TEACHING READING USING PRE-QUESTIONING TECHNIQUE AT THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS OF SMPN 1 CIHAMPELAS KAB BANDUNG BARAT

SITI HODIJAH

e-mail:[email protected]
English Education Study Program Language and Arts Department Sekolah Tinggi Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan (STKIP) Siliwangi Bandung

ABSTRACT

The objective of this research entitled Teaching Reading Using Pre-Questioning Technique at the second grade Students of SMPN 1 Cihampelas Kab. Bandung Barat was effective to improve the students reading comprehension ability at the second grade students of SMPN 1 Cihampelas Kab. Bandung Barat.The populations of this study was thirty one of the second grade students of SMPN 1 Cihampelas Kab. Bandung Barat and the sample was entire population. This research used one group pretest-posttest design and quantitative method. The instruments used in this research was pretest and posttest. The collected data were analyzed by using t-test formula. The results of the data analysis showed that: the mean sscore of pretest was 35.16, the mean score of post-test was 56.61, the t obs was 11.172. The ttable with degrees of freedom ( df) 30 and level of significance at 5 % (0.05) was 1.697.Based on the data above, teaching reading using pre-questioning technique improved students achievement in understanding reading text at the second grade students of SMPN 1 Cihampelas Kab. Bandung Barat, It also mean that the alternative hypotheses of this research was accepted because the tobs was higher than t table (11.172>1.697). Key words: Teaching Reading, Pre-questioning Technique

A. BACKGROUND Language is one of the most important things in communication and it is used as a tool of communication among nations all over the world. As an international language, English is very important and has many interrelationships with various aspects of life owned by human being. In Indonesia, English considered as the first foreign language and taught formally from elementary school up to the university level. In English, there are four language skills that should be mastered, they are: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The reading skill became very important in the education field, students need to be exercised and trained in order to have a good reading skill. Reading is also something crucial and indispensable for the students because the success of their study depends on the greater part of their ability

to read. If their reading skill is poor they are very likely to fail in their study or at least they will have difficulty in making progress. On the other hand, if they have a good ability in reading, they will have a better chance to succeed in their study. In reading, to comprehend the text the readers should be able to manage every part of the text, because it is easy to gain the comprehension in reading when the readers are able to organize the text. Sometimes, they may find form of pre-questioning and it is important for them to comprehend a reading text with having knowledge in general view of the text. Theoretically, pre-questioning itself can build the students interest and motivation before students read the whole text. Moreover, the students can predict what will be discussed on the text. In line with this study, students may improve their reading comprehension if they know about pre-questioning and it is very important to understand about pre-questioning in order to get good comprehension in reading.

Based on the explanation above, the writer is interested in finding out the effects of treatment with pre-questioning and without pre-questioning on students reading comprehension achievement and concluded that the pre-questioning consists of some questions provided before the students read the whole text. It tends to build the students interest and motivation to read the text B. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION 1. Definition of Teaching Teaching is process of communicating a subject or a lesson. The teaching problem is actual problem that is always follow by any teacher. The main factor that influence the student achievement is the way of the teacher to teach the subject or lesson to their students. According to Brown (1994:7) said that teaching maybe defined as showing or helping someone to learn how to do something, giving acknowledge causing to know ubderstand. From the statement above, teaching means giving instruction to the student to learn something which effect them in such away that learning is facilitated and the student can acquire knowledge. So they will know or understand something. The final target of teaching learning process is that the students have the latest and ability using English because the teacher only gives a condition to the students have learning process and the objectives formed or achieved. This means that the teachers effort is facilitating the students to have learning process. 2. The Definition of Reading According to Al-Khulli, (1997:69) in Haq (2011:12) Reading is one of the four language skills constitutes as a process to obtain much information and get meaning from written materials This implies that reading gives a chance for reader to know what the purpose is. Reading is strategies employed to encourage the reader to read with expectancy and anticipate the authors thoughts. In addition, Finochiaro and Bonomo (1973:119) states that reading is bringing meaning to and getting meaning from printed or written material . 3. Why Teach Reading? Reading is useful for other purposes too: any exposure to English (provided students understand it more or less) is good thing for language students. At

the very least, some of the language sticks in their minds as part of the process of language acquisition, and if the reading text is especially interesting and engaging, acquisition is likely to be even more successful. Reading texts also provide opportunities to study language: vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, and they are constructing sentences, paragraphs and texts. Lastly, good reading texts can introduce interesting topics, stimulate discussion, excite imaginative responses and be the springboard for well-rounded, fascinating lessons (Harmer, 1998:68). Based on the statement above, the teaching reading is important to improve their language. 4. The Aims of Reading There are the aims of reading, described by Grellet (1981:4) in Winarti (2010:10) such as: a. Reading for pleasure When you read for pleasure, you will probably read it quicker and not really think about the story or what the author is trying to reveal to you. Sometimes if you tired and want to settle down with a good book, you may just want to read for you own enjoyment. b. Reading for information Reading for information use when the students read and written text in order to do a job. The written texts include memos, letters, directions, signs, notices, bulletins, policies, and regulations. It is often the case that workplace communications are not necessarily wellwritten or targeted to the appropriate audience. It means that, by reading for information is very important for us, we got information not only from the school but we can get information or knowledge from memos, letters, and bulletins etc. 5. The Technique of Reading According to a website (http://riverwrites.hubpages.com/hub/Speed-ReadingTechniques-Skimming-and-Scanning printed on 06-072012 at 21:50 pm), there are some technique of reading, such as: 1. Skimming a. Read the title b. Read the introduction c.. Read all the subheadings and think about how they are related to one another and to the title. d. Read the first sentence in each paragraph. We may also need to read the last sentence in each

paragraph depending on the style of writing. e. Go back through the text looking for clues as to content and importance. f. Read the last paragraph g. It should be finished during fifteen minutes. 2. Scanning After reading the text, look at the study question at the end. a. Search for key words or ideas. b. Go back and look up each vocabulary term and reread the definition from the book. From the explanation above, the writer only use one technique is skimming technique in her research. 6. Pre-Questioning Technique a. Questioning Strategies The most important key to create an interactive learning is the initiation of interaction from the teacher by using question, Brown (2001:169). Appropriate questioning can fulfill a number of different functions, such as: 1. Teacher questions give students the opportunity to produce language comfortably without having to risk initiating language themselves. It is very scary for the students to have to initiate conversation or topics for discussion. 2. Teacher question can serve to initiate a chain reaction of students interaction among themselves. 3. Teacher questions giving immediate feedback about students comprehension. 4. Teacher questions provide students with opportunities to find out what they think. As they are nudged into responding to questions about, say, a reading, they can discover what their own opinions and reactions are. This self-discovery can be especially useful for a pre-reading activity. Perhaps the simplest way to conceptualize the possibilities is to think of a range of questions, beginning with display questions that attempt to elicit information already known by the teacher and the students. In this study, the writer interested to use prequestioning in order to make the general frame of the knowledge. b. Pre-questioning Based on Browns (2001:172) explanation of display questions, schema theory and students background knowledge explanation. He also defined pre-questioning implicitly as some questions which are

provided before the students read the whole text, in order to build the students interest and motivation, also their cognitive factors and pre-questioning is very useful to activate the schemata, thus the students can predict what will be faced by them in the reading text. c. Kinds of Pre-questioning According to Harmer (1985:153) There are some kinds of pre-questioning, they are: Pre-questioning before reading to confirm expectations, pre-questioning before reading to extract specific information, prequestioning before reading for general comprehension, and pre-questioning before reading for detail comprehension. The explanations are as following: 1. Pre-questioning before reading to confirm expectations The use of pre-questioning as a tool for placing great emphasis on the lead-in stage (where students are encouraged to become interested in the subject matter of the text), encourages students to predict the content of the text, and gives them an interesting and motivating purpose for reading. 2. Pre-questioning before reading to extract specific information Pre-questioning as a tool to force the students to extract specific information from the text. They are going to answer before reading the text. If they do this it will be possible for them to read in the required way, they should seen the text only to extract the information the questions demand. 3. Pre-questioning before reading for general comprehension In this case pre-questioning used to build up the students prior knowledge. 4. Pre-questioning before reading for detailed comprehension This kind of pre-questioning intends to give the students some detailed information that should be found by them in the whole of the text. Based on the explanation above, in this study the writer only concern two kinds of prequestioning, they are: Pre-questioning before reading for general comprehension and the prequestioning before reading to confirm expectations. In order to deal with students background knowledge and activating schemata. Related to this study, the writer used prequestioning with Indonesian version, because the

form of pre-questioning is only to deal the students background knowledge. Thus, the students can predict easily what will be discussed on the text, after they read and answer the prequestioning. C. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1. Research Design In this research, the writer used pre-experimental design in one group pre-test post-test design as her research design because in this research only the comparator group did not exist. The data of this research were analysis to examine the hypothesis by using t-test formula. 2. Research Method In this research, the writer used quantitative research method. Quantitative research methods are used to examine questions that can best be answered by collecting and statistically analyzing data that are in numerical form (Crowl, 1996:10). This research was mean to find the effect of something given to the subject of the research to know how effective this technique. Based on the statement above, the researcher did not attempt to answer the question by providing a verbal description of students interpretations of their academic performance. 3. Research Instrument To find out the research of the investigation, the writer used a standardized test which means the test has been designed so that the procedures for administering the test, the materials used in the test, and the way in which the test is scored are constant (Crowl, 1996:114). In this research the writer will use test as instrument. The test given to the students is choice. 4. Research Population and Sample a. Population In this research, the writer has a population in her research, populations are groups consisting of all people to whom a researcher wishes to apply the findings of a study Crowl (1996:15). The population of this research is the students of SMPN 1 Cihampelas Kab. Bandung Barat especially the second grade. In this case the researcher tried to use one class consists of 31

students. b. Sample The sample in this research described by Crowl (1996:15) that samples are subsets of people used to represent population. The sample of this research is the second grade from one class they were 16 students and given pre-test and posttest. 5. Research Data Collection For collecting data, the writer used test. The test divided two steps, they were pre-test and post-test. The writer carried out pre-test before treatment and posttest after treatment. Those activities were done to get students score in skimming technique before and after treatment. In this research the writer used two kinds of test. They are pre-test and post-test. 6. Research Procedure The research was conducted as follows: 1. Identifying study problem. 2. Determining study title. 3. Determining study Population and Sample. 4. Developing study instrument. 5. Collecting study data. 6. Analyzing study data. 7. Drawing study conclusions and suggestions. 7.Research Data Analysis In analyzing the collected data the writer used t-test formula with significant level at 5 %. a. To find out the mean of the score from the test, according to Crowl (1996:140) the formula as follow: = b. The standard deviation is the square root of the average squared difference between each score and the mean score Crowl (1996:140) as follows: S=

( )

c. degree of freedom is needed when we want to compare between the obtained t (tobs) with the table entry for relevant df and level significant the degree of freedom formula is:

df=n-1
d. According to McMillan and Schumacher (2001:369) the formula of the t-test as follows:

t-test t=

D. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 1. Data of this Research To collect data of this research, the writer used one group pre-test post-test design. Both the pre-test and post-test were conducted on 17th till 31st May 2012 at the second grade of SMPN 1 Cihampelas kab Bandung Barat. The following were the results of the pre-test and post-test. TABLE 1
Grade chart of pre-test (before a treatment) and post-test (after treatment) SCORE NO NAME POSTPRE-TEST TEST 1 Student 1 55 75 2 Student 2 40 65 3 Student 3 45 70 4 Student 4 35 55 5 Student 5 35 55 6 Student 6 30 60 7 Student 7 40 65 8 Student 8 35 50 9 Student 9 35 60 10 Student 10 45 70 11 Student 11 35 50 12 Student 12 40 65 13 Student 13 25 40 14 Student 14 40 60 15 Student 15 30 55 16 Student 16 40 60 17 Student 17 40 65 18 Student 18 30 50 19 Student 19 35 50 20 Student 20 35 60 21 Student 21 30 50 22 Student 22 30 55 23 Student 23 30 55 24 Student 24 30 50 25 Student 25 35 55 26 Student 26 15 35 27 Student 27 40 65 28 Student 28 40 65 29 Student 29 35 50 30 Student 30 35 55 31 Student 31 25 40 1090 1755 SUM There are twenty cases of the total number of the test. Each is pointed five if the answer is true and zero if false

answer. From the table above, we could see that there was a significant difference in all students score between pre-test and post-test. Most students are having categories in moderate to very unsatisfactory in pre-test and all students move to categories in unsatisfactory to good in post test.

a. Pre- test Score a. mean = = b. Standard Deviation =

= 35.16
( )

b. Post test score a. Mean =

= 52.47 S = 7.24

b. Standard Deviation = =

= = 56.61

The last calculation is t-test: = 35.16 56.61 = 7.24 9.16 21.45 = 1.92 = 11.17 The degree of freedom is: df = n-1 df = 31-1 = 30 The critical value of t-table at the 0,05 level of the significance for this degree of freedom 5 % from 30 was 1,69

= 83.98 S = 9.16

2. Discussion The data analysis shows that: M1 = 35.16 M2 = 56.61 T obs = 11.17 The t critical value degree of freedom (df) =31-1=30 And the level of significance 5% = 1.69 Based on the data analysis above, the writer concluded that the alternative hypothesis was accepted because the tobs was higher than t-table (11.17>1.69). The hypothesis of this research there was significance in teaching reading by using pre-questioning technique. It is also mean that teaching reading by using prequestioning technique is more effective without using it. It showed that the students understanding about pre-questioning technique influenced the students ability of reading comprehension. E. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 1. Conclusion Based on the data analysis above, the writer concluded that the alternative hypothesis was accepted because the t-observed was higher (11.17) than the ttable (1.69), it also means that teaching reading comprehension by using pre-questioning technique is influencing students in ability to read and analyze the text by skimming. In the teaching reading comprehension by using pre-questioning technique, the writter get some conclutions that the students who are taught reading comprehension by using pre-questioning technique understand the text better. 2. Suggestions 1. For the teacher a. The teacher has to improve his/her technique and ability in teaching reading. b. The teacher should be able to explain the kinds of text in order to make understanding of students. c. The teachers have to give the more exercise so that the student will be familiar with kinds of text and analyze it by skimming. 2. For the student

a. To enrich the students understanding about reading comprehension, the student need to recognize the kinds of text and make it analyze by skimming and the explanation deeply. b. The student should understand the prequestioning technique to make main idea in the text by skimming it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Brown, H Douglas. 2001. Teaching by Principles . San Francisco: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. Brown, H. Douglas. 1994. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Prentice Hall Crowl, K Thomas. 1996. Fundamentals of Educational Research. United State of America: Brown and Benchmark. Harmer, Jerremy. 1998. The Practice of English Language Teaching. New York: Longman, Inc. Harmer, Jeremy. 1985. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman Haq, Heri Khaerudin. (2011). Teaching Reading Comprehension Using Question-Answer Technique. STKIP Siliwangi Bandung: Paper Unpublished. McMillan, H. James and Schumacher Sally. (2001). Research in Edcation A Conceptual Introduction. New York: Longman. Winarti, Wiwin. (2010). The Effectiveness of Skimming and Scanning Technique in Improving Students Reading Ability. STKIP Siliwangi Bandung: Paper Unpublished. ______(http://riverwrites.hubpages.com/hub/SpeedReading-Techniques-Skimming-and-Scanning printed on 29-05-2012 at 21:50 pm)