attention, they are very active and do what the researcher asks.

            When the first treatment test is given, they feel difficult to do, because they do not follow the process of applying the technique. It is found that the main score of the students’ reading comprehension of narrative text mean score is 75.06 and there are only 6 students get score above the passing grade. It is still under the standard score that school has.

            Besides, there are a lot of factors that influenced students’ comprehension achievement in a narrative reading text, which was, the limitation of the vocabulary, the amount of previous knowledge that the reader brought to the text and the complexity of the concepts expressed (Nuttal, 1982: 6).

            The action in the first cycle is not successful yet, so the second cycle has to be continued by revising and improving the plan of teaching technique, the materials, classroom management, and strategy that were more applicable and effective to improve students’ reading comprehension achievement. In the second cycle, researcher reminds the rule of the technique. The researcher divides the students to be four groups where each group consisted on four or five students, they are also asked to bring dictionaries, so if they feel difficult to understand the unfamiliar words they could open the dictionary, ask their friends or the researcher. Students write every question that they make or their lecturer gives, so, they could participate in the action. Synonym and antonym of the words that students need are given, during the prediction, when every paragraph of the story is showed, students predicts well, they share with their friends and lecturer, the condition and situation are very active and focus on predicting the text.

            The different result between the first and the second cycle is appeared. In the second cycle, all students give a positive response, they ask about the vocabularies, synonyms, antonym, and predict the following paragraph that the researcher give. After that, when the second treatment test is given, the average score increased from 75.06 in the first cycle to be 80.71 in the second cycle, and no students gets the score under the passing grade.

From the data obtained, the researcher concluded DRTA technique really helps students; reading comprehension achievement.

Conclusion and Suggestion

In applying DRTA technique, the researcher introduced DRTA technique first to the students, the researcher also explained the purpose of DRTA technique, so the students understand well how DRTA technique can improve reading comprehension achievement. After that, the researcher came to the topic. The researcher brainstormed students through the pictures and words. It was aimed to lead students’ mind to the topic given. Then, the students share what they think. To give the feedback, the researcher continued to ask questions such as why the students could answer like that, what their reasons to say so, etc. After that, the researcher invited the students come to the text.

In this part, the researcher divided the text based on its generic structures. The students gave predictions, and confirmed what they thought, and why they thought so, etc.

In fact the first cycle still failed. So it should be continued. The researcher made some revision and modification in the second cycle. The researcher divided students to be some groups. These groups were based on students’ competence background. To help them in comprehending the texts, the researcher gave them some vocabularies related to the text.    

The result was obtained that the applied technique of teaching narrative text trough Directed Reading Thinking Activities technique could improve students’ reading comprehension achievement. Based on the observation and interview result before the cycle and after the cycle showed that there is any improvement in students’ reading achievement, especially in narrative text. The reading score shows that the students’ score in reading narrative text is increased. Before the cycle, the students’ average score is 66.35. After the first cycle, the score becomes 75.06, and on the second cycle the students’ average score is 80.71. Based on the result gotten, the researcher assumes that Directed Reading Thinking Activities technique could improve students’ reading comprehension achievement, especially at the second semester of English Department of UNISKA Kediri 2011-2012.

Based on the research held, the researcher stated that the students’ reading comprehension achievement of the tenth grade students at the second semester of English Department of UNISKA Kediri 2011-2012., after being taught by applying  Directed Reading Thinking Activities technique, had significant result improvement. Based on this, the researcher suggests and recommends as follow:

It is suggested for the lecturer to consider the Directed Reading Thinking Activities technique used in this study to be applied in teaching learning process to improve students’ reading comprehension achievement. Second, before teaching, the lecturer needs to formulate instructional objectives to be achieved by the students through lesson plan, select material or topics which are interesting and useful for the students, prepares the instructional media, and designs instructional procedure of assessment.

The researcher presents some suggestions for the students. They are: the students should have motivation and intention. If the students do not have high motivation and intention in the learning process, the learning process will not be effective. Second, the students should be active in learning process, especially during the response delivery cycle. By doing it, the students will get a lot of improvements in their achievement, not only in reading but also in grammatical, vocabulary, and self-confidence, because those aspects are also required in reading improvement.

It is suggested to other researchers to follow up the study by conducting action researchers on improving the students’ reading achievement. It can be conducted not only in UNISKA but also at other university and also for different level, such as junior high school, elementary school, or senior high school using DRTA or combined using other techniques.

References

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