STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY AND PROBLEMS

IN AN ADVANCED READING COMPREHENSION CLASS

a Final Project

submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement

for the degree of Sarjana Pendidikan
in English

by
Ardhy Meylana
2201414110

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS
UNIVERSITAS NEGERI SEMARANG
2019

1
APPROVAL

ii
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY

iii
 MOTTO AND DEDICATION

“Everything that is limited by death is not success”

(Emha Ainun Najib)

“Do not let your difficulties fill you with anxiety, after all it is only in the darkest

night that stars shine more brightly”

(Khalifah Ali bin Abi Tholib)

“Your fear of failure, that's what makes you fail”

(Habib Syech bin Abdul Qodir Assegaf)

This final project is dedicated to:

My Beloved Father Mr. Supardi
My Beloved Mother Mrs. Suwarti
My Brother Aldhy Andriyana
My Bestfriends

iv
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to praise to Allah Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala, the

Almighty and the Most Merciful. Thank Allah, for blessing me with this beautiful

life and also the great chance to finish my undergraduate study. Then, shalawat

and salaam are only given to Prophet Muhammad SAW, the best teacher in this

world.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mrs. Alief Noor Farida,

M.Pd. as my advisor for giving me such encouragement and continuous guidance

so that I could finish this final project. I also dedicate my sincere appreciation to

all lecturers and staff of the English Department.

My special thanks, as ever, go to my beloved father Mr.Supardi, my

mother Mrs. Suwarti and my brother Aldhy Andriyana for the endless support

during my ups and downs. I am also grateful to the best of all I have (Wening,

Solah, Alvi, Bobby) for being there, texting me, and keeping up with me more

thoroughly than others have. Thank you for bringing yourselves into my life. My

thanks also go for PPL Mungkid members and KKN Serondol Wetan 2017 friends

for the great encounter we have made. Finally, I have a great expectation that my

research will be beneficial and useful for anyone who is interested in the topic I

presented in this study.

Semarang, August 2019

Ardhy Meylana

v
 ABSTRACT

Meylana, Ardhy. 2019. Students’ Reading Comprehension Ability and Problems

in an Advanced Reading Comprehension Class. A Final Project, English
Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri
Semarang. Advisor: Alief Noor Farida, S.Pd.,M.Pd.
Keywords: reading comprehension, students’ problems, students’ ability
The objectives of this research were to find out the ability of reading
comprehension of English Department students in Advanced Reading
Comprehension Classes, the factors that affect students’ ability, and the factors
which make the gap between students with good and bad reading comprehension.
It uses descriptive qualitative method. To analyze the data, researcher gathered
test scores and questionnaires. In analysing the data, the researcher classified
students’ ability based on the score list then interpreted the questionnaires.
Researcher used theory of characteristics of poor and good reading
comprehension from Anderson, et al. (1985) to analyze the data to know the
factor that affect on students’ comprehension ability.
The result shows that there were some differences from students with
ability high level of comprehension and students with low level of
comprehension. Students with high level of comprehension had better interest in
reading English, they still used English even though the class was over, used
reading technique effectively, did not do repetition when reading, did not often in
running out of time when doing reading test, and did not face serious problem
because of grammar. Although students with low level did not have all of that, but
they had better effort in using dictionary when facing unfamiliar word and always
prepared for the test. For the suggestion, it will very useful for students in English
Department if there are at least once in a week that students have to communicate
in campus by using full English to improve their skills.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL ........................................................................................................ ii

DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY ................................................................ iii

MOTTO AND DEDICATION............................................................................ iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. v

ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... vii

LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................. ix

LIST OF DIAGRAMS ......................................................................................... x

LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................... xii

LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................... xiii

CHAPTER I ...................................................................................................... 14

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 14

1.1 Background of the Study ................................................................................ 14

1.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic .......................................................................4
1.3 Research Questions ..........................................................................................5
1.4 Objectives of the Study ....................................................................................5
1.5 Significance of the Study .................................................................................6
1.6 Limitation of the Study ....................................................................................6
1.7 Outline of the Report .......................................................................................6
CHAPTER II ....................................................................................................... 8

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ............................................................ 8

2.1 Review of Previous Studies ..............................................................................8

2.2 Review of Theoretical Studies ........................................................................ 12
2.3 Theoretical Framework .................................................................................. 20
CHAPTER III .................................................................................................... 22

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................................................... 22

vii
 3.1 Research Design ............................................................................................ 22
3.2 Object of the Study ........................................................................................ 23
3.3 Subject of the Study ....................................................................................... 23
3.4 Research Site ................................................................................................. 24
3.5 Source of Data ............................................................................................... 24
3.6 Data Collection: Instrument of Collecting the Data......................................... 25
3.7 Procedures of Analysis Data .......................................................................... 28
3.8 Trustworthiness ............................................................................................. 29
CHAPTER IV.................................................................................................... 30

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ..................................................................... 30

4.1 Students’ Ability in Advanced Reading Comprehension Course ..................... 31

4.2 The Factors that Affect Students’ Comprehension in doing Reading
Comprehension Test ...................................................................................... 36
4.3 The Factors that Make the Gap Between Students with Good Reading
Comprehension and Students with Bad Reading Comprehension.................... 61
CHAPTER V ..................................................................................................... 91

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ........................................................... 91

5.1 Conclusion.................................................................................................... 91
5.2 Suggestions................................................................................................... 92
REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 94

APPENDICES ................................................................................................... 97

viii
 LIST OF TABLES

Table Page
Table 2.1 Range of Students’ Value ........................................................ 28
Table 4.1 Students with Ability Less Than Adequate ................................ 44
Table 4.2 Students with Ability Adequate ................................................. 45
Table 4.3 Students with Ability More Than Adequate ............................... 46
Table 4.4 Students with Ability Good ....................................................... 47
Table 4.5 Students with Ability Excellent ................................................. 48

ix
 LIST OF DIAGRAMS

Diagram Page
Diagram 4.1 Frequency in Finding New Vocabulary ............................... 50
Diagram 4.2 Frequency in Finding Difficulty in Idioms .......................... 51
Diagram 4.3 Frequncy in Finding Difficulty in Specific Topics ............... 52
Diagram 4.4 Frequency in Finding Trouble in Vocabularies .................... 53
Diagram 4.5 Frequency in Using Dictionary ........................................... 54
Diagram 4.6 Frequency in Reading English Text .................................... 55
Diagram 4.7 Frequency in Using English ............................................... 56
Diagram 4.8 Frequency of Disinterest in Reading English Book ........... 57
Diagram 4.9 Frequency in Using English Outside the Campus ................ 58
Diagram 4.10 Frequency of Students Interest in Choosing
English Department .......................................................... 59
Diagram 4.11 Frequency in Preparing the Test ....................................... 60
Diagram 4.12 Frequency in Using Previewing, Scanning and
Skimming ......................................................................... 61
Diagram 4.13 Frequency in Guessing the Topic ...................................... 62
Diagram 4.14 Frequency in Running Out of Time ................................... 63
Diagram 4.15 Frequency in Doing Reading Repetition............................ 64
Diagram 4.16 Frequency in Using Reading Techniques .......................... 65
Diagram 4.17 Frequency in Facing Tenses Difficulty .............................. 66
Diagram 4.18 Frequency in Facing Complex Sentence Difficulty ........... 67
Diagram 4.19 Frequency in Facing Conjunction Difficulty .................... 68
Diagram 4.20 Frequency in Not Facing Grammar Difficulty ................... 69
Diagram 4.21 Frequency in Feeling Nervous When Facing the Test ........ 70
Diagram 4.22 Frequency in Feeling Insecure When Sitting
In Front of Row Seats ....................................................... 71
Diagram 4.23 Frequency in Coming to the Class on Time ....................... 72
Diagram 4.24 Frequency in Facing Difficulty Because of Late ................ 73

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Diagram 4.25 Comparison in Facing Vocabulary Difficulty .................... 74
Diagram 4.26 Comparison in Facing Idioms Difficulty ........................... 75
Diagram 4.27 Comparison in Facing Difficulty in Specific Topics .......... 76
Diagram 4.28 Comparison in Facing Trouble in Vocabularies ................. 77
Diagram 4.29 Comparison in Using Dictionary ......................................... 78
Diagram 4.30 Comparison in Reading Habit ........................................... 79
Diagram 4.31 Comparisons in Using English .......................................... 80
Diagram 4.32 Comparison of Disinterest in Reading English Book ......... 81
Diagram 4.33 Comparison in Using English Outside the Campus ........... 82
Diagram 4.34 Comparison of Students’ Interest in Choosing
English Department .......................................................... 83
Diagram 4.35 Comparison in Preparing the Test ..................................... 84
Diagram 4.36 Comparison in Using Previewing, Scanning, and
Skimming ......................................................................... 85
Diagram 4.37 Comparison in Guessing the Topic.................................... 86
Diagram 4.38 Comparison in Running Out of Time ................................ 87
Diagram 4.39 Comparison in Doing Reading Repetition ......................... 88
Diagram 4.40 Comparison in Using Reading Strategies .......................... 89
Diagram 4.41 Comparison in Facing Tenses Difficulty ............................. 90
Diagram 4.42 Comparison in Facing Complex Sentence Difficulty ......... 91
Diagram 4.43 Comparison in Facing Conjunction Difficulty ................... 92
Diagram 4.44 Comparison in Facing Grammar Difficulty ....................... 93
Diagram 4.45 Comparison in Feeling Nervous When Facing the Test ..... 94
Diagram 4.46 Comparison in Feeling Insecure When Sitting in Front
Row seat .......................................................................... 95
Diagram 4.47 Comparison in Coming to the Class in Time ..................... 96
Diagram 4.48 Comparison in Facing Difficulty Because of Late ............. 97

xi
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page
Figure 2.1 Theoretical Framework of Students’ Reading
Comprehension Ability ........................................................... 31
Figure 3.1 The Example of Documentation ............................................. 38
Figure 3.2 The Example of Questions ..................................................... 39

xii
 LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix Page
Appendix 1 Students Score of the First Class ................................................ 88
Appendix 2 Students Score of the Second Class ............................................ 96
Appendix 3 Standard Score of UNNES ....................................................... 113

xiii
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Chapter one presents the introduction of the study. This chapter consists of seven

parts, namely background of the study, reasons for choosing the topic, research

questions, objectives of the study, significance of the study, limitation of the study

and outline of the report.

1.1 Background of the Study

The purpose of language is to communicate with each other. English as a

language means of exchanging meanings from one person to others. English to

communicate can be used as both written and spoken. In spoken form, the listener

has duty to interpret what the speaker said. While in written, the duty of the reader

is interpreting the idea from the text. According to Robins and Crystals (2018),

language is a system of conventional spoken, manual, or written symbols by

means of which human beings as members of a social group and participants in

its culture to express themselves. The functions of language

include communication, the expression of identity, play, imaginative expression,

and emotional release. In other words, we need to master listening skill to catch

what speaker said, and need reading skill to catch what the author want to explain.

Indonesian people as English Foreign Learners face some difficulties in

comprehending the text. Especially, for those who only use English in certain

place such as in school or in courses need more effort to comprehend English

1
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reading text. Based on Human Development Inddex (HDI), Indonesia is

categorized as one of the poorest English mastery countries in Asia. Sunggingwati

and Nguyen (2013) stated that reading in English as foreign language is

challenging. Students in Indonesia lack of English literature such as English

book, English newspaper or English novel. They only have classroom to learn.

Although students in Indonesia categorized as lack of English literature,

actually reading is highly supported by the Indonesian government by his some

policies. Based on Permendikbud Number 21 2015, government makes School

Literacy Movement to encourage students’ interest in reading. Anies Baswedan as

the Educatation Minister at that time urged the young generation to get use to

read, so they are expected to be able to enlarge their knowledge.

Reading is important for learning other skills. Kusumawanti and Bharati

(2018) explained thatamong English proficiencies, reading skills has the most

important role for students’ learning success since overall activities of learning are

started and developed by the reading activity. In writing activity, we need to read

a lot to find the topic that we will write. We also need to read before speaking in

order to prepare what we will say. In listening, if we do not know the meaning of

the topic or the vocabularies, we will face trouble in comprehending what speaker

says. According to Rose as cited by Hamouda (2013), listening comprehension

needs knowledge of vocabulary to catch what speaker says, but it can be solved

by reading to improve vocabulary. Another example of the the application of

correlation between reading and other skills is peopleusually pick some words

from reading and they will use those words in writing or in speaking activity.
 3

Anderson (1997) stated when we speak, read, listen, or view a piece of text, we

are interpreting its meaning. In writing or creating a text, it requires us to make

choices about the words we use to communicate with others. Our choice of words

will depend on our purpose and context.

The purpose of reading is not only to get the information and knowledge

from the writer’s ideas on the written or printed text. Grellet (1999) as cited by

Souhila (2009) explained that the purpose of reading is divided in two main

reasons. The first is to get information. From this reason, readers have purpose to

get information about everything that they do not know or see before by reading.

The second reason is to get pleasure. Here, readers do not need any particular

information, but they do reading to entertain themselves. Furthermore, Oberholzer

(2005) stated that understanding what we are reading is important to us. Without

understanding, reading would serve no purpose. It means that understanding text

is the most important aspect in reading. Townend (2003) revealed that

comprehending means that we should fully understand all of the aspect of the text.

In English Department of Universitas Negeri Semarang, students need to

master four skills to graduate from the university, and one of the skills is reading.

There are some reading classes in which students need to pass, and those are

Intensive Course Reading, Elementary Reading, Intermediate Reading, and

Advanced Reading Comprehension. Advanced Reading Comprehension is the

final reading class that students need to pass. The focus of this course is on

techniques and strategies to comprehend the text like previewing, scanning and

skimming. Mickulecky and Jeffries (2004) cleared that students can use
 4

previewing, scanning, and skimming to help them when they face difficulty in

reading comprehension.

According to lesson plan of Advanced Reading Comprehension course,

students in English Education at Universitas Negeri Semarang have already

learned about all of those techniques in Advanced Reading Comprehension course

in fourth semester. In fact, students still have difficulties in comprehending text.

This is evidenced by the result of their daily quiz, mid test and final test. Although

there are some of students who can do the test with great results, some others have

difficulty in doing the test. Thewriter conducted this research in Advanced

Reading Comprehension class one and two in English Education at Universitas

Negeri Semarang. In order to find out the problems and the factors that affect

students’ comprehension, the problems are investigated.

1.2 Reasons for Choosing the Topic

The writer wants to investigate students’ score and what is more to find out the

factor that can affect students’ ability in doing English reading comprehension test

in Universitas Negeri Semarang. Based on the writer’s experience in Advanced

Reading Comprehension class at Universitas Negeri Semarang, there are some

difficulties that students face in comprehending reading text especially in daily

quiz, mid test and final test which make the gap between students with the top

scores and the lowest. It must be due to some factors. Therefore to know it more,

the writer conducts this research.

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1.3 Research Questions

In line with the background of the topic and the reasons above, the research

questions are as the following:

1. How is students’ reading comprehension ability in Advanced Reading

Comprehension course?

2. What are factors that affect students’ reading comprehension ability?

3. What are factors that make the gap between students with good reading

comprehension and students with bad reading comprehension?

1.4 Objectives of the Study

Dealing with the research questions above, the following arethe objectives of the

study:

1. To find out the ability of reading comprehension of English Department

students in Advanced Reading Comprehension Classes.

2. To identify the factors that affect students’ ability in doing reading test.

3. To investigate the factors those make the gap between students with good

reading comprehension and students with bad reading comprehension.

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1.5 Significance of the Study

The significances of this study based on the purpose above as stated as follows:

1. For development of science, the writer hopes that this study is able to provide

himself, the readers and all parts of this study with a complete description

related to reading comprehension. Then, it will improve the education in

Indonesia especially in reading.

2. For practical uses, this study hopefully will find the students’ problems in

reading comprehension and from this study the writer will enrich his life with

such a good experience to be an English teacher.

3. For pedagogical implication, the writer hopes this study will be useful for

English lecturers especially for lecturer who teaches English reading.

1.6 Limitation of the Study

As stated on the research problems above, the writer limited to students ability in

Advanced Reading Comprehension class 1 and 2 of English Department of

Semarang State Univrsity in the Academic Year of 2018/2019.

1.7 Outline of the Report

Chapter I is the introduction. This chapter introduces the topic of the study. It

consists of the background of the study, reasons for choosing topic, research

questions, objectives of the study, significance of study, and outline of the report.

Chapter II is the review of related literature. This chapter presents a review

of the previous studies, review of the theoretical study, and theoretical framework.
 7

In the review of theoretical study gives some supporting theories related to the

study.

Chapter III is methods of investigation. This chapter takes apart for some

steps in conducting the study. This chapter conceives research design, object of

the study, research site, unit of analysis, source of the data, instruments of

collecting the data, procedures of collecting the data, and procedures of analyzing

the data.

Chapter IV is the result of the study. This chapter shows the general

description to describe the setting and the needed components of the study, the

detailed result to elaborate all the results in detail, and discussion to convey the

result of the study that correlated with the theory.

Chapter V is the conclusion and suggestion. This chapter concludes the

study that has done and suggests the study what should be. The conclusion does

not only conclude the study but also show the importance of using scientific

approach correctly for teaching a subject, especially English. Some suggestions

are mentioned for other researches who are interested in conducting the research

that has the same field from this research.

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Chapter II is review of related literature. This chapter presents a review of the

previous studies, review of theoretical study, and theoretical framework. The

review of theoretical study gives some supporting theories related to the study

such as the definition of reading coprehension, students’ problem in

comprehending the text andcharacteristics of poor and good comprehension.

2.1 Review of Previous Studies

In this section, I present the previous studies which have similarities with my

study. These previous studies are about questioning skills that is used by teachers

in doing teaching and learning process.

In the area of English reading, there are many researches that focus on

reading comprehension. The following are some of the researches that related to

the writer’s topics. The writer tries to relate the students’ difficulty in doing

English reading coprehension test and whether there are some similar problems or

not in some researches that have already done from these studies.

For some students, it is difficult to comprehend the text because they have

problem in vocabulary. Garcia, Ramayan, Sepe and Silor (2014) analyzed

students’ difficulty in reading. They found that students had difficulties in

understanding difficult words because they forgot the vocabulary words that they

learnt. Zuhra (2015) revealed in his research that students faced reading

8
 9

comprehension problem because they did not know the meaning of many words.

Hall (2012) stated in his research that students who have difficulty in

comprehending the text mostly because of their lack vocabulary, this reading

difficulty is the students’ main problem that affects their ability to understand the

meaning of words and passages. To comprehend the text, we should know and

understand the content that we read. Added from Tartila et al (2013), the teachers

found the difficulty to conduct steps teaching totally because the students

sometimes did not understand about their teaching due to lack of vocabulary

which affected on their performance in learning.

In addition, in order to know the content, we need to know the words,

sentence and pronouns which is used in the text. Students’ lack vocabulary make

them hard to participate actively in the classroom which makes another problem

in teaching and learning. Which means that lack of vocabulary is not only the

problem for reading skill, but also in writing, speaking and listening. It showed

from Tartila et al (2013) that student’s lack of vocabulary makes teacher hard to

ask the students’ comprehension of the text in order to enable them in analyzing

the certain characteristics of focused genre in the text. It makes students cannot

participate the English materials totally.

From some researches before, grammar knowledge is one of the factors

that makes impact in comprehending the text. Zuhra (2015) found that the

students face difficulties when the text is long and complicated with various

different modifying phrases. In reading comprehension especially in facing the

test, students have difficulty in creating good sentence to make it coherent and
 10

relevant according to the specific text (Haryanto, n.d.). It is believed that if

students have adequate vocabulary and good grammar comprehension, the length

of the text will not be a problem and they will be able to comprehend and answer

the the test easily. Atikah (2009) also analyzed the students’ linguistic problems in

reading comprehension, the result is students get difficulties in vocabulary,

structure and spelling. In another research, Sasmita (2012) conducted a research to

find out the students’ problems in comprehending English reading text. The

finding shows the factors that make students have difficulties in understanding

English reading text is grammar knowledge and lack of vocabulary.

Students’ psychology also become the reason why the student face

difficulty while doing English comprehension test. This factor is not related with

students’ linguistic skills. The first problem from students’ psychology is from

their anxiety during the test. Zatz and Chassin (1985) as cited by Street and

Hancock (2010) held the research looking for the effect of test anxiety and

evaluative threat on students’ achievement and motivation. They found that

students’ performance in doing test with high-test anxiety perform more poorly on

tests rather than students with low or medium test anxiety. Besides anxiety,

motivation is also being one of the factors which can influence students’ ability in

reading. O’Sullivan (1996) as cited by Mucherah and Yoder (2008) explained that

motivation to read was positively correlated with reading achievement and overall

academic achievement. It is also added by Sofyan (2016) and Sari (2017) that

students who lack motivation to learn actively, understanding and knowledge

deeply will face difficulty in doing learning process. The result is in line with
 11

McKinney, Osborne, and Schulte (1993) as cited by Gersten, Fuchs, Williams,

and Baker (2001) who found that motivation and persistence affected on

performance in all academic areas and clearly related to students’ developing a

sense of failure and frustation in the presence of academic tasks. The

accumulation of repeated unsuccessful efforts to solve academic problems

decreases their motivation to work hard at learning.

Unsupported technology and teaching media are some of another the factor

that also gave impact to the learning process. Sari (2017) and Hidayah, Setyono,

and Tasnim (2003) explained that lacking teaching media and technology support

in each school can give influence to the teaching and learning process. Between

current schools that has improvement in technology and the different school that

has not it yet would have the different result as well.

Based on some previous studies above, the students always have their own

problems while doing English reading comprehension. The problems and ability

from one to other students are different. Because of that, the writer is going to

conduct a study related to the similar topic. Englsih department students’s ability

in doing English reading comprehension test. The focus of this research is to find

thefactors which make gap between the higher and lower rank in reading

comprehension test level in English Department instudy group 1 and study group

2 at Advanced Reading Comprehension classes.

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2.2 Review of Theoretical Studies

This part gives a brief explanation of the description of terms related to the study.

They are reading comprehension, characteristics of poor and good

comprehension, advanced reading comprehension class, test level, students’

background and students’ ability.

2.2.1 Reading Comprehension

Many experts define reading comprehension description in a different

thought. Rubbin (1994) as cited by Atikah (2009) describes that reading

comprehension is a complex intellectual process involving a number of abilities.

The two major involve word meanings and verbal reasoning. Without word

meaning and verbal reasoning, there could be no reading comprehension, without

reading comprehension there would be no reading. We need comprehension to

read. Reading and comprehension are regarded as one activity that cannot be

separated.

According to Collins English Learner’s Dictionary, reading

comprehension is a text that students use to help them improve their reading skills

by it and answering questions relating to the text. Sometimes used as a test or

examination of reading skills. Comprehension is the ability to understand

something with full knowledge and meaning. In Longman Dictionary, perceiving

a written text in order to understand its contents is called comprehension. It means

that reading comprehension is an activity to extract the meaning of written

materials with fully understanding.

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2.2.2 Characteristics of poor and good comprehension

According to Perfetti (1985) as cited by Wood and Connelly (2009), the

characteristic of good comprehension is good word reading (or decoding) skills

that support comprehension. If word reading is fast, accurate, and efficient the

reader can devote their processing capacity to make meaning rather than working

out the pronunciation of the individual words of the page. Anderson, Hiebert,

Scott, & Wilkinson (1985) as cited by Richek (1989) added that good

characteristics comprehension or skilled reader read with some process which

reader with poor comprehension does not have, and those are:

1) Skilled Reading is constructive

No reading passage is completely self-explanatory. To bring meaning to the

printed text, readers draw upon their existing store of knowledge and prior

experiences. Thus, readers “construct” the meaning of possess. Unfortunately,

sometimes a reader cannot supply this information correctly. For example, when

reading about computer software, a reader came across the words, “utilities.”

Using his prior knowledge, he constructed the meaning of this text to be about

“electric power companies.” Of course, “Utilities” in this context refers programs

that help computer users. This case happens usually when readers do not have any

background knowledge about the topic. Students need to know the topic or at least

students know the vocabularies in the text to know how to answer the qquestions.

By reading a lot, they construct their knowledge and when they meet similiar

topic, they will not face any difficulty.

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2) Skilled reading is fluent.

Fluency refers to the ability to identify words easily. If readers must concentrate

on figuring out words, they are unable to focus on meaning. In skilled reading, the

word identification process must be automatic, not a conscious, deliberate effort.

3) Skilled reading is strategic.

Skilled readers are flexible and use strategies that are appropriate to each reading

situation. They change and direct their reading style depending upon their purpose

for reading, the complexity of the text, and their familiarity with the topic. Unlike

poor reader, skilled readers monitor their reading comprehension. If something in

the text is puzzling, they will go back and use fix up strategies, such as re reading,

rephrasing the text to improve comprehension, or looking ahead. Presley (2000)

as cited by Anmarkrud and Bråten (2009) explained that good comprehension are

knowledgeable and strategic readers. By using good strategic, they will not run

out of the time.

4) Reading requires motivation.

Learning to read requires sustained attention over a long period of time. Since it

takes several years to learn to read well, teachers must plan to engage the interest

of beginning and poor readers during the learning period. Grellet (1981) added

that motivation is important in reading. Readers usually only read what they want

to read, if they do not have any motivation on it, they cannot enjoy the text and it

will make impact on their performance.

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5) Reading is a lifelong pursuit.

Reading is a continuously developing activity, one that constantly improves

through practice. It is not mastered once and for all. At all stages of reading, from

the beginning on, it is important that the learner has sufficient opportunities to

practice and engage in the process of reading. Kolligian and Stenberg (1987)

added that some crutial factors in comprehending the text are :

a) Knowledge of text structures.

b) Vocabulary knowledge.

c) Using background knowledge whille reading.

d) The role of fluent reading in comprehension

e) Task persistence

2.2.3 Advanced Reading Comprehension Class

Based on the lesson plan, the pre-requirement to finish Advanced Reading

Comprehension class in the end of the study is students are able in using many of

strategies in reading skills, able to use the strategies in any context in the class or

their academic area, and also have afford to analyze or have critical thinking in

facing English text that is related with vocabulary, grammatical, pronunciation,

and the correct culture understanding. Students’ accomplishment in this course is

developing the higher order thinking skill, critical literacy, and cognitive

strategies toward the various reading texts materials by internalizing the norm and

values of tolerance and social in the academic domain.

The description of Advanced Reading Comprehension Class is this course

provides the development of higher-level thinking, critical literacy, cognitive

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strategies (predicting, questioning, confirming, summarizing, inferring) with

emphasis on meaning making with various texts by internalizing the norm and

values of tolerance and social.

2.2.4 Test Level

According to lesson plan in Advanced Reading Comprehension course, the

test level that students learn are TOEFL and IELTS

1) TOEFL Reading Test

Norton Peirce (1992) stated that TOEFL is among the best known

examinations in the field of ELT,TOEFL test is use to test the English

proficiency of candidates whose native language is not English and it

is being the standard of English in English-American countries. In this

case, researcher will focus on TOEFL reading test which is conducted

in mid test.

2) IELTS Reading Test

According to EnglishCouncil.org, IELTS (International English

Language Testing System) is standardised English Language test

designed for foreign speaker who wish to study, work and live in an

English speaking environment and it is being standard of English in

English-British countries. In this case, researcher will focus on IELTS

reading test which is conducted in final test.

 17

2.2.5 System of Scoring

In Advanced Reading Comprehension, lecturer uses system of scoring in

order students to get final score.

1) The Value of Daily Score (DS) : A (3)

2) The Value of Mid Test (MT) : B (3)

3) The Value of Final Test (FT) : C (4)

4) Final Score ADS+BMT+C FT

A+B+C

2.2.6 Students’ ability

After using the system of scoring, students’ score get some categories

according to the standard of Universitas Negeri Semarang. Universitas

Negeri Semarang uses some standard grades which can achieved by

students according their performance in learning process. The researcher

uses it to classify which students who have poor, bad and good ability.

Table 2.1

Range of Students’ Value

Range of Values Value in Letter Criteria

86–100 A Excellent

81– 85 AB More than good

71– 80 B Good

66–70 BC More than adequate

61– 65 C Adequate
 18

Range of Values Value in Letter Criteria

56 – 60 CD Less than adequate

51– 55 D Dissapointing

<= 50 E Fail

2.2.7 Students’ Motivation

There is a different between reading to comprehend the text and reading

for fun. In reading to comprehend the text, students cannot choose what is the

topic they want to read. According to Stevens (2016), interest gives impact on

students’ understanding. Students will exert more effort in reading a text in which

they are interested. It will improve their ability in understanding the text. This is

also related with Guthrie and Wingled (2000) as cited by Anmarkrud and Bråten

(2009) that to comprehend challenging text, students not only require cognition

but also motivation.

In another research, students willing in comprehending the text is the

major factor in understanding the topic. Did students really want to comprehend

the text especially when they face the topic that they do not know? and why I

want to understand the topic that I hate? students willingness to learn is important

Guthrie and Wingled (2007) as cited by (Anmarkrud and Bråten, 2009).

2.2.8 Students’ Background

The different circles in which students live and grow have a big impact on

their ability to learn. Each of environments has effect on the students, but the

various environments also interrelate with each other. Home is a first circle that
 19

people meet. As a child, they are spending more time in their home. Richek and

Lerner (1989) said that environmental experiences during these critical first five

or six years are a powerful influence upon a child’s cognitive growth and

intelligence.

Students’ circle gives impact on their interest. This explains that students’

performance cannot be separated with students’ environment. The school

environment is another important system for students. Students who join English

club have advantage because they are surrounded by people who have effort in

learning English. They have circle and friends to practice. The fact that parents act

as a role model and children always copy what their parents do also being

important factors that influence students’ reading performance. Activities such as

reading newspaper, going to library and reading stories can be stimulant for

children about the value of reading. Richek and Lerner (1989) added that children

are profoundly affected by what happens to parents. Unfortunately, according to

UNESCO as cited by Kompas.com (2019) the percentage of Indonesian’s reading

interest is only 0.01 percent, which means that out of 10,000 people, only one

person likes to read. It means that students do not have suitable environment to

develop them in literacy.

 20

2.3 Theoretical Framework

Factor that affect students’ comprehension

Students’ linguistic Students’ non-

factors linguistic factors

Vocabulary Reading technique

Grammar Students’
Background

Spelling Motivation

Figure 2.1 Theoretical Framework of Students’ Reading

Comprehension Ability

Although the students have same lecturer, theory, and material, students’

ability in study group are different from one to other. All of them have different

level in catching the meaning of a text. There are students who can understand the

text easily, but also there are students who have difficulty on it.
 21

The author find that there are several factors which can give impact on

students’ understanding in reading. It can divide into two factors, there are

linguistic factors and non-linguistic factors.

 CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

In chapter five, the researcher shows conclusions and some suggestions based on

the analysis in the previous chapter. Hopefully, the conclusions and suggestions

given in this chapter will be useful for the students and lecturers of Advanced

Reading Comprehension class of Universitas Negeri Semarang in particular, and

for all the readers in general. In addition, the researcher also hopes that this

research will give contribution for students to improve students’ mastery in

reading comprehension.

5.1 Conclusion

The objectives of this study are to know how is the students’ reading

compehension ability in Advanced Reading Comprehension course, the factors

that affect students’ comprehension in doing reading comprehension test and the

factors that make the gap between students with good reading comprehension and

students with bad reading comprehension.

Based on the data in previous chapter, it is clear that students’ reading

comprehension have different level. After researcher sorted the result, there were

23 students who had score “C” which it was the highest number. Second was from

score “CD” who had 17 students. Third was score “B” with 16 students. Fourth

was “BC” with 6 students and fifth was “A” with 4 students.

91
 92

There are some factors which affected students in their reading

comprehension test . Those factors are: uninterested in reading and did not use

English after the class was over which make them lack of vocabulary, lack of

using reading strategies and did repetition in reading which make them running

out of time and did not do preparation before facing the test.

Researcher found some characteristics that makes the difference between

students with ability excellent and students with ability less than adequate.

Students with ability excellent have better interest in reading English, they still

use English although the class is over, using techniques in reading with

effectively, not doing repetition while reading, not often in running out of time

when doing reading test and not facing serious problem because of grammar.

Students with ability excellent do not have effort in using dictionary when

they facing difficult word and not always doing preparation. In the other hand,

students with ability less than adequate had better effort in using dictionary,

better preparation when preparing the test and using techniques more often in

reading English.

5.2 Suggestions

After conducting the research and analyzing the students’ respond, the researcher

gives several suggestions both for students and teacher.

In order to improve reading comprehension, the researcher presents some

suggestion for the students. First, the students should improve their interest in

reading. Second, the best way to learn English is by using it in daily life.
 93

Third,learn to apply reading strategies so they can use it to read effectively.

Fourth, learn by working on questions so they will confident in facing the test.

For the teacher, the researcher suggests that she should give more explicit

explanation about the use of reading sratgies. Besides, it is needed for the teacher

to give more exercise by giving task to read more English text. The task such as

reading for pleasure by reading novel and comic is needed to improve students’

interest in reading.

For the further researcher who might develop similiar research, the writer

suggests to discover some aspects which were not mentioned in this research. The

further research is also expected to notice some difficulty in reading from

students’ point of view and teacher’s point of view. It is also expected that this

research can be continued as a reference to help other researcher.

For the students of English Department, it will be helpful for students if

there are at least once in a week that students have to communicate in campus by

using full of English. Because there are a lot of students who learned English but

not confident in using it.

 94

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