IMPROVING STUDENTS READING COMPREHENSION ON NARRATIVE TEXT THROUGH STORY MAPPING STRATEGY

A Journal

ASHADI KURNIAWAN

F12106062

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY

TANJUNGPURA UNIVERSITY

PONTIANAK

2013

IMPROVING STUDENTS¡¦ READING COMPREHENSION ON NARRATIVE TEXT THROUGH STORY MAPPING STRATEGY

A Journal

ASHADI KURNIAWAN

F12106062

Approved by:

Supervisor I Supervisor II

Drs. Albert Rufinus, MA Drs. Luwandi Suhartono, M.Hum

NIP. 195208031983031001 NIP. 196905262000122001

Legalized by:

The Dean of Teacher Training and

Education Faculty

The Head of Language and Arts

Education Department

Dr. Aswandi Drs. Nanang Heryana, M.Pd

NIP. 195805131986031002 NIP. 196107051988101001

Kurniawan, Rufinus, Suhartono English Education Study Program, Teacher Training and Education Faculty,

Tanjungpura University, Pontianak Email:ashadikurniawan@gmail.com.

Abstrak:Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan proses peningkatan pemahaman bacaan teks naratif siswa melalui story mapping strategy di SMP NEGERI 12 Sungai Raya. Penelitian ini dilakukan pada siswa kelas sembilan, khususnya siswa kelas sembilan B sebagai subyek penelitian. Metode penelitian yang digunakan peneliti dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian tindakan kelas. Instrumen pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini adalah tes, lembar pengamatan dan catatan proses belajar mengajar. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa story mapping strategy dapat meningkatkan pemahaman bacaan siswa. Nilai ratarata siswa meningkat dari 56,68 menjadi 73,19. Para siswa mampu memetakan komponen dasar dari cerita seperti setting, masalah, tujuan, tindakan, dan hasil. Story mapping strategi menyediakan struktur dan organisasi sehingga siswa mampu memahami cerita lebih efektif.

Kata Kunci: Teks Naratif, Story Mapping Strategi

Abstract:This research aimed to describe the process of improving students¡¦ reading comprehension of narrative text through story mapping strategy in SMP NEGERI 12 Sungai Raya. It was conducted to the ninth year students, especially class IXB as the subject of research. The researcher conducted a classroom action research. Achievement test, observation checklist and field note used as the tools of data collecting. The research findings showed that story mapping strategy was appropriate for teaching reading comprehension. Students¡¦ mean score increased from 56.68 to 73.19. The students were able to map out basic components of the story such as setting, problem, goals, action, and outcomes. Story mapping provides structure and organization so students were able to comprehend the story more effective.

Key words: Narrative Text, Story Mapping Strategy

Generally reading is a process of getting information from written words. Reading passage usually tells about the aim to grasp the author¡¦s G ideas. Reading is not simply a process of getting the meaning of the printed speech. It involves skills of the visual recognition of word. The readers interpret what they have read and comprehended. Through reading the readers will know about the text, get main idea of the text or get the point of the reading materials. Westwood (2001:10) states that ¡§Readers must use information already to acquired to filter, interpret, organise, reflect upon and establish relationships with the new incoming information on the page. In order to understand text, a reader must be able to identify words rapidly, know the meaning of almost all of the words and be able to combine units of meaning into a coherent message. In short, the reading process involves both the acquisition of meaning intended by the writer and the readers¡¦ own contributions in forms of interpretation, evaluation, and reflection. To gain and understand accurate information and ideas means reader should read which will result in the ability to understand and gain the point or main ideas in term of the text of reading or reading material. A reader may know what the text tells about and recognize what author wants to tell about, so that organization and style of text writing also influence someone¡¦s comprehension. The main purpose of reading is comprehension. Reading comprehension is an attempt to understand, evaluate, and also recognize the author¡¦s ideas of reading text.

A reader needs comprehension to catch the content of message or information from the text. According to Snow (2002:11) reading comprehension is defined as the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language.

Comprehension is an active process. Active reading involves interacting with the information or creating internal dialogue with the material. The reader is expected to be actively engages with the text to construct meaning. Kendeou, et al (2007:28) states that a general component in many definitions of comprehension is the interpretation of the information in the text, the use of prior knowledge to interpret this information and, ultimately, the construction of a coherent representation or picture in the reader¡¦s mind of what the text is about. the important thing you can do to improve reading comprehension is to become an active reader.

Reading comprehension is the process of constructing meaning from text. Martin (1991: 7) states that reading comprehension requires motivation, mental framework for holding ideas, concentration and good study technique.¡¨ It means that in order to success in reading comprehension, the reader needs to motivate him/herself to be more concentrate in reading, try to form mental frame works for holding ideas, and the reader must have a good technique in reading. Snow (2002: 11) defines reading comprehension as the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with writtenlanguage. The process of comprehending involves decoding the writer's words and then using background knowledge to construct an approximate understanding of the writer's message. Wilhelm (2008:2) cited in Agustiani (2010:2) states,¡¨Reading comprehension is the degree to which we understand what we read. it is the ultimate end-goal of reading that if we don¡¦t read to understand, we¡¦ll read for nothing. and comprehension requires the reader to be an active constructor of meaning¡¨. It means that in reading comprehension, students are hopefully able to create their own interpretation actively as an effort to get meaning from the text he/she reads. At the junior high school level, the students are expected to comprehend some types of text. Based on school-based curriculum there are some kinds of text that should be acquired by the students. They are descriptive, procedure, recount, narrative and report text. Based on the writer¡¦s teaching experience in SMP Negeri 12 Sungai raya, most of the students had difficulties in comprehending a narrative text. They could not find the major elements of the narrative text including setting, character, conflict or problem ,the goal and resolution in the text. Because of that they could not find the detailed information from the text. If the teacher asks them to answer some questions related to the text, most of the student could not answer it well. To comprehend the content of the text, students should not only have good mastery of English but also reading strategy. Therefore, in this research, the writer is interested to provide a solution to help the students improve their reading comprehension, especially on narrative text. This research was conducted by applying an appropriate reading strategy, in this research the writer used story mapping that uses a graphic organizer to help students learn the major elements of the story. Story mapping is a technique used after a story has been read. It includes identifying the main elements, and categorizing the main events in sequential order. A graphic representation is often used to illustrate the story structure and sequence of events.

A story map is a visual depiction of the settings or the sequence of major events and actions of story characters. This procedure enables students to relate story events and to perceive structure in literary selections. In this research, the first procedure in applying the story mapping strategy is by distributing the outline of story map to the students and explaining to the students how to apply the story mapping strategy in their reading. The outline of story map was designed by Idol in 1987, it is covered the components of the story such as setting that include character, time and place, the problem of the story, the goal that the character wants to achieve, the action that the character does to solve the problem and to reachs his/her goal, and the last component is outcome were the problem is resolved. After completing the story map outline, the researcher hopes that the students are able to comprehend the components of the narrative story and also to find and understand the main idea of the narrative story as well. Chesla (2001: 11) states,¡§Finding and understanding the main idea of a text is an essential reading skill.¡¨ Therefore, to comprehend the whole story, the students need to comprehend the components of the story and understand the main idea in the story.

The main idea of a passage is the overall fact, feeling, or idea the author wants to convey about the subject. Main ideas are general enough to encompass all of the ideas in the passage. They also make an assertion about the subject that the rest of the passage develops and supports. Chesla (2001: 13) states ¡§A main idea is also some kind of assertion about the subject. An assertion is a claim that something is true. An assertion, therefore, needs to be supported with specific details or evidence.¡¨ Main ideas are often stated in topic sentences. In longer texts, each paragraph has a main idea and each main idea works to support the overall main idea of the passage. The researcher believes story mapping strategy can help the students comprehend

the narrative text. Because with this strategy, students are able to divide every parts of the story by putting each part of the story in the story map. Mendiola (2011:2) also states some advantages of story map reading strategy as follow: „h The story map is a highly effective, practical way to help students organize story content into a coherent whole. „h It is an effective strategy for exceptional and low achieving students (it

improves comprehension of materials that are above their instructional levels). „h Teachers become more involved in thinking about the structure of the story they are to teach and how each part of the story relates to the others. „h These concrete representations aid students in visualizing the story.h Students can more easily see how the story pieces mesh, knowledge they continually apply when they predict what might happens next in one story after another. „h It enables students to store information in their personal schema more efficiently and facilitates the recall of story elements more completely and accurately.

Based on the advantages of the story mapping strategy above the researcher believes that the story mapping strategy can help the students to comprehend a narrative text. By using this strategy in their reading, students will be able to recognize the story elements of narrative text. Fink (2008:1) states, Knowing the elements of a

story aids students in their understanding of what is taking place in the story. When students comprehend the story element of characters, setting, problems, events, and solutions, they become more involved in the story and take greater interest and detail. By knowing the story elements of a text, the students will have good comprehension of the text.

The research conducted was a classroom action research. Classroom action research is a research conducted by teacher in order to reflect upon and evolve their teaching it is a systematic, documented inquiry into one aspect of teaching and learning in a specific classroom. The purpose of teacher research is to gain understanding of teaching and learning within one¡¦s classroom and to use that knowledge to increase teaching effifacy/student learning. Classroom action research is an approach to improving education by changing it and learning from the consequences of changes (Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2000:229). This research was take several times based on the problems that was found in the first meeting so that the teacher and the researcher can get improvement of the way of teaching and can cover the problems occur previously.

METHOD OF RESEARCH

This study was conducted through action research with the aim of improving and changing what goes in the classroom. To do an action research, the researcher should identifies the problem, then gather and record the relevant data, propose the practical action that can solve the problem, design a plan of action and implements it, and after that the researcher should monitor and record the results. To evaluate the changes or the improvement of action taken, the researcher reflects on the teaching based on the notes taken, the observation sheets and the score of the students in answering the comprehension questions. The aim of reflection is a feedback for the writer to determine what action will be taken for the next cycle. Action research is a meaningful form of research because it is conducted by the teacher in his or her own classroom. Action research requires a teacher to design a study in an area of interest and conduct it in his/her own classroom. According to Kemmis and McTaggart (1988: 5) cited in Cohen, Manion, and Morrison (2000: 227), Action research is a form of collective self-reflective inquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own social or educational practices, as well as their understanding of these practices and the situations in which these practices are carried out¡K The approach is only action research when it is collaborative, though it is important to realize that the action research of the group is achieved through the critically examined action of individual group members.

Lewin (1946, 1948 quoted in Cohen, Manion, and Morrison 2000: 234) codified the action research process into four main stages: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. These are called as cycle. This research was conducted in two cycles. The following are the descriptions of the four stages in each cycle.

a. Planning

This stage includes identifying and limiting the topic, reviewing related literature, and developing a research plan. The research plan includes the research proposal, lesson plans, teaching materials, field notes (observation records), and scoring table.

b. Acting

To act the planning, the researcher conducted the research in the classroom where the problem found. In this stage, the researcher tought the lesson¡¦ that had already been prepared. The researcher applied the story mapping strategy to help the students in comprehending narrative text.

c. Observation

In this stage, the researcher collaborated with the collaborator in observing the teaching learning process. Here, the collaborator took notes on everything happened in the classroom.

d. Reflecting

In the reflecting, the researcher and the collaborator shared, analyzed, and evaluated the information which were obtained from the classroom observation activities and the notes taken by the collaborator to get feedback on what had been done. This activity was done after the teaching process. The result of reflection was used to determine what should be done in the next cycles. The researcher chose IX B class as his subject of research because the class has the lowest score in reading. In this research, the researcher applied triangulation method as the technique of data collecting. Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2000:112) define triangulation method as the use of two or more methods of data collection in the study of some aspects of human beheviour. The researcher used observation, field note and the students¡¦ works as the technique of data collecting. The researcher used two methods of data collection. The primary tool was achievement test and the secondary tool was observation checklist and field notes.

1. Achievement test

Achievement test in this research was essay test items related with the students¡¦ comprehension to be assessed.

2. Observation checklist

According to Baker (2002) cited in Klingner, Vaughn, and Boardman (2007:31), Observations are an integral part of the assessment process and provide evidence of what children actually do rather than just what they say they do.¡¨ In this research the researcher used observation checklist to examine student¡¦s comprehension on narrative text.

3. Field notes

Field note is a note, which is made to record the teaching learning process while the treatment is applied. The procedure of the research was planning stage, acting stage, observing stage and reflecting stage. In planning stage, the researcher had to think what will be researched, when it had to be completed, where, and how the revised teaching strategy will be implemented. At this stage, the researcher prepared some instruments to gather information, namely
(a) syllabus which used as guidance in planning and implementing the learning program,
(b) lesson plan, it was helpful for the teacher in teaching learning process in the class. It was guideline for the teacher in the teaching objectives, material, teaching technique, and all activities in the class,
 (c) teaching material, The book used in teaching was English in Focus. The media was prepared by providing some pictures of the text to help and guide the students in understanding the text,
(d) essay test was used at the end of the cycle and
(e) observation sheet and field notes, It was used to observe the teaching learning process in the class.

In the acting stage the researcher implemented the planning that had already been made by the researcher. In this step, the researcher presented the material which was prepared in the lesson plan to the students in the classroom. In observation stage, the researcher and the collaborator worked together in observing the teaching learning process. The collaborator took note on everything happened in the classrooom. In the reflecting stage. the researcher and the collaborator analyzes synthesizes, interprets and evaluates the information which are obtained from the classroom observation activities and the notes taken by the collaborator. This activity was done after the teaching process. The result of the reflection will be used to determine what should be done in the cycle. The objective of this research was the KKM (Kriteria ketuntasan minimal) which was 100% with the mark 60 in reading comprehension of narrative text. If the students did not achieve the standard in the first cycle then the cycle 2 will be done. The reflection in the first cycle was the guideline in formulating the next cycle. The researcher plans an activity that may overcome the problem that appears in the classroom. The implementation of planing in action of a real treatment, the researcher then observed the process and finally reflected the treatment. Action research was a research where the teacher also as the researcher, where the teacher tried to make a better teaching learning process. The researcher administers the reatment with the help of collaborator that acts as the observer of the treatment.The researcher was elaborated the data analysis from the result of the achievement test and the observation checklist. The researcher was calculated the mean score of the achievement test. The mean score was calculated by using the following:
Criteria of the mean score
formula: .. = „¸.... ..
Where: .. = the mean score of the entire participants (students)

£Ufx = the sum of the individual students¡¦ score

N = the sample size (the number of participants)

(Adapted from Heaton 1998: 176)

Range Score Classification

80 - 100 Good to excellent

60 - 79 Average to good

50 - 59 Poor to average

0 - 49 Poor

Adapted from Heaton (1988 : 96)

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

Research Findings

The researcher conducted the classroom action research by using story mapping strategy to solve the students problem as well as improving students¡¦ narrative reading comprehension. After that the researcher computed the students¡¦ individual score to obtain the mean score. Both the researcher and the collaborator observed the students¡¦ behaviour during teaching learning process. This research was conducted in two cycles. In this chapter, the writer presents the research findings and its discussion. The descriptions are as follows:

1. First Cycle

From the field note on the first cycle, the teacher started the lesson by giving brainstorming to the students by asked the students about their experience in reading narrative text and asked them to mention the title of narrative text they had read. Then, the teacher explained the generic structure and the elements of narrative text. After that the teacher explained how to apply story mapping strategy. The teacher had to pay more attention to the student. The teacher had to make sure that all students were ready to start the lesson, so all the students could pay attention to the teacher¡¦s explanation.

The teacher implemented the story mapping strategy as a model. The students seemed confused in the activity. It took quite long time for the students in understanding and implementing the steps of story map strategy in their reading activity. The teacher should help the students to manage the time. The teacher administer the essay test to measure the students comprehension. The students worked individually. The teacher monitored the students in their individual working. Some students seemed find some difficulties in doing the test. The teacher had to pay more attention in monitoring the students in their individual work, because there are some students were cheating in the test. In the first cycle, the students did not gain good result. The mean score of students¡¦ competence in comprehend the reading text is 56.68. It was categorized as poor to average. This point showed that the students¡¦ comprehension in reading was low.

2. Second Cycle

On the second cycle, the teacher reviewed the material on the first cycle. The teacher explained the generic structure and the elements of narrative text. After that the teacher explained how to apply story mapping strategy. The teacher had all the students attention in the second meeting. All of the students were ready to start the lesson, so all the students could pay attention to the teacher¡¦s explanation. The teacher asked the students to implement the story mapping strategy. The students can manage the time, so the problem of time management in the activity was solved. The teacher administer the essay test to measure the students comprehension. The students worked individually. The teacher monitored the students in their individual working. It seemed that the students could do the task easily. The students¡¦ mean score in the second cycle was 73.19. It was categorized ¡§average to good¡¨. The writer concluded a diagram to show the improvement of the students¡¦ mean score in the first and second cycle as follows:

Discussion

This classroom action research was conducted in two cycles. Each cycle, consist of planning stage, acting stage, observing stage, and reflecting stage. The acting stages were conducted in one meeting (2 x 40 minutes) that was performed during the teaching-learning process. While doing teaching learning process, the researcher acted as teacher and asked his classmate Al Harits as the collaborator. The problems of the students in reading narrative text were as follows:

1. The students could not find the details information of the narrative text given very well.

2. The students could not find the main idea from each paragraph from the narrative text given by the teacher.

3. The students could not find the moral value or lesson from the narrative text given by the teacher.

In the first cycle, the students could not find the moral value of narrative text, the students also could not determine the main idea from each paragraph, and most of the students still faced difficulties in finding the information from the text. In conducting the second cycle, a familiar topic was chosen for the students. The teacher also actively monitored the students¡¦ activity in implementing the story mapping strategy. He ensured that all the students answered the questions by themselves. The students were more active and enjoy during the teaching learning process in the second cycle. All students could finish the tasks and the teacher could give a chance for the students to share their difficulties during the teaching-learning process and then the teacher concluded the materials. After observing the process and interpreting the data, both the researcher and the collaborator decided to stop the actions because the data showed that the indicators of success were fulfilled.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Cycle 1 Cycle 2

Both the teacher and the collaborator worked together to compute the students¡¦ individual score and the mean score. The research finding showed that the students¡ mean score in the first cycle was 56.68. It was qualified ¡§Poor to Average¡¨. It meant that the researcher had to think the better preparation for the next cycle. In the second meeting the students¡¦ mean score was 73.19, it was qualified ¡§average to good¡¨. The percentage of students¡¦ achievement of each question was presented as follows: based on KKM of English subject in this school, 100% of students passed the criteria. Narrative text has a generic structure that consists of orientation, complication and resolution. Each generic structure has its own element, in the orientation the students could find two elements, the setting and characters. In complication they could find plot that consist of problems and events, in the resolution they could find the outcome of the story. By applying story mapping strategy, the students can divide the story into separate components and events. The researcher believes that it is a good strategy to build their comprehension. It is a focused method and it encompassed the broader context of developing understanding of an entire story. At every stage of the story map, the students were able to provide accurate information, which was good evidence that they had developed a complete understanding of the story. Story mapping strategy could improve the students¡¦ interpretative abilities by enabling them to visualize story characters, events and setting and also increase students¡¦ comprehension of selections by organizing and sequencing main story events. The students were encouraged to actively interact with the material while reading by the organized techniques. It also leads to a more active learning environment, and deeper processing of information. In conclusion, the research findings of the classroom action research were satisfying. The students comprehension of narrative text was improved by implementing the teaching strategy. In the teaching learning process, the students were able to map out basic components of the story such as setting, problem, goals, action, and outcomes. The story mapping provides structure and organization so students could comprehend the story more effective, it did not seem that the students read the story only for answering question and getting mark, but more than that, the students

showed their interest in reading. The action reseach hypothesis was accepted.

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

Conclusions

Based on the analysis of the students¡¦ learning, the researcher described the conclusions as:
 (1) Students¡¦ reading comprehension of narrative text was improved by applying the teaching techniques. The mean score increased from 56.68 to 73.19

(2) This classroom action research was conducted in two cycle with four stages ¡V Planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The students kept improving in each cycle until they fulfilled the indicator of succes. In the first cycle, the indicators of succes were still not fulfilled. Therefore, based on the reflection from the first cycle, it was neccesarry to conduct the second cycle. In the second cycle the indicator of succes were fulfilled and the action was stopped,
 (3) Story mapping reading strategy were able to make the students active in the teaching learning process. They were able to map out out basic components of the story such as setting, problem, goals, action, and outcomes. The story mapping provides structure and organization so students could comprehend the story more effectively.

Suggestions

Story mapping for reading strategy should be a strategy for English teachers in teaching. It was useful to improve the students¡¦ reading comprehension of text, especially narrative text. It could help the students understanding the elements of the text, finding the main idea and the moral value of a narrative text. To make sure the teaching learning runs well, the teacher should explain clearly about story mapping strategy before starting the teaching learning process.

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