CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This research deals with reading comprehension as one of four language skills that will be taught by using save the last word for me strategy at Senior High School. This chapter presents some aspects that underlie the topic of the research; they are background of the study, statement of the research problem, objectives of the study, hypothesis, and significances of the study. 1.1 Background of the Study English becomes one of compulsory subject that must be followed by student in Senior High School. n the English School !ased "urriculum # KTSP $%%&' for Senior High School, it is stated that the objective of the English teaching is to enable the students to communicate in English, both in the spoken and written form. The communication skill is reached through the development of the four major skills namely listening, speaking, reading and writing, which are thought integratedly. (eading is the fundamental skill upon which all formal education depends #)oats, *+++, -'. (esearch now shows that a child who doesn.t learn the reading basics early is unlikely to learn them at all. /ny child who doesn.t learn to read early and well will not easily master other skills and knowledge, and is unlikely to ever flourish in school or in life. 0ow reading achievement, more than any other *

$ factor, is the root cause of chronically low performing schools, which harm students and contribute to the loss of public confidence in our school system. 1hen many children don.t learn to read, the public schools can not and will not be regarded as successful and efforts to dismantle them will proceed. /ccording to Harmer #*++2, &2', there are many reasons why getting students to read English te3t is an important part of the teacher.s job. n the first place, many of them want to be able to read te3ts in English either for their careers, for study purposes or simply for pleasure. /nything we can do to make reading easier for them must be a good idea. (eading is useful for other purpose too, any e3posure to English #provided students understand it more or less' is good thing or languange students. /t the very least, some of the language sticks in their minds as part of process of languange ac4uisition, and, if the reading te3t is especially interesting and engaging, ac4uisition is likely to be even more successful. (eading te3ts also provide good models for English writing. 1hen we teach the skill of writing, we will need to show students models of what we are encouraging them to do. (eading te3ts also provide opportunities to study language, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, and the way we construct sentences, paragraphs and te3ts. 0astly, good reading te3t can introduce interesting topics, stimulate discussion, e3cite imaginative responses and be the springboard for well rounded, fascinating lesons. The teaching reading at the second year students of S)/ has specific objectives as stated in $%%& KTSP "urriculum that is to e4uip the students with a standard competence of understanding the meanings of written functional te3t and

5 simple short te3t in the form of report, narrative, analytical e3position, spoof and hortatory e3position. /long with this, the students also have to know the rhetorical steps of the te3ts. Hortatory e3position te3t is a te3t that is intended to e3plain the listeners or readers that something should or should not happen or be done #Kurilulum 2004 Standar Kompetensi, 2003: 47'. To strengthen the e3planation, the speaker or writer needs some arguments as the fundamental reasons of the given idea. n other words, this kind of te3t can be called as argumentation. Hortatory e3position te3t can be found in scientific books, journals, maga6ines, newspaper articles, academic speech or lectures, research report etc. The sosial function of this te3t is to persuade the reader or listener that something should or should not be the case. The generic structures of this te3t are thesis, arguments and recomendation. Thesis is an announcements of issue concern. /rguments are the reasons for concern, leading to recommendation. (ecommendation is a statement of what ough to or ough not to happen. 7nfortunately, there are some problems faced by the second year students of S)/8 $ Trenggalek in learning reading. !ased on the preliminary study that was done on )arch $5td, $%**, the researcher found that, #*' many students still got confused how to comprehend the te3t, #$' the students wasted their time reading the te3t given without knowing the essential meaning of the te3t, and #5' the students did not involve actively in teaching learning process. These problems were occured becuse the English teacher did not use a suitable strategy in teaching reading. The English teacher directly asked the

9 students to read the te3t and do the task without guiding them to know the essential meaning of the te3t, first. :bviously, the students stiil got confused how to comprehend the te3t. !eside that, the English teacher also did not manage the class well, so the students did not involve actively in teaching and learning process. :bviously, these problems give bad effects in students. reading comprehension. t can be figured out from the result of the reading pretest of the student which shows that most of the students. score are under the criteria of success. n order to response the problems above, the researcher is interested in offering another alternative strategy in teaching reading. The strategy is ;save the last word for me< strategy which will improve the students. achievement in reading comprehension. Save the last word for me is useful strategy in all content area #!erglund, (oberta and =ohn, $%%$'. 1ith this strategy, students are encouraged to take an active role in selecting and responding to section of a te3t that they find interesting or about which they have a reaction. Then they have an opportunity to discuss their choices with other students. :ne of the advantages of save the last word for me is that everyone has an opportunity to comment before the student who shares the 4uote comments about it. This procedure allows the students to consider additional ideas and to add or delete ideas from his or her original response prior to sharing it with other. Save the last word for me is 4uite a bit more open>ended than simply answering discussion 4uestion, while still giving students some direction for their discussion.

The strategy of save the last word for me #?aughan and Estes, *+2&' encourages reflective thinking while reading. 1hen students reflect upon what they read they become thougtful, active reader. Save the last word for me is an e3cellent strategy to use when students need to think from multiple perspectives or connect ideas with e3periences or prior knowledge. Two benefits surface when using save the last word for me, first, students are engaged before, during, and after reading a selection meaningful way, secondly, the strategy incorporates a collaborative format for discussion. Each reader.s ideas are heard and respected as they are discussed within the group. /ccording to the problems and reasons above, the researcher is interested in conducting an action research focusing on improving students. reading comprehension in hortatory e3position te3t through save the last word for me strategy at the second year students of S)/8 $ Trenggalek in the /cademic year $%*%@$%**. 1. State!ent of the Re"earch Pro#$e! !ased on the background of the research as described above, the problem of the research could be formulated as follows, ;How can the use of save the last word for me strategy improve the second year students reading comprehension in hortatory e3position te3t at S)/8 $ Trenggalek in the /cademic year $%*%@$%**A<

& 1.% O#&ect'(e" of the Study !ased on the problems of the research above, the research objective is to know how save the last word for me strategy improves the second year students. reading comprehension in hortatory e3position te3t of S)/8 $ Trenggalek in the academic year $%*%@$%**. 1.) Hy*othe"'" Hypothesis is a proposed e3planation for a phenomenon. !ased on the background above, the hypothesis of this research could be formulated as follows, ; f save the last word for me strategy is applied, it will improve the second year students. reading comprehension in hortatory e3position te3t of S)/8 $ Trenggalek in the /cademic year $%*%@$%**.< 1.+ S'gn'f'cance of the Study The research results are e3pected to give some benefits for the students #the research subjects', the English teachers, and for the future researchers. Bor the students #the research subjects', the research results are e3pected to give the students an e3perience in learning reading to comprehend reading te3t by using save the last word for me strategy and ensure them that it is helpful for improving their reading comprehension achievement. n addition, ;save the last word for me< strategy in teaching reading can make the students be more actively involved in teaching learning process of reading. Bor the English teachers, the research results are e3pected to give information about the contribution of using save the last word for me strategy in

C teaching reading comprehension to improve the students. reading comprehension achievement and involvement. Bor the future researchers, the research results are useful as a reference to conduct a similar research that deals with the same strategy, and with the same or different research design to develop the teaching 4uality of reading comprehension by using save the last word for me strategy.