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THE IMPROVEMENT OF READING COMPETENCE THROUGH
CONTEXTUAL TEACHING AND LEARNING IN 8TH GRADE
STUDENTS OF SMP N I KARANGDOWO KLATEN
SECOND SEMESTER OF ACADEMIC YEAR
2007/2008
By:
RESEARCH PAPER
Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the requirements
for Bachelor Degree in English Department
By:
RAHMAD KUNCORO
A. 320 010 300
TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY
MUHAMMADIYAH UNIVERSITY OF SURAKARTA
2008
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Reading is central to the learning process. By reading activity, people
may gain important information that are not presented by teachers in the
classroom. According to cognitive psychology and schema theory, the reader
is an active participant who has an important interpretive function in the
reading process (www.writing.colostate.edu/index.cfm). It means that in the
cognitive model, people as readers are more than passive participants who
receive information while an active text makes itself and its meanings known
to him/her. Actually, the act-of-reading is a push and pull between reader and
text. As readers, people actively make, or construct, meaning; what people
bring to the text is at least as important as the text itself.
One of the most difficult tasks of a language teacher in the context of
teaching English as a foreign language is to foster attitude toward reading. It is
caused by the limited time and other constraints they face during the teaching
and learning process. Teachers are often unable to encourage students to find
entertaining and interesting information in reading materials. Therefore it
often creates a negative mind-set in students who consider the effort to interact
with reading materials as an unattractive activity compared to the process they
may get from visual electronic media.
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However, reading programs may help students develop their language
skills necessary for success. But it is hard to implement an effective reading
program, especially in countries where English is treated as foreign language.
The success of implementing reading programs will depend on the students’
interest.