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“IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION

(An Action Research at the Seventh Year Students of SMP N 3 Colomadu in

Submitted to the Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sebelas Maret

University to Fulfill One of the Requirements for Obtaining the Undergraduate

TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY

i


THROUGH MIND MAPPING”

(An Action Research at the Seventh Year Students of SMP N 3 Colomadu in

Academic Year of 2011/ 2012)

By:

RISKA DWI CAHYANI

K 2208096

Thesis

the Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sebelas Maret


Degree in English Education

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT


SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY

SURAKARTA

2012


(An Action Research at the Seventh Year Students of SMP N 3 Colomadu in the

the Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sebelas Maret




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PRONOUNCEMENT

I would like to certify that the thesis entitled “IMPROVING STUDENTS’

READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH MIND MAPPING

(An Action Research at the Seventh Year Students of SMP N 3 Colomadu in the

Academic Year of 2011/ 2012)” is really my own work. It is not plagiarism or made

by others. Everything related to others’ works are written in quotation, the sources of

which are listed on bibliography.

If then, this pronouncement proves wrong, I am ready to receive my academic

punishment.

Surakarta, October 2012

Riska Dwi Cahyani


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APPROVAL OF THE CONSULTANTS

This thesis has been approved by the consultants to be examined by the board

of thesis examiners of the English Education Department of Teacher Training and

Education Faculty, Sebelas Maret University Surakarta.


Consultant I, Consultant II,

Dr. Abdul Asib, M. Pd Drs. A. Dahlan Rais, M.Hum NIP. 19520307 198003 1 005 NIP. 19510326 198303 1 002


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APPROVAL OF THE BOARD EXAMINERS

This thesis has been examined by the Board of Thesis Examiners of the English Education Department of Teacher Training and Education Faculty, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta and has been approved to fulfill one of the requirements for obtaining the Undergraduate Degree in English Education.

Day: Date:

Board of Examiners: Signatures:

1. Chairman: Teguh Sarosa, S.S, M.Hum ( ) NIP. 19730205 200604 1 001

2. Secretary: Drs. Muh. Asrori, M.Pd ( ) NIP. 19601015 198702 1 001

3. Examiner I: Dr. Abdul Asib, M. Pd ( ) NIP. 19520307 198003 1 005

4. Examiner II: Drs. A. Dahlan Rais, M.Hum ( ) NIP. 19510326 198303 1 002

Teacher Training and Education Faculty Sebelas Maret University

The Representative of the Dean, The First Dean Assistant

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Sajidan, M.Si NIP. 19660415 199103 1 002


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ABSTRACT

Riska Dwi Cahyani. K2208096. IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH MIND MAPPING (An Action Resea rch at the Seventh Year Students of SMP N 3 Colomadu in the Academic Year of 2011/ 2012). A Thesis, Surakarta: Teacher Training and Education Faculty of Sebelas Maret University. 2012.

This research aims at: (1) identifying whether or not and to what extent the use of Mind Mapping improves the reading comprehension of the seventh year students of SMP N 3 Colomadu, and (2) describing the class situation when Mind Mapping is implemented in the reading class of the seventh year students of SMP N 3 Colomadu.

The method used in this research was a collaborative action research. The research was conducted in two cycles at the seventh year students of SMP N 3 Colomadu from February to June 2012. The research data were collected by using the techniques of observation, interview, and tests (pre-test and post-test). The qualitative data were analyzed through assembling the data, coding the data, comparing the data, building interpretations, and reporting the outcomes. The quantitative data were analyzed by comparing the mean scores of the pre-test and the post-test.

The research findings show that the use of Mind Mapping could improve the students’ reading comprehension and class situation of English class. The improvement of students’ reading comprehension includes: (1) students were able to identify the main idea of the text; (2) students were able to identify the implicit detail information of the text; (3) students were able to identify the explicit detail information of the text; (4) students were able to identify the referent of the text; and (5) students were able to identify word meaning in the text. While, the improvement of class situation includes: (1) Students made less noise in teaching learning process; (2) Students focused in doing the task and asked the difficulties they found; (3) Students began to participate actively in discussing the text and the task; (4) Students did their assignment and always responded the teacher commands.; and (5) Students actively paid attention to the lesson; they also did the task cooperatively with their group.

It can be concluded that mind mapping can improve the students’ reading comprehension and the class situation. It is hoped that this result can give other teachers inspiration to implement mind mapping in their class.

Keywords: action research, reading comprehension, mind mapping


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MOTTO

“What you did now is what you will get tomorrow”

(The writer)

Orang-orang yang berhenti belajar akan menjadi

pemilik masa lalu. Orang-orang yang masih terus

belajar, akan menjadi pemilik masa depan

(Mario Teguh)


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DEDICATION

This thesis is special dedicated to:

1. My beloved Mom and Dad for their never

ending love, patience, care, and support.

2. My lovely brother and sister who had

accompanied me to fight for the future

3. My “special friend” for coloring the days

and giving the support.


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Alhamdulillahirabbil’alamin. Thanks to Allah SWT for showering His

blessing to the writer so that she can finish her study. In this occasion, the

writer would like to express her deepest gratitude and appreciation to the

followings:

1. Prof. Dr. H. M. Furqon Hidayatullah, M.Pd, the Dean of Teacher Training

and Education Faculty, for his permission and his approval of this thesis.

2. Dr. Muh. Rohmadi, S.S, M.Hum, the Head of the Art and Language

Education, for giving permission to write this thesis.

3. Endang Setyaningsih, S.Pd, M.Hum, the Head of English Education

Department of Teacher Training and Education Faculty, for the approval

of this thesis.

4. Dr. Abdul Asib. M.Pd, the first consultant, who has patiently given his

guidance, advice, encouragement and time from beginning up to the

completion of this thesis writing.

5. Drs. A. Dahlan Rais, M.Hum, the second consultant, who has patiently

given his guidance, advice, encouragement and time from beginning up to

the completion of this thesis writing.

6. Drs. Suparto, S.H, M.Pd, the headmaster of SMP Negeri 3 Colomadu,

who gave the writer permission to conduct a research at the school.

7. Saminah, S.Pd, the English teacher of SMP Negeri 3 Colomadu, who has

helped the writer to do the research.

8. Class VII E students of SMP Negeri 3 Colomadu who always gave the

writer reasons to smile.

9. Her beloved parents, for their prayer, supports, and motivations.

10. Her lovely brother and sister, for their supports.

11. Her friends in English Education Department of year 2008, especially for

Tika, Intan, Inggit, Sendy, Yeny, and Lita for always cheering her up.


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The writer realizes that this thesis is still far from being perfect.

Therefore, she accepts gratefully every suggestion, criticism, and comment

from those who concern to this thesis. Hopefully, this thesis will be able to

give contribution and be useful for the readers especially for those who are

interested in similar study.

.


Riska Dwi Cahyani


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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

English is an international language. Most of people or even nations use this

language in international communication. Many fields of human life, such as in

politic, economic, education, cannot be separated from it. Based on the fact above, it

becomes one foreign language, which has to be mastered by all people in the world.

That is why English has to be taught in all levels of education.

Indonesian government has decided that English is as the first foreign

language, which is taught in schools since in elementary school as a local content to

give English to children as early as possible in order to prepare them in covering the

globalization era. English becomes a compulsory subject in junior high school, senior

high school and university.

There are four language skills. They are reading, listening, speaking, and

writing. Reading is one of four language skills that must be mastered by people that

who study English. Reading as an important and interesting activity, people usually

say that reading is the way to conquer the world, because by reading people can get

more information widely and it can increase knowledge without going anywhere.

Reading is a powerful activity that confers knowledge, insight and perspective on

readers (Heath in Aebersold 1997: 6). Reading is a part of daily life for those who

live in literate communities.

Reading cannot be separated from comprehension. That is why there appear a

lot of problems dealing with reading comprehension. Many English learners find it

difficult to understand the English text. Very often, they get stuck because of some

problems, such as unfamiliar words, their inability in understanding the context,

being reluctant, and so forth.


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Reading is not easy skill to master. According to Nunan (1998: 33), reading

needs identification and also interpretation processes which require the reader’s

knowledge about the language structure used in the text and his knowledge about a

given topic. It is the complexity that makes some students less interested in this kind

of activity. This phenomenon happens in almost every language class.

Teaching English, especially teaching reading is not easy, because it requires

creativity and motivation in to the students in order to create a good situation and

condition when teaching and learning process and to make the students interested in

reading, so that the goal of teaching and learning process can be achieved.

There are some components which can influence the teaching and learning

process of reading. They are the teacher, students, materials, and teaching technique.

Those aspects determine the success of teaching and learning process of reading as a

whole. Teacher plays important roles in the teaching and learning process of reading.

He/she has a role as a facilitator who provides the students with the instructional tasks

and motivates them to be involved actively in the class. The teacher should have

ability to organize a class well. It helps students to involve in the teaching learning

process. Students are the centre of learning who play important roles in the teaching

and learning process. They are heterogeneous. They have different attitudes,

motivation, capacity and ability in learning process. Therefore, the teacher has to use

appropriate techniques to make they are interested to the material. So, the objective of

the learning can be reached.

At the seventh grade of junior high school, the competence standard of

English reading is understanding the meaning of functional written text and simple

essay in the forms of description and procedure texts dealing with surrounding

environment. Moreover, the basic competences of English reading at the seventh

grade are giving response to meaning of the simple short functional written text

accurately, fluently, and acceptable dealing with surrounding environment; giving

response to meaning and to rhetorical steps of the simple short functional written text


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accurately, fluently, and acceptable dealing with surrounding environment in the

forms of description and procedure texts; and reading aloud the simple short

functional written text the forms of description and procedure texts with a greeting,

intonation, and stress.

After conducting observation in SMP Negeri 3 Colomadu, the researcher

found the problems faced by the seventh year students in learning process. They had

low reading comprehension. It was supported by the result of pre-test. The mean

score of pre-test was 57.99. It was under the KKM of SMP Negeri 3 Colomadu which

was 70.

Based on the interview with English teacher of SMP Negeri 3 Colomadu, the

writer found that the students have low competence on reading comprehension. It is

indicated through the following indicators: (1) Students got difficulties to infer and

grasp the meaning of words; (2) Students got difficulties to catch the main idea of the

text; (3) Students got difficulties in identifying the implicit information of the text;

(4) Students got difficulties in identifying the explicit information of the text; and (5)

Students got difficulties to determine references.

Problems in English class that appear during the lesson also happened; (1)

Some students made noise in teaching and learning process; (2) Students did

improper activities in the class like sleeping, chatting, drawing, doing homework the

other lesson, etc; (3) Students became passive in teaching learning process; (4)

Students did not respond to the teacher’s commands and did not doing the

assignments; and (5) Students did not pay attention to the teacher’s explanation.

Generally, the problems might be caused by external factors: those are the

material and the technique/ method used by the teacher. And the internal factors those

are from the interest, behaviour and intelligence of the students themselves.

The first factor is from teacher’s side. Some students said that the method

used by the teacher was monotonous. The teacher dominates the classroom activities

that make students passive during the teaching and learning process. The teacher uses


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an inappropriate technique/ conventional technique in teaching reading. In the reading

class, the teacher presents a subject in the text books and asks students to read

whether silently or loudly, and then students have to answer the questions that follow.

Consequently, the reading lesson becomes monotonous and boring. They wanted

something different about the techniques used by the teacher. They wanted the

learning process become interesting and enjoyable. The other factor is material. As

we know, English is not our native language. And of course, comprehending an

English text is more difficult, because it has different system including vocabulary

and structure. The student who has poor vocabulary and structures will have some

difficulties when they face an English text. This condition is faced by most junior

high school students. They have some difficulties in understanding the content of the

text and that condition causes the lack of the student’s reading interest. Moreover, the

teacher usually uses text book or LKS as teaching materials.

The second factor is internal factor. This factor is related to the students

themselves. The first internal factor is the students’ interest in reading

comprehension. As stated above, the students’ interest is still low. It can be seen

when they got assessments related to reading activities, only view students read the

text and did their assessments. Some of them copied their friend’s work or even did

not do it. Most of them were passive in reading class. The next factor is the students’

intelligence. The researcher found that most of them are the students who have

average achievement and the students who have low achievement.

The researcher uses mind mapping technique to solve the problems above and

to improve reading comprehension. Mapping is a technique which can make the

students easily overwhelmed by a long string of ideas or events. The strategy of

mapping, or grouping ideas into meaningful clusters, helps the reader to provide some

order to the chaos. The writer believes that mapping, semantic or mind mapping is a

good technique in conducting reading activity. By conducting a classroom action


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research which implements mind mapping, it is expected that the teacher will be able

to improve the students’ reading comprehension.

Mind mapping uses concise words, pictures, color, associations and other

visual aids to convey the essence of an idea or information. By constant use of mind

mapping, learners learn to ‘fill in the gaps’ and increase their cognitive skills. Mind

map thus is a complementary tool that helps their thinking, comprehending and

recalling skills. The use of mind mapping is hoped to help the students to

comprehend texts easily. It is because the students need a technique that helps them to

visualize their imagination and organize the idea they have imagined. In this

research, the writer will focus the problem only on the use of mind mapping as

alternative technique for teaching English and how to improve reading

comprehension among the seventh year students of SMP N 3 Colomadu.

Based on the considerations above, the researcher tries to do action research to

improve English comprehension that entitles: “IMPROVING STUDENTS’

READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH MIND MAPPING” (An Action

Research at the Seventh Year Students of SMP N 3 Colomadu in the Academic Year

of 2011/ 2012).

B. Problem Statements

In this study, the writer formulates the problem statements as follows:

1. Does and to what extent the use of Mind Mapping improve the reading

comprehension of the seventh year students of SMP N 3 Colomadu?

2. How is the class situation when Mind Mapping is implemented in the reading

comprehension of the seventh year students of SMP N 3 Colomadu?

C. The Objectives of the Study

In accordance with the problem statements above, the objectives of the study

are:


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1. To identify whether or not and to what extent the use of Mind Mapping improves

the reading comprehension of the seventh year students of SMP N 3 Colomadu.

2. To describe the class situation when Mind Mapping is implemented in the reading

class of the seventh year students of SMP N 3 Colomadu.

D. The Benefits of the Study

There are some advantages that hopefully could be gained from this study:

1. To the English teachers

a) They can use mind mapping as an alternative technique in teaching reading.

b) It stimulates the teacher to find a new approach which is appropriate for

teaching reading.

c) It improves the teachers’ capability to conduct teaching learning activity

appropriately.

2. To the students

a) The students’ English reading competence increases.

b) The students are trained to be capable of reading texts using mind mapping

strategy.

c) The students’ vocabulary will increase automatically.

d) It will give an enjoyable learning situation which can improve the students’

learning motivation.

3. To other researchers

Other researchers can use this research as a reference in improving reading

comprehension.



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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A. The Research Setting

The action research was conducted in SMP N 3 Colomadu. It is located at Jl.

Bandara Adi Sumarmo, Colomadu. The school has 24 classes (each grade has eight

classes). There are five English teachers in this school and all of them are S1

graduates. The research was conducted through teaching and learning process in the

classroom in the second semester of the academic year of 2011/2012. It was carried

out from February 2012 to June 2012 by implementing the use of mind mapping in

teaching reading. The English teaching and learning process was conducted twice a

week. The time allotment is 4 x 40 minutes a week (2 x 40 minutes for each meeting).

Table 3.1. Schedule of the Research

No

Activity

Month

I II III IV V VI

1. Planning � � �

2. Acting and Observing (Cycle 1) � �

3. Reflecting �

4. Replanning �

5. Acting and Observing(Cycle 2) �

6. Reflecting �

7. Data Analysis and Reporting �


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B. The Subject of the Research

The subject of the research is the students in the seventh year of SMP N 3

Colomadu in class VII E in the academic year of 2011/ 2012. There are 32 students in

the classroom. They are 16 girls and 16 boys.

The researcher conducted in this class based on a suggestion from a teacher.

C. Research Method

1. The Definition of Action Research

The method used in this research is action research. There are various

definitions of action research stated by some experts. Kemmis as quoted by

Hopkins (1993: 44) gives the definition of action research as follows:

“Action research is a form of self-reflective inquiry undertaken by

participators in a social situation (including education) in order to

improve the rationality and justice of (a) their own social or

educational practice, (b) their understanding of these practices and (c)

the situation in which practices are carried out.”

Mills (2000: 6) states that action research is any systematic inquiry

conducted by teacher researchers, principals, school counselors, or other

stakeholders in teaching-learning environment to gather information about the

ways how their particular schools operate, how they teach, and how well their

students learn.

Moreover, Nunan (1997: 18) argues that action research has distinctive

feature that is those affected by planned changes have the primary responsibility

for deciding on courses of critically informed action which seem likely to lead to

improvement, for evaluating the results of strategies tried out in practice. Ebbut as

quoted by Hopkins (1993: 45) states that action research is about the systematic


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study of attempts to improve educational practice by group or participants and by

means of own reflection upon the effects of these actions.

Based on several definitions stated by some experts, the writer concludes

that action research is any systematic inquiry undertaken by participators in a

social situation (including education) which is directed towards greater

understanding and improvement of practices where those practices are carried out.

2. Model of Action Research

The model of action research used in this study is based on the model

developed by Kemmis and McTaggart in Burns (1999: 32). They state that Action

Research occurs through a dynamic and complementary process, which consists

of four essential ‘moments’: planning, action, observation, and reflection. These

moments are fundamental steps in a spiraling process. Each step is explained as

follows:

a. Planning

Develop a plan of critically informed action to improve what is already

happening.

b. Action

It is an act to implement the plan.

c. Observation

Observe the effects of the critically informed action in the context in which it

occurs.

d. Reflection

It is a step to reflect these effects as the basis for further planning, subsequent

critically informed and so on, through a succession on stages.

The spiral model can be illustrated as follows:


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O B S E R V E

O B S E R V E

AC

TA

CT

RE

FL

EC

TR

EF

LE

CT

R E V I S E D P L A N

P L A N

Picture 2. Action Research Spiral (Kemmis and McTaggart in Burns 1999: 32)

Burns (1999: 30) suggests a number of common features which can be

considered to characterize action research:

a. Action research is contextual, small scale and localized. It identifies and

investigates problems within a specific situation.

b. It is evaluative and reflective as it aims to bring about change and

improvement in practice.

c. It is participatory as it provides for collaborative investigation by teams of

colleagues, practitioners and researchers.

d. Changes in practice are based on the collection of information or data which

provides the impetus for change.


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3. Procedures of Action Research

The four steps at the model can be expanded into six steps which are

included in the procedure of action research. The procedures are: 1) identifying

the problem; 2) planning the action; 3) implementing the action; 4) observing the

action; 5) reflecting the action; and 6) revising the plan. In more detail, the

process done in this research runs with the following procedures:

1. Identifying the problems

The researcher identifies the problems before planning the action. In

this research, the problem is identified after interviewing the English teacher.

She found some problems that are faced by the seventh grade students of SMP

N 3 Colomadu in learning reading. The problems refer to the factors making

the low of reading comprehension and the passive behavior during the

teaching learning process.

In this research, the problems deal with students’ reading

comprehension: how the students’ reading comprehension is and why it could

be. In identifying problems, the researcher used test, interview, and

questionnaire:

a) Using test

The researcher gave reading comprehension test to know the students’

competence in comprehending some English texts. The test was done once

before the first cycle, namely pre-test.

b) Interview

The researcher interviewed the teacher and students to know the problems

that they faced during the teaching learning process and causes of the

problems. This technique was held at the beginning of the research.

c) Questionnaire

The researcher gave questionnaire to the students to know the students’

opinion about their recent English lesson, students’ problem in reading,


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what they have done to solve the problems and the technique that was

used in to solve the problems.

2. Planning the Action

Before implementing the action, the researcher needs to make general

plan. Here, the researcher prepared everything needed in doing the action in

order to improve the students’ reading comprehension. She chose mind

mapping as the strategy in solving the problems faced by the students in

learning reading. In this research, the researcher worked as the teacher.

The planning of the research consists of some steps, as follows:

1) Preparing materials, preparing sheets for classroom observation

2) Making lesson plan and designing the steps in doing the action.

3) Preparing students’ worksheet and post-test to know whether the students’

reading comprehension improves or not.

3. Implementing the Action

In this procedure, the researcher implemented the action as she

planned. The researcher applied mind mapping strategy in teaching and

learning process in order to improve students’ reading comprehension. The

mind mapping was applied based on the following procedure:

1) The researcher gave a text and asked to the students to read the text.

2) The students tried to comprehend the text.

3) The students draw a circle or box at the center of the page. Inside the shape and

wrote down the main idea that would focus upon. This is the topic of the text.

4) The students draw branches from central idea. These are the main

categories within the primary concept. In this step, the researcher prepared

questions to lead the students, for example: “Where did the story take

place?”, “When did the story take place?”, etc. Each of the lines can then

have lines branching off of each of them. These would represent the main

examples under each category.


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5) The students continued to draw the mind map much like the structure of

branches on a tree above.

4. Observing and Monitoring the Action

The observation part was done during the teaching and learning

process. In this step, the English teacher of SMP N 3 Colomadu plays role as

the observer. She observes all activities happening in the classroom and takes

notes related to the process of teaching and learning process.

5. Reflecting the Result of the Observation

The researcher made an evaluation towards the teaching activity that

had been carried out. The evaluation was written down as field note. It is the

basic consideration to conduct the next teaching.

6. Revising the Plan

Revised plan is needed when the action cycle does not make any

improvement on the students’ reading comprehension. It can be concluded

that the researcher should do the next cycle.

Based on the evaluation, the researcher revised the plan for the next

cycle. The classroom action research took one or more cycles until the goal of

the research can be reached. Based on the result of the post-test cycle 1, the

students’ ability in finding the main idea and referent of the text was still low.

So, the researcher added ‘main idea train’ and ‘referent train’ activity as

follow-up activity.

D. Techniques of Collecting Data

In this classroom action research, the researcher collected the data using

qualitative and quantitative method. Wallace (1998: 38) defines that quantitative

method is broadly used to describe what can be counted or measured and can

therefore be considered ‘objective’, while qualitative is used to describe data which


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are not amenable to being counted or measured in an objective way, and are therefore

‘subjective’.

The action research may utilize qualitative or quantitative methodology or a

mixture of both. The techniques are as follows:

First, qualitative method consists of observation and interview.

1. Observation

Observation has been done to get information related to the teaching and

learning process. The researcher together with the English teacher observed

the English teacher’s way in teaching and problem faced by students in

reading comprehension. In this case, the researcher used the instruments, like

field note and photographs. Field note is another way of collecting

information about classroom events, the teaching process, or the students’

behavior. They were used to record activities happening in the class. Besides

the researcher, the observation has been done by the English teacher as the

collaborator. In the process of the implementation of the action, the researcher

took photographs which cover students’ behavior and students’ learning

activities to provide the more accurate data.

2. Interview

Interview has been done to get the data about teacher’s and students’ opinion

while and after teaching and learning process. It was planned but unstructured.

It means that the researcher asked some questions by her but she gave

opportunities to the students and teacher to say everything related to teaching

and learning process of reading. The researcher interviewed the English

teacher and some students of seventh grade in SMP N 3 Colomadu. This was

done after the actions have been implemented.

Second, the technique of collecting quantitative data is a test. In this research,

the researcher used the objective test type for both pre-test and post-test. The result of

the test was analyzed to know the students’ ability on reading comprehension. The


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result could indicate whether or not the use of mind mapping in improving the

students’ reading comprehension.

A good test must be valid and reliable. To know whether or not the instrument

used in pre-test and post-test is valid and reliable, the teacher tries out the test.

a. The validity of the Instrument

Wallace (1998: 36) says that validity means testing what is supposed to test and

not something else. Validity is the degree to which a test measures what it

claims to be measuring. To measure the validity of the test, the researcher uses

the internal validity. The formula is as follows:

��

�� = ��

Where:��= The validity of each item

��= Sum of correct answers within the row divided by sum of correct answers

within column

��= The average of the total correct answers

��= Standard deviation of the square root of the total of the square of each

deviation score divided by the number of respondents

��= The total of the correct answers divided by the number of respondents

��= The total of the incorrect answers divided by the number of respondents


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n= Number of students/ respondents

The test item is considered valid if the �� > r0 (0.632), or a significance value

< 0.05. While, the item is considered invalid if the �� < r0 (0.632) , or a

significance value > 0.05.

b. The Reliability of the Instrument

Reliability deals with the issue of fairness to all candidates. The researcher

should consider if the research procedures used by researcher A are exactly

followed by researcher B, the results will be the same each time (Wallace, 1998:

36). Reliability is important for any test. A test will be reliable if it is held many

times approximately the same result will be obtained. To measure the reliability,

the formula is as follows:

��

�� !�

Where:

rkk = Internal validity

k = The number of valid item

�� = The sum of the multiplication of the proportion of the correct answers

and the incorrect answers

�� = Standard deviation of the square root of the total of the square of each

deviation score divided by the number of respondents

The test item is considered reliable if the rkk > r0 (0.632). While, the test is

considered unreliable if the rkk < r0 (0.632).


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Finally, by analyzing the observation result and test result, the researcher can

make a conclusion whether the use of mind mapping can improve the students’

reading comprehension.

E. Techniques of Analyzing Data

In analyzing the qualitative data, the researcher used qualitative technique as

suggested by Burns (1999: 156). He says that there are various techniques developed

from qualitative research approaches which can be used for data analysis, such as

identifying patterns, categories or themes that are repeated across the data and making

connections between these categories.

In addition, Mc. Kernan (1996) in Burns (1999: 156) states that there are five

stages in analyzing the qualitative data:

1. Assembling the data

The first step is to assemble the data that the researcher has collected over the

period of the research: field notes, questionnaires and so on.

2. Coding the data

In this stage, once there has been some overall examination of the data, categories

or codes can be developed to identify patterns more specially.

3. Comparing the data

All this stage, comparison can be made to see whether themes or pattern are

repeated or developed across different data gathering techniques.

4. Building interpretations

This is the point where moving beyond describing, categorizing, coding, and

comparing to make some sense of the meaning of the data.

5. Reporting the outcomes

The final stage involves presenting an account of the research for others.

The quantitative data were analyzed by comparing the mean scores of the pre-

test and the post-test to know the difference before and after the cycle. In analyzing


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the data in the form of numbers as the result of the test, the researcher count the mean

scores of the pre-test and the post-test, then, the researcher compared these mean

scores. The improvement could be seen from the mean score in post-test which was

higher than the mean score in the pre-test.

The mean scores of pre-test and post-test can be calculated with the formula

as follows:

N

XX

�=

N

YY

�=

Where:

� X = The sum of students’ scores before the action

�Y = The sum of students’ scores after the action

X = Mean of students’ scores before the action

Y = Mean of students’ scores after the action

N = Number of students

�



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CHAPTER IV

THE RESULT OF THE STUDY

This chapter presents the result of the action research conducted in class VIIE

of SMP Negeri 3 Colomadu. It consists of two sections. The first is the research

implementation and findings and the second is discussion. The aim of the research is

to improve students’ reading comprehension through mind mapping.

A. Research Implementation and Findings

This research was conducted in the seventh grade of SMP Negeri 3 Colomadu

for about five months. It consisted of two cycles. The first cycle consisted of four

meetings; three meetings for delivering the materials, and one meeting for the post-

test 1 and the second cycle consisted of three meetings; two meetings for delivering

the materials and one meeting for the post-test 2. The schedule of the research is

shown in the following table.

Table 4.1. The Research Schedule

Date Time Activity Purpose Participants

Monday,

February13th 2012

Wednesday,

February 15th

2012

08.00-08.30

08.20-09.00

Interviewing the

teacher

Giving the first

questionnaires and

interviewing the

students

To identify problems

faced by the teacher and

the students

To identify problems

faced by the teacher and

the students

Researcher

Teacher

Researcher

Students

Saturday, April

28th 2012

08.20-09.40 Giving pre-test To identify the problems

faced by the students and

to know the students’

reading comprehension

Researcher

Students

Saturday, May

12th 2012

08.20-09.40 Implementing

Meeting 1

Cycle 1

To implement mind

mapping in teaching

reading

Researcher

Collaborator

Students

Wednesday, May

16th 2012


Meeting 2

Cycle 1

To implement mind

mapping in teaching

reading

Researcher

Collaborator

Students


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Saturday, May

19th 2012


Meeting 3

Cycle 1

To implement mind

mapping in teaching

reading

Researcher

Collaborator

Students

Wednesday, May

23rd 2012

08.20-09.40 Meeting 4

Post Test 1

To know the students’


after implementation of

mind mapping

Researcher

Students

Saturday, May

26th 2012


Meeting 1

Cycle 2

To implement mind

mapping in teaching

reading

Researcher

Collaborator

Students

Wednesday, May

30th 2012


Meeting 2

Cycle 2

To implement mind

mapping in teaching

reading

Researcher

Collaborator

Students

Wednesday, June

6th 2012

08.20-09.40 Meeting 3

Post-test 2



after implementation of

mind mapping

Researcher

Students

Thursday, June 7th

2012

Thursday, June 7th

2012

11.15-12.00

12.00-12.30

Giving the first

questionnaires and

interviewing the

students

Interviewing the

teacher


opinion and attitude

toward reading after

implementation of mind

mapping

To know the teacher’s

opinion after

implementation of mind

mapping.

Researcher

Students

Researcher

Teacher

1. Introduction

The research was conducted in collaboration with the English teacher of

SMP Negeri 3 Colomadu. The researcher was the teacher who implemented the

action research, and the English teacher was the collaborator.

Before conducted the action research, the researcher conducted pre-

observation in class VII E of SMP Negeri 3 Colomadu to know the condition of

English teaching learning, the problems faced by students, and the students’

reading competence. Based on the pre-observation, the researcher found that the

teacher dominated the classroom activities that made students passive during the

teaching and learning process. In the reading class, the teacher presented a subject

in the text books and asked the students to read whether silently or loudly, and


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then students answered the questions that follow. It became monotonous and

boring. Besides that, the students’ interest in reading comprehension was still low.

It could be seen when they got assessments related to reading activities, only view

students read the text and did their assessments. Some of them copied their

friend’s work or even did not do it.

Based on pre-interview with the English teacher, she found that the

students’ reading competence was still low. The students got many problems

dealing with reading, especially in comprehending a text. They were low in:

inferring and grasping the meaning of words; catching the main idea of the text;

identifying the implicit and explicit information of the text; and determining

references. It was also shown in their bad marks in pre-test. In line with the

problem evidences found in the relation of classroom situation: they made noise

in teaching and learning process; they did improper activities in the class like

sleeping, chatting, drawing, doing homework of other lesson etc; they became

passive in teaching learning process; they did not response to the teacher

commands and the assignments; and they did not pay attention to the teacher.

The researcher also conducted pre-interview to some students in VII E. there

are 32 students in the class. She picked three students and interviewed them. Two

of the students said that they loved English, but the other said that he did not like

English. All of them answered that they got difficulties in almost all aspects of

reading comprehension. They also said that the method used by the teacher was

monotonous. Consequently, the reading lesson becomes monotonous and boring.

They wanted something different about the techniques used by the teacher.

Besides, the pre-questionnaire result showed that the students’ reading

ability in reading, students’ attitude, and motivation toward the English lesson,

especially reading were still low. From the questionnaire result in reading aspect,

87.5% students have difficulties in identifying word meaning in the text and

identifying the main idea of the text, 84.38% in comprehending the text, and


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78.12% in identifying detail information of the text. From students and classroom

situation aspects, 68.75% of students have less attention to the teacher’s

explanation, 87.5% students agreed that there was no interesting media, like

video, picture, song, etc that can support teaching learning process in their

classroom.

Furthermore, the researcher conducted a pre-test to identify the problems

dealing in reading. The pre-test was done before implementing the teaching

learning process using mind mapping. The test was used to know the students’

reading competence. The result of each indicator mean score is as follow:

identifying the main idea of the text (31.88); identifying the implicit detail

information of the text (75.52); identifying explicit detail information of the text

(73.96); identifying the referent of the text (40.63); and identifying word meaning

in the text (47.32). The mean of the students’ score was 57.99. Based on the pre-

observation, pre-test, pre-questionnaire and pre-interview result, the researcher

identified that the students’ ability in identifying the main idea of the text,

identifying the referent of the text and identifying word meaning in the text was

still low because it was below the passing grade (Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal/

KKM) for reading lesson, which is 70. It must be improved by implementing the

new teaching technique. Therefore, the researcher used mind mapping as teaching

technique to improve the students’ reading comprehension and the students’

motivation toward English lesson especially reading.

2. Implementing the Action Research

a. Cycle 1

1) Planning the Action

After conducted pre-observation, pre-questionnaire, pre-interview,

and pre-test, the researcher made a plan to teach reading in the class. She

used a certain teaching technique. The chosen technique is mind mapping.


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The researcher believed that mind mapping was an appropriate technique

to improve the students’ reading comprehension.

To implement that technique, the researcher constructed a lesson

plan as teacher’s guidance in teaching, prepared the materials which was

taken from books and the internet, made students’ worksheet consisted of

some tasks. The researcher also prepared the teaching media in the form of

pictures. The researcher planned four meetings in the first cycle; three

meetings for delivering the material and one meeting for post-test 1. She

chose stories about holiday. It was based on teacher’s advice because the

seventh year students usually use simple texts. That was also to ease them

in understanding the idea and keep their interest in the story. In the first

meeting she used a story entitled “My Holiday to Bromo”. In the second

meeting, she used a story that was almost same with the first meeting

about holiday, entitled “My Holiday in Bali”. And in the third meeting,

she still used a story about holiday entitled “My Holiday Was Fantastic”.

Besides preparing the lesson plans, the researcher also copied the

materials and worksheets for the students to support the process of

teaching and learning.

The action plan would be implemented by the researcher. The

collaborator observed the whole process during the teaching and learning

process in the classroom.

2) Implementing the Action

The action plan was implemented by the researcher. There were

three texts that were used in this cycle as materials. Each meeting used

one text. The implementation of mind mapping technique is described for

each meeting as follows:


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Table 4.2. The Implementation of Cycle 1

The Meeting Indicators Activities

Meeting 1, 2, and 3

The students are able to:

(1) identify the main idea of the

text;

(2) identify the implicit detail

information of the text;

(3) identify the explicit detail


(4) identify the referent of the

text; and

(5) identify word meaning in the

text.

1. The researcher asked

the students about

their understanding of

recount text.

2. The researcher

showed pictures.

3. The researcher gave

guiding questions

about the topic based

on the pictures.

4. The researcher gave a

text and asked the

students to read it.


the students to discuss

about the text in a

group of four.


the students to find

the difficult words in

the text.

7. The researcher

explained about mind

mapping and guided

the students to make

mind mapping based


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on the text and

answered the

questions that

followed the text.

8. After that, the

researcher asked the

students to answer the

worksheet. They must

work in group on first

meeting, in pair on

second meeting, and

individually on third

meeting.

9. The researcher and

the students reviewed

the lesson.

Before conducted the pre-test, the researcher conducted try out. The

aim of try out is to measure the validity and reliability of the instruments

that will be used to pre-test. Try out conducted in class VII F on

Wednesday, April 18th

2012. After that, the researcher conducted the pre-

test in class VII E. It was held to know the students’ achievement in

reading comprehension before the action plan was implemented. It was

held on Saturday, 28th

April 2012. The instrument of the pre-test is in the

appendix 15, page 190. The implementation of mind mapping techniques

is described for each meeting as follows:

a) The first meeting

The first meeting was held on Saturday, May 12th

2012. The

bell was ringing at 08.20 a.m. The researcher entered class VII E with

the teacher who is also as a collaborator. The class was very noisy, the

students ran in the classroom and some of them were out of the class.


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After all the students entered the class and put themselves in their

seats, the researcher opened the lesson by saying greeting “Good

morning students…… How are you today?” Students said “Good

morning, Miss…… I’m fine, and you?” and RDC replied “I’m fine too,

thank you.” The researcher asked to the students “Do you still

remember me? My name is Riska, I will conduct the research in this

class”. Then, she checked the students’ attendance. There was a

student absent on that day because she went to Jakarta.

The researcher began to lead the students to the materials. The

researcher asked the students about their understanding of recount text.

The students did not answer her question, they seemed�ashamed and

awkward to the researcher, so the researcher had to persuade them to

answer her question. Finally, some students responded the questions

and replied using Bahasa Indonesia. One of the students replied

“recount text itu isinya menceritakan tentang liburan miss” and the

other student replied that “recount text itu teks yang menceritakan

tentang cerita masa lampau”. Then, the researcher confirmed the

students’ answer and explained about recount text.

Next, the researcher led the students to the topic. She showed

some pictures (the picture is about the topic that they will learn today)

and the title of the text is My Holiday to Bromo. And then, the

researcher asked some questions related to the picture. Most of the

students still felt hesitant to express their opinion because they were

not familiar with the researcher. So they mumbled their answers.

After all of the students knew what topic that they will learn

today, the researcher divided the class into some groups. Then, she

distributed a text. She pointed some students to read the text. But there

was a student who did not want to read the text. He only shook his


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head and said “Miss, aku nggak mau, aku nggak bisa membaca

Bahasa Inggris”. The researcher persuaded him to read the text.

Finally, the researcher guided the student to read the text carefully.

Then, the researcher and the students discuss about the text,

then they answered TASK 2 (meaning of difficult words). They used a

dictionary to answer this task, although only four students who

brought dictionary.

The researcher introduced mind mapping and what students

must do through mind mapping steps. Using black marker, the

researcher draw a large oval in the center of white board and wrote

inside it “My Holiday to Bromo” the topic that was going to be

discussed. Then, she asked the students to find the main idea of each

paragraph. First, the researcher mapped the first paragraph, she asked

the students to tell her what they got or understood about the text in

the first paragraph. The students seemed still confused, so the

researcher prepared some questions to lead them through mind

mapping. The questions were: “Where did they go in the holiday?”,

“Who went to Bromo?”, “What did they do in Bromo?”, etc. Then, the

researcher drew branches from the central and wrote it the main idea

of the first paragraph and the above of the branches is written the key

word, for example ‘where’. Next, she drew the branches and wrote the

answer from the key word, for example ‘Mount Bromo’, ‘Mount

Batok’, and ‘zoo at Wonokromo’ and it was continued by the other

key words.

Then, the researcher asked the students whether they

understood about it or not. They did not response the teacher’s

question, they seemed still confused, but when the researcher asked

“Have you understood? Any question?”, they were still in silent. After


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that, the researcher asked the students to answer some questions that

follow the text. Students answered TASK 4 in three minutes. Before

that, the researcher reminded the students to look at mind mapping to

answer these questions�� Then, the researcher said “Who wants to

answer the question? Raise your hand, please!”, because no one raise

the hand, the researcher pointed some students to answer the questions

in TASK 4.

After that, the students and the researcher discussed TASK 5

together. Some students actively gave feedback, but there were some

students who did not give any responses. In discussing TASK 5, the

researcher also explained how to identify the main idea, how to

identify the explicit and implicit detail information, how to identify the

referent of the text, and how to identify the meaning of the text. The

researcher also asked students whether they had any questions or not.

The students answered “No…”

Before ending the class, the researcher evaluated students’

comprehension by giving worksheet which should be done by using

mind mapping. They worked in a group. They looked so interested in

making mind mapping, but the researcher asked them to read the text

first before making mind mapping. The text entitled My Holiday in

Flores. The researcher pointed some students to read a text and asked

the students to make mind mapping based on the text. The students

seemed still confused. So the researcher led the students in making

mind mapping. After they finished make mind mapping, they

answered some questions that follow the text.

After the students finished their work, the researcher and the

students discussed it together. The students’ participation was still

low. The researcher also asked students whether they had any


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questions or not. The students answered “Nooooo…..”. When the

researcher asked what they felt about the lesson, they said that the

lesson was interesting and they loved it. The researcher closed the

lesson by saying good bye. The researcher and the collaborator left the

class.

b) The second meeting

The second meeting was held on Wednesday, May 16th

2012.

The bell was ringing at 08.20 a.m. She entered class VII E with the

teacher who is also as a collaborator. The students took their seat

noisily. A student said, “Horeee, Bahasa Inggrisnya Miss Riska lagi”.

The collaborator took her seat still in back corner of the class. After

the students got their seats and became quiet, the researcher opened

the lesson by saying greeting, “Good morning students”. The students

replied “Good morning Miss”, but there were some students replied

“Good morning, Bu”. Then, the researcher checked the students’

attendance. There was no student absent. There were 32 students in

that class.

The researcher began to lead the students to the materials. She

asked the students about recount texts. Some students seemed still

embarrassed, but one of the students replied the question. The

researcher appreciated them with motivated utterance “Yes, you are

right. Good!” It purposed to improve their motivation in participating

in the teaching learning process.

Next, the researcher showed some pictures (the picture is about

the topic that they will learn today) and the title of the text is My

Holiday in Bali. The researcher asked some questions related to the

pictures in brainstorming them. When the researcher asked “What


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picture is it?”, a student answer “Itu gambar Pura Besakih Miss, di

Bali”. The researcher also asked “Have you ever been there?”, some

students answered “Not yet” and some students answered “Sudah dong

Miss”. They seemed enthusiastic and interested in this topic.

After all the students knew what topic that they will learn

today, the researcher distributed a text and asked the students to

answer TASK 3 (fulfill the crossword puzzle). The researcher gave 5

minutes to finish this task. Some of them said “Miss, kata-katanya

susah susah, boleh buka kamus kan miss?” and the researcher

answered “Iya boleh membuka kamus, silakan!” After they finished

their crossword puzzle, the researcher pointed some students to answer

the questions. Then, the researcher pointed some students to read the

text.

Like in previous meeting, the researcher grouped the students

in four students in a group. Afterwards, the researcher chose one of the

students in the groups as a group leader.

Next, the researcher asked the students to discuss about the text

in a group. After they understood about the text, they made mind

mapping and did TASK 5, TASK6, and TASK 7. Before that, the

researcher explained to the students how to get the main idea of the

text. One of the students said “Miss, susah! masih bingung bagaimana

menentukan main idea.” So, the researcher guided them to find the

main idea of the text.

Then, they continued in making mind mapping, but a student

asked “Miss, lha ini cabangnya tulisannya apa aja?”. He looked still

confused, but when the researcher explained again, he became

understand. Then, the researcher asked the students to report their

work. She asked one of the groups/ the leader to draw the mind


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mapping on the board. Some students expressed their opinion

spontaneously when they found their friends made mistakes.

After the mind mapping was completed, the students and the

researcher discussed TASK 5, TASK 6, and TASK 7 together. The

students seemed active in discussing these tasks. The researcher also

asked students whether they had any questions or not. There was still

no question.

To check their understanding about the material they have

learnt today, the researcher asked the students to answer the worksheet

individually.

Next, she distributed a text and asked to the students to make

mind mapping and do the assessments. They looked so interested in


first before making mind mapping. The text entitled A Trip to Parapat.

During the activities, the researcher monitored the class. After they

finished make mind mapping, they answered some questions that

follow the text. Due to the limitation of the time, the researcher asked

the students to continue their works at home.

The researcher asked what they felt about the lesson. They said

that the lesson was interesting. The researcher closed the lesson by

saying good bye. The researcher and the collaborator left the class.

c) The third meeting

The third meeting was held on Saturday, May 19th

2012. The

researcher entered the class VII E with the collaborator after the bell

was ringing at 08.20 a.m. The class was not rigid anymore. The

students did not feel ashamed anymore to the researcher. After all of

the students took their seat, the researcher opened the lesson by


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greeting, asking the students’ feelings, and checking the students’

attendance. There was no student absent. There were 32 students in

that class.

The researcher began to lead the students to the materials. She

asked again what the recount text is and the generic structures of the

recount text to remind the students. All of the students answer

correctly.

Next, the researcher showed a picture (the picture is about the

topic that they will learn today) and the title of the text is My Holiday

was Fantastic. The researcher asked some questions related to the

picture. When the researcher asked “What picture is it?”, the students

answer “Itu gambar Hollywood, Miss”. The researcher also asked

“What do you know about it?”, The class was very noisy. The students

were brave to express their idea.



answer TASK 2 (match the words with their synonyms). The

researcher gave 5 minutes to finish this task. Some of them said “Miss,

boleh buka kamus kan?” and the researcher answered “Iya boleh

membuka kamus.” After they finished their work, the researcher

pointed some students to answer the questions. All of the students

answer correctly.

After that, the researcher asked the students to read the text.

One of the students raised her hand, she wanted read the text. The

researcher gave applause to her because she had raised her hand

without pointed by the researcher. Then, the researcher asked the

students to discuss about the text and did TASK 5 in pair.


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Next, the researcher asked the students to make a mind

mapping based on the text. The researcher asked “Is there any

question about mind mapping?”, the students answered “Not yet,

Miss”. They seemed very interesting in making mind mapping. They

did not confuse anymore like in the first and second meeting. They

made good mind mapping, they coloured and drew their mind

mapping.

After that, the students and the researcher discussed it together.

First, the researcher asked one of the groups to draw the mind

mapping on the board. Some students were actively involved in giving

comments on their friend’s work. They were willing to express their

disagreement if they had a different opinion. The activity went on until

the mind mapping was completed.

Then, the researcher and the students discussed about TASK

5. She said “Who want to answer the question? Please raise your

hand!”, Some students raised their hands. It seemed different with the

meetings before. The students did not ashamed anymore.

To check their understanding about the material they have


individually.

Next, she distributed a text and asked to the students to make

mind mapping and do the assessments. They looked so interested in


first before making mind mapping. The text entitled My weekend to

Anyer Beach. After they finished make mind mapping, they answered

some questions that follow the text. Because the time was over, they

continued their work in their home.


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The researcher also asked students whether they had any

questions or not. There was still no question. When the researcher

asked what they felt about the lesson, they said that the lesson was

interesting. The researcher closed the lesson by saying good bye. The

researcher and the collaborator left the class.

d) The fourth meeting

The fourth meeting was held on Wednesday, May 23rd

2012. In

this meeting, post-test 1 was conducted. This test was held to know the

students’ reading comprehension after implementation of mind

mapping.

The researcher entered the class VII E after the bell was

ringing at 08.20 a.m. The class was very crowded. After all of the

students took their seat, the researcher opened the lesson by greeting,

asking the students’ feelings, and checking the students’ attendance.

There was a student absent on that day because he was ill.

The researcher said that she will give the post-test 1 to know

the students’ reading comprehension. All of the students seemed ready

because the researcher has said it before.

After the researcher shared the question and answer sheets, the

students did the post-test 1 individually. There was a student asked

“Miss, boleh buka kamus ya?”, and the researcher answered “No,

because this is a test, you shouldn’t open the dictionary and try to do

by yourself”.



asked about the test, they said that the test was difficult. The


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researcher closed the lesson by saying good bye. The researcher left

the class.

3) Observation and Evaluation


In the first meeting, one of the students was absent. The

teaching and learning process ran slowly. Almost all of the students

were not active in the teaching and learning process. They seemed

ashamed and awkward to the researcher. In brainstorming the topic,

most of the students still felt hesitant to express their opinion because

they were not familiar with the researcher yet. When the researcher

explained the topic, the students paid attention to her, but some of

them in the back rows were still noisy. There were some students who

did the improper activities like chatting with friend and did the

homework of other lesson. While the researcher was giving instruction

about how they would construct mind mapping, they were confused.

Some students had not understood the way to construct mind mapping

yet.

The students were familiar with recount text, so they can

explain what recount text is easily. The text contained many new

words/ unfamiliar words, but only four students who brought

dictionary. The others who did not bring dictionary were busy in

asking and borrowing their friend’s dictionary.

In this meeting the researcher divided the students in group of

four in doing the worksheet. There were 7 groups of four and 1 group

of three. When the researcher was dividing class in groups, the

students were very noisy. It took much time to get them in group.


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In discussion the material, the students participation still low.

The researcher must appoint them to answer the questions and there

were no questions about the material from them. No students were

brave to raise their hand when they were asked to answer the questions

in discussion in exercise session.


In this meeting, there was no student absent. The students

tended to be more relaxed compared with the previous meeting. There

were some students who began to show up their interest in the lesson.

The student’s participation was better than the previous meeting, but

just some students who actively participated. The researcher must

appoint them to answer the questions. No students were brave to raise

their hand when they were asked to answer the questions in discussion

or in exercise session.

The students were more active to join the teaching and learning

activities. The students did not feel shy to express their opinion.

However, there were some students who were still passive; they did

not give their opinion or their comment because they were shy to

speak in English.

The students were familiar with recount text, so they can

explain what recount text is and mention the generic structure easily.

When the researcher asked them to make mind mapping, some

students looked still confused, but when the researcher explained

again, they became understand

The researcher asked the students to work individually in doing

the worksheet. It was more efficient than work in groups because


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when they were asked to work in group, the class more difficult to

control and it can disturb the learning process.

In general, the teaching and learning process in the second

meeting ran better than the previous meeting. The class was alive and

the students enjoyed joining the class.


In the third meeting, the students were very active and

enthusiastic in doing the activities. Most of them were actively

involved in the brainstorming activity. The class was very noisy, but it

was good since the students were brave to express their opinion. Most

of the students could easily answer the researcher’s questions about

the topic. They also can make mind mapping well. They did not

confuse anymore like in the first and second meeting.

In this meeting, the researcher divided the students in pairs to

discuss about the text and did the TASK 5, and the students worked

individually in doing the worksheet.

In general, it can be said that the teaching learning process ran

well in the third meeting.

d) The fourth meeting

In this meeting, post-test 1 was conducted. The students do the

test individually, but there were some students who cheating their

friends. The researcher has to monitor it. But in general, they do the

test by themselves and discipline.

e) Findings of Cycle 1

1) Improvement of the students’ reading comprehension


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After analyzing the observation result and the test result in

the first cycle, the researcher evaluated the teaching and learning

process she did so far. She found the students’ progress in reading

comprehension and students’ attitude. The result showed that there

were some improvements achieved after doing the action.

In reading indicators, there was scores’ improvement from

pre-test to post-test 1 in cycle 1.

Table 4.3. The Result of Pre-Test and Post-Test 1

No. Indicators Mean Score of Pre-

Test

Mean Score of

Post-Test 1

1. Identifying the main idea of the

text

31.88 58.75

2. Identifying the implicit detail

information of the text

75.52 76.56

3. Identifying the explicit detail


73.96 76.67

4. Identifying the referent of the text 40.63 55.80

5. Identifying word meaning in the

text

47.32 71.43

The mean score of post-test 1 result done at the end of the

first cycle was 68.29. It was better than the mean of the pre-test

score (57.99). Mind mapping helped the students to improve their

ability in all indicators of reading comprehension, but the scores in

identifying the main idea (58.75) and identifying the referent

(55.80) was still low and under the passing grade (Kriteria

Ketuntasan Minimal/ KKM) for reading lesson, which is 70. The

students still had difficulties in identifying the main idea of the

text. They were still confused to get the main idea in each


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paragraph of the text. Besides that, the students still had difficulties

in identifying the referent of the text.

2) Improvement of class situation

The improvements were not only of the students’ reading

comprehension, but also the students’ attitudes and class situation

toward reading itself. In the first meeting, the students were still

ashamed and awkward to get involved in the activities, but in the

next meetings, they began to participate actively by giving their

opinion in brainstorming stage and discussion stage. They also

tried to be active in answering the researcher’s questions and

responding the researcher’s instructions. They were also interested

and motivated to join and get involved in teaching learning process

because the researcher used new and unfamiliar technique. Besides

some improvements, the researcher also found some problems.

The students focus did the task but there were still some students

who did not focus in the task and disturbed their friend and also

they did homework the other lesson. She also found some students

still did not respond to the teacher commands because they still

chatting with their friends and copy their friend’s work or even did

not do it.

From the reflection above, in cycle 2, the researcher should

engage the students’ ability in identifying the main idea and

referent of the text. She would improve the students’ ability in

identifying the main idea and referent of the text by making more

exercise about it. Then, to make good condition in classroom

situation, the researcher will give more time and control students’

activities to do the exercises and will give more control to the


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students in order to make the students did not copy their friend’s

work or even did not do it.

3) Summary of the first cycle findings

Based on the observation and test result, the improvements of

the students’ learning and achievement can be drawn as in the table

below.

Table 4.4 The Improvement of the Students’ Learning and

Achievement in the End of Cycle 1

Data Source Before the Action Cycle 1 After the Action Cycle 1

Observation

Pre-Interview

Pre-Questionnaire

Pre-test

Post-test 1

1. Teaching and learning

process

- Some students made

noise in teaching

learning process.

- Students did improper

activities in the class

like sleeping, chatting,

drawing, doing

homework the other

lesson, etc.

- Students became

passive in teaching

learning process

- Students did not


process

- Some students still made

noise, but they talked

with their friends to

discuss about the lesson

not another topic.

- The students focus did

the task but there were

still some students who

did not focus in the task

and disturbed their

friend. They also did

homework the other

lesson.

- The students began to

participate actively in

discussing the text and

the task.

- Some students still did


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respond to the teacher

commands and did not

doing the assignments

- Some students did not

pay attention to the

teacher’s explanation.

not respond to the

teacher commands

because they still

chatting with their

friends and copy their

friend’s work or even did

not doing it.

- The students actively

paid attention to the

lesson; they also did the

task cooperatively with

their group

2. Reading comprehension

The mean score of pre-test:

- identifying the main

idea of the text (31.88)

- identifying the implicit

detail information of

the text (75.52)

- identifying the

explicit detail


(73.96)

- identifying the

referent of the text

(40.63)

- identifying word

meaning in the text

(47.32)

2.Reading comprehension

The mean score of post-test1:

- identifying the main idea

of the text (58.75)


detail information of the

text (76.56)

- identifying the explicit

detail information of the

text (76.67)

- identifying the referent

of the text (55.80)

- identifying word

meaning in the text

(71.43)

Test The mean score of pre-test:

57.99

The mean score of port-test 1:

68.29

4) Reflection


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In this step, the researcher made an evaluation towards the teaching

activity that had been carried out. The evaluation was written down as

field note. It is the basic consideration to conduct the next teaching.

Table 4.5. The Reflection of The Cycle 1

The problems/weaknesses which were still found:

a. Class situation

1. There were some students who still did improper activities in the class, like

chatting and homework other lesson.

2. There were some students did not respond to the teacher commands and did not

doing the assignments.

b. Reading comprehension

1. Some students still had difficulties in identifying the main idea of the text.

2. Some students still had difficulties in identifying the referent of the text.

Recommendation for cycle 2

a. Class situation

1. The researcher will give more control to the students’ activities to do the

exercises.

2. The researcher will give more control to the students in order to make the

students did not copy their friend’s work or even did not do it.

b. Reading comprehension

1. The researcher will make more exercise about identifying main idea of the text.

2. The researcher will make more exercise about identifying the referent of the

text.

c. Cycle 2

1) Revising Plan

Based on the result of the first cycle, the researcher realized that

there were improvements of the students’ reading comprehension, but the

researcher still found a problem faced by the students. Some students still


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had difficulties in identifying the main idea of the text and identifying the

referent of the text. Besides, some students still did improper activities

like sleeping, chatting, drawing, doing homework the other lesson.

Students did not respond to the teacher commands and they just copy their

friend’s work or even did not do it. Dealing with those problems in the

first cycle, the researcher revised her plans. The revised plans were: (a)

The researcher should improve the students’ ability in identifying the main

idea of the text and referent of the text by using more exercises about it

and (b) The researcher will give more control to the students’ activities to

do the exercises in order to make the students did not copy their friend’s

work or even did not do it.

2) Action/ Implementation

In this cycle, the researcher started implementing the technique of

using mind mapping as teaching technique in the class. There were two

meetings in this cycle.

Table 4.6 The Implementation of Cycle 2

The Meeting Indicators Activities

The students are able to:

(1) identify the main idea of the

text;

(2) identify the implicit detail


(3) identify the explicit detail


(4) identify the referent of the

text; and

(5) identify word meaning in the

1. The researcher

showed pictures.

2. The researcher gave

guiding questions

about the topic based

on the pictures.

3. The researcher gave a

text and asked the

students to read it.



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Meeting 1 and 2

text.

the students to discuss

about the text in a

group.


the students to find

the difficult words in

the text.

6. The researcher

explained about mind

mapping and guided

the students to make

mind mapping based

on the text and

answered the

questions that

followed the text.

7. After that, the

researcher asked the

students to answer the

worksheet.

8. The researcher and

the students reviewed

the lesson.


Saturday, May 26th

2012, the researcher came to the class to

start the first meeting on second cycle. The bell was ringing at 08.20

a.m. She opened the lesson by saying greeting, “Good morning

students”. The students replied “Good morning Miss”. Then, the

researcher checked the students’ attendance. There was no student

absent. There were 32 students in that class.


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The researcher told the students that she would use the

technique that has been used in the previous meeting. The researcher

explained about mind mapping briefly to make the students remember

the cycle 1 meetings.

After that, the researcher began to lead the students to the

materials. The researcher began to start the lesson by asked some

question related with recount text.


the topic that they will learn today) and the title of the text is Camping.

The researcher asked some questions related to the pictures. When the

researcher asked “What picture is it?”, a student answer “Itu gambar

tenda, Miss”. Then, the researcher followed up the question “What did

they do there?”. “Camping, Miss”, answered the students. The

researcher also asked “Have you ever done a camping?”, some

students answered “Not yet” and some students answered “Sudah dong

Miss”. They seemed enthusiastic and interested in this topic.



answer TASK 2 (finding the meaning of difficult words). The

researcher gave 5 minutes to finish this task. Some of them said “Miss,

kata-katanya susah susah, boleh buka kamus kan miss?” and the

researcher answered “Iya boleh membuka kamus, silakan!” After they

finished their task, the researcher pointed some students to answer the

questions. Then, the researcher pointed some students to read the text.

Next, the researcher asked the students to discuss about the text

and asked to make a mind mapping based on the text in a group of

four. They had no trouble anymore. As usual, they had to determine

the main idea of each paragraph, and then mapped the story in mind


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mapping. After they finished their mind mapping, the researcher

asked the students to answer TASK 4, TASK 5, and TASK 6 in group.

After that, the researcher and the students discussed it together. The

researcher actively engaged the students in reading process through

discussion and question-answer process in answering TASK 4, TASK

5, and TASK 6. In contrast to cycle 1, in cycle 2 the students’ work of

each group exchanged with the other groups and the group who got the

highest score would receive the reward. In discussing the tasks, the

researcher also asked students whether they had any questions or not.

There was still no question.

Next, to check their understanding about the material they have


individually. Then, she distributed a text and asked to the students to

make mind mapping and do the assessments. They looked so

interested in making mind mapping, but the researcher asked them to

read the text first before making mind mapping. The text entitled

Vacation to London. After they finished make mind mapping, they

answered some questions that follow the text.

Because the time is over, the researcher asked the students to

continue their works in home. She also asked students whether they

had any questions or not. There was still no question. When the

researcher asked what they felt about the lesson, they said that the

lesson was interesting. The researcher closed the lesson by saying

good bye. The researcher and the collaborator left the class.



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Wednesday, May 30th

2012, the researcher came to the class to

start the second meeting on second cycle. The bell was ringing at

08.20 a.m. She opened the lesson by saying greeting, “Good morning

students”. The students replied “Good morning Miss”. Then, the

researcher checked the students’ attendance. There was no student

absent. There were 32 students in that class.

The researcher began to lead the students to the materials. The

researcher began to start the lesson by asked some question related

with recount text.


the topic that they will learn today) and the title of the text is The

Lucky Day. The researcher asked some questions related to the

pictures. When the researcher asked “What the picture is it?”, a

student answer “Itu gambar orang kaget, Miss”. Then, the researcher

followed up the question “Yes, she got a surprise. Have you ever got a

surprise?”. Some students answered “Sudah, Miss”. “What is the

surprise do you get?” asked the researcher. Some of the students

answered “Surprise di hari ulang tahun, Miss”. They seemed

enthusiastic and interested in this topic.



answer TASK 2 (matching the words and their meanings). One of the

students said “Miss, bikin game kayak kemarin, trus dikasih hadiah” ,

and the researcher said “Iya, dikerjakan dulu TASK 2, setelah ini kita

game lagi.”. The researcher gave 5 minutes to finish this task. After

they finished their task, the researcher pointed some students to

answer the questions. All of them answered correctly.


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After that, the researcher asked the students to make group of

four and started to play the game. It called number head together. She

gave instructions to the students. Each group had to count and every

member of the group will get the numbers where these numbers

became individual identity. Later, for example when the researcher

wanted number one to answer the question, a member of group which

number one had to answer question from the researcher. This game is

meant to train students so that they are compact in the working group,

not just a few people working, but all members of the group. After all

the students gathered with their member, the game will begin. Each

group should read the text, discussed the text and made mind mapping

based on the text. When they finished in making mind mapping, each

group had to do the tasks. RDC gave time for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, the researcher started to discuss mind

mapping and these tasks. All of the members got chances to answer

the questions. All of then answered correctly. Even, When they

discussed TASK 6, all of the students looked answer the task actively.

As if they did not care that it was their turn or not. It was actually

good, because it indicated that students became active and students

responded to the teacher’s command, although the class to be a little

bit crowded.

After they finished discuss the tasks. Different with the

previous meetings, in this meeting there was no worksheet

individually. The researcher reviewed the material in cycle 1 and cycle

2. She reviewed how to identify main idea, referent, and how to find

explicit and implicit detail information. She also did not forget

reviewed how to make mind mapping to make easier comprehending


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the text. She also said that the next meeting will be held post-test 2 and

asked the students to study hard.



asked what they felt about the lesson, they said that the lesson was

interesting. The researcher closed the lesson by saying good bye. The

researcher and the collaborator left the class.


The fourth meeting was held on Wednesday, June 6th

2012. In

this meeting, post-test 2 was conducted. This test was held to know the

students’ reading comprehension after implementation of mind

mapping in the cycle 2.

The researcher entered the class VII E after the bell was

ringing at 08.20 a.m. The class was very crowded. After all of the

students took their seat, the researcher opened the lesson by greeting,

asking the students’ feelings, and checking the students’ attendance.

There was a student absent on that day because he was ill. The

researcher said that she will give the post-test 2 to know the students’

reading comprehension in the cycle 2. All of the students seemed

ready because the researcher has said it before.

After the researcher shared the question and answer sheets, the

students did the post-test 2 individually. After they finished the test,

the researcher asked about the test, they said that the test was easy.

Because it was the last meeting, the researcher said big thanks and

apologizes if there were some mistakes during the research. Then, she

closed the lesson by saying good bye. The researcher left the class.


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3) Observation and Evaluation


In the first meeting, all of the students attended the meeting.

The researcher explained about mind mapping briefly to make the

students remember the cycle 1 meetings. When the researcher gave

brainstorming by using the pictures, the students felt interested with

the topic. They gave various opinions and answers. The students were

familiar with recount text, so they can explain what recount text is

easily.

In this meeting the researcher divided the students in group of

four in discussing the text and doing the worksheet and mind mapping.

Different with cycle 1, in cycle 2 the students had to exchange their

work to other group. All of the students actively involved in discussing

the tasks with the researcher. When the researcher asked about main

idea and referent that existed in the text, almost of the students could

answer the questions.

The researcher gave more control to the students who did

improper activities in the class. All of them focused in the task in a

group. The researcher motivated them with a reward for a group who

got the higher score.

In general, the teaching and learning process in cycle 2 ran

better than the cycle 1. The class was controlled and the students

enjoyed joining the class



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In the third meeting, the students were very active and

enthusiastic in doing the activities. Most of them were actively

involved in the brainstorming activity. The class was very noisy, but it

was good since the students were brave to express their opinion. Most

of the students could easily answer the researcher’s questions about

the topic.

They worked in group compactly. They also can make mind

mapping well. They did not confuse anymore like in the cycle 1. In

discussing the task with the researcher, they were very active in

answering the questions.

The classroom situation was also more controlled. It can be

seen that most of the students paid attention to the researcher’s

explanation, doing the assignments and did not make noise in teaching

learning process.

In general, it can be said that the teaching learning process ran

well in the second meeting.


This is the last meeting and the meeting to conduct post-test2.

The students do the test individually, but there were some students

who cheating their friends. The researcher has to monitor it. But in

general, they do the test by themselves and discipline.

After they finished their work, the researcher said the farewell

words. All of the students felt sad.

d) Findings of cycle 2

1) Improvements of the students’ reading comprehension


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After analyzing the observation result and the test result in

the second cycle, the researcher evaluated the teaching and

learning process she did so far. She found the students’ progress in

reading comprehension and the students’ attitude. The result

showed that there were some improvements achieved after doing

the action.

In reading indicators, there were scores’ improvements from

post-test 1 to post-test 2 in cycle 2.

Table 4.7 The Result of Post-test 1 and Post-test 2

No. Indicators Mean Score of

Post-Test 1

Mean Score of

Post-Test 2

1. Identifying the main idea of

the text

58.75 71.88

2. Identifying the implicit detail


76.56 88.02

3. Identifying the explicit detail


76.67 90.42

4. Identifying the referent of the

text

55.80 72.76

5. Identifying word meaning in

the text

71.43 73.66

The mean score of post-test 2 results done at the end of the

cycle 2 was 80.31. It was better than the mean score of the post-

test 1 score, which is 68.29. Mind mapping helped the students to

improve their ability in all indicators of reading comprehension.

The mean of the post-test 1 score in identifying the main idea


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(58.75) becomes (71.88) in the post-test 2, identifying the implicit

detail information (76.56) becomes (88.02), identifying explicit

detail information (76.67) becomes (90.42), identifying the

referent (55.80) becomes (72.76), and identifying word meaning

(71.43) becomes (73.66). The mean score of post-test 1 in

identifying the main idea and referent were low and under the

KKM, but the score of post-test 1 improved and fulfilled the

KKM.

After the end of cycle 2, the researcher conducted post-

questionnaire. The questionnaire result showed that the student’s

ability in reading, students’ attitude, and motivation toward the

English lesson especially reading improved after the researcher

used mind mapping in teaching learning process. From the

questionnaire result in reading aspect, 75% students agreed that

mind mapping solved their problem in identifying the main idea,

68.75% students agreed that mind mapping helped them in

identifying details information, 75% agreed that mind mapping

helped them in identifying the referent and 78.12% students agreed

that mind mapping made them easy in identifying word meaning

of the text. From the students and classroom situation aspects,

65.63% students agreed that mind mapping made them more

interested in reading and 50% of the students agreed that mind

mapping made them motivated, active in learning reading and did

not sleepy.

The researcher also conducted post-interview to some

students in VII E. She picked three students and interviewed them.

All of the students said that mind mapping helped them to solve

almost of their problems in reading. They also said that mind


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mapping contained many pictures and colors, so it was interesting

and made them excited in reading. The reward that was given by

the researcher in teaching learning process motivated them to

become compact to work in a group and do the best in doing their

assignments in a group. The researcher also interviewed the

teacher to get more information. From the interview, the teacher

said that mind mapping used by the researcher is a good technique

that helps students solve their problems in reading comprehension.

The teacher also said that reward is a good solution to improve the

students’ motivation and participation in learning English. “Mind

mapping could and should be implemented in daily teaching

learning process”, said the teacher.

2) Improvement of the class situation

The improvements were not only of the students’ reading

skill but also the students’ attitudes and classroom situation. In the

first meeting, the students were still ashamed and awkward to get

involved in the activities, but in the next meetings, they began

participating actively by giving their opinion in brainstorming

stage and in discussing the tasks. They were also interested and

motivated to join and get involved in teaching learning process.

When the teacher asked them to discuss in a group, they did it

compactly. In the end of the cycle 1, there were some problems

which were still found. The problems was solved in cycle 2 when

the researcher gave more control to the students’ activities in order

to make the students did not copy their friend’s work and did not

improper activities. In addition, the researcher also gave the reward

to a group which got the highest score to stimulate the students’

compactness.


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3) Summary of the research findings of cycle 2

Based on the observation, questionnaires and tests result, the

improvement of the students’ learning achievement is drawn as in

the table below.

Table 4.8. The Result of the Students’ Learning and Achievement

in the End of Cycle 2

Data Source Before the Action Cycle 2 After the Action Cycle 2

Observation

Post-Interview

Post-

Questionnaire

Post-test 1

Post-Test 2


process

- Some students made noise in


- Students did improper

activities in the class like

sleeping, chatting, drawing,

doing homework the other

lesson, etc.

- Students still became

passive in teaching learning

process

- Some students did not

respond to the teacher

commands and the

assignment

- Some students did not pay

attention to the teacher’s


process

- Students made less noise in


- All of the students focused in

doing the task and asked the

difficulties they found.

- The students began to

participate actively in

discussing the text and the

task.

- The students did their

assignment and always

responded the teacher

commands.

- The students actively paid

attention to the lesson; they


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explanation.

also did the task

cooperatively with their

group.

5) Reading comprehension

The mean score of post-test 1:

- identifying the main idea of

the text (58.75)


detail information of the text

(76.56)

- identifying the explicit

detail information of the text

(76.67)

- identifying the referent of

the text (55.80)

- identifying word meaning in

the text (71.43)

2.Reading comprehension

The mean score of post-test2:

- identifying the main idea of

the text (71.88)

- identifying the implicit detail


(88.02)

- identifying the explicit detail


(90.42)

- identifying the referent of the

text (72.76)

- identifying word meaning in

the text (73.66)

Mean Score The mean score of post-test 1:

68.29

The mean score of port-test 2:

80.31

4) Reflection

In this step, the researcher made an evaluation towards the teaching

activity that had been carried out.

Table 4.9. The Reflection of The Cycle 2

The problems/weaknesses which must be solved:

1. Students still had difficulties in identifying the main idea of the text (58.88) and

identifying the referent of the text (55.80)

2. Students still did improper activities, did not response to the teacher commands

and did not doing their assignment.


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The final result of the research:

1. The students were interested and motivated in teaching learning process,

especially in reading class.

2. The students paid full attention to the teacher’s explanation and actively

involved in discussing the text and the tasks. They also brave to ask to the

teacher when they found difficulties.

3. They worked in group cooperatively after the researcher gave reward to the

group who got the highest score.

4. The students can identify the main idea and the referent of the text.

5. The students’ score of all reading ability aspects improved.

B. Discussion

This section presents the discussion of research findings containing important

points from cycle 1 to cycle 2as the final reflection.

Table 4.10. Summary of Research Findings

Sources Research Findings

Indicators of Reading

Comprehension

Score

Pre-Test

Post-Test 1

Post-Test 2

TESTS:

Pre-Test

Post-Test 1

Post-Test 2

- identifying the main idea of the

text

- identifying the implicit detail


- identifying the explicit detail


31.88

75.52

73.96

58.75

76.56

76.67

71.88

88.02

90.42


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1. The use of mind mapping improves the students’ reading comprehension

From the tests result, it could be concluded that mind mapping could

improve the students’ reading comprehension. Five aspects in reading

comprehension in this research could be improved. Those are identifying the

main idea, identifying the implicit detail information, identifying the explicit

detail information, identifying the referent, and identifying word meaning of the

text. In the final test, it was shown students’ higher achievement.

Based on the study conducted by Deesri (2002) (in Siriphanich, 2010: 3)

that a study conducted with the students of Mathayomasuksa 1 discovered that

the English reading comprehension post-test mean score of students who were

taught by mind mapping techniques was significantly higher than those of the

pre-test. Maestas & Croll (1985) (in Siriphanich , 2002: 3) also carried out a

study on the effects of training in story mapping procedures on the reading

comprehension of poor readers. It was found that there was an increase on the

students’ ability to answer comprehension questions and increased tendency to

maintain story mapping component in their story recall.

- identifying the referent of the text

- identifying word meaning in the

text.

40.63

47.32

55.80

71.43

72.76

73.66

Mean score 57.99 68.29 80.31

Observation (Field

Notes)

Pre-interview

Post-Interview

Pre-Questionnaire

Post-Questionnaire

Teaching and learning process using mind mapping:

- The students more active and enthusiastic in teaching learning process.

The students paid full attention to the teacher’s explanation and actively

involved in discussing the text and the tasks. They also brave to ask to

the teacher when they found difficulties.

- They felt very enthusiastic in reading class by using mind mapping.


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From the aforementioned studies above, it can be said that mind mapping

improves the students’ reading comprehension.

In addition, (Marton & Booth,1997: 6) said that Mind mapping is a

cognitive strategy that helps to improve pupils’ ability in reading such as in

conceptualizing, note taking and summarizing the crucial information for better

understanding and memorization. It can be said that mind mapping is an

appropriate technique to understand and comprehend the text better.

2. The use of mind mapping improves the English class situation especially in

reading class

Teaching reading through mind mapping technique made the students

easier to understand the content of the text. They became more active in

teaching learning process. They showed their contribution in discussion and

participated well in teaching learning process by giving some opinion and

asking some information they did not know. They enjoyed joining the class.

Based on the study conducted by Deesri (2002) (in Siriphanich , 2002: 3)

that the students’ attitude towards the mind mapping techniques also increased.

In addition, Claxton and Murrell (1987) (in Budd, 2003: 8) said that The Mind

Map exercise also supports classroom teaching that is responsive to diverse

learning styles. It can be said that mind mapping is the appropriate technique to

teach the students with the different learning styles.

In line with them, Budd (2003: 12) said that the in-class construction of

Mind Maps furthers an instructor’s fulfillment of Chickering and Gamson’s

(1987) seven principles of good teaching practices. As the students are engaged

in actively creating their own representations of the topic through their Mind

Map, Working in small groups as the instructor consults with each group

facilitates contacts between students and faculty and develops cooperation

among students.


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From some studies above, it can be said that mind mapping improves the

English class situation especially in reading class.



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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION, AND SUGGESTION

The implementation of mind mapping as a teaching technique brings some

effects as mentioned in the previous chapter, especially in relation with reading

comprehension. The last chapter presents about the conclusion, implementation, and

suggestion of the action research at the seventh year students of SMP Negeri 3

Colomadu in the academic year of 2011/ 2012

A. Conclusion

Based on the research results and discussion elaborated in the previous

chapters, some conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, the use of mind mapping improves

the students’ reading comprehension. It is shown from the increase of mean scores of

pre-test and post-tests, compared to the mean score of pre-test which is 57.99, the

mean score of post-test 1 increased up to 68.29. Then, the mean score of post-test 2

increased up to 80.31.

Using mind mapping, the students were able to improve their reading

comprehension. They could easily identify the implicit and explicit details

information of the text, identify the word meaning of the text, identify the referent of

the text, and identify the main idea of the text.

Secondly, the use of mind mapping improves the English class situation

especially in reading class. The students’ attitude toward English lesson especially in

reading class got better. The students were interested in active participation and

taking part in the lesson. They got actively involved in teaching learning process.

Most of them were brave to read the text loudly. They were also brave to answer the

questions from the researcher and ask the difficulties they found. They were very

enthusiastic in following the teaching and learning process. Their motivation in


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English lesson also got better. Mind mapping, as new and interesting technique,

helped them to have higher motivation and activeness in joining reading class.

Finally, mind mapping can effectively be used as technique in teaching

reading. Having some advantages that allows mind mapping facilities the learning

process, mind mapping has improved the students’ reading comprehension and the

class situation in the seventh year students of SMP Negeri 3 Colomadu.

B. Implication

In teaching reading in Junior High School, it is important to use any

techniques which attract the students’ attention and interest. The use of appropriate

technique in conveying the materials during the teaching and learning process will

increase the students’ motivation and the students’ interest in following the lesson. It

can also help them receive and understand the more materials.

The use of mind mapping in teaching reading proves an effective way to

improve the students’ reading comprehension. The research result shows that there

are some improvements in the students’ reading comprehension and motivation after

the implementation of the research.

The use of mind mapping technique makes the students easier to understand

the content of the text. Furthermore, the class situation also improves. The students

become more active in learning reading. They enjoy in joining the lesson. They are

more interested, enthusiastic, and active during the teaching and learning process.

Therefore, it implies that mind mapping can be used as one of alternative

technique that is effective in teaching learning English especially in reading to the

seventh year students of junior high school.


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C. Suggestion

Based on the conclusion and implication above, there are some suggestions

related to teaching reading as follows:

1. For teachers

Reading class commonly seems not so interesting for the students. The

teacher should use interesting technique in teaching and learning process. Mind

mapping is one of interesting techniques that can be used in teaching reading

because it contains many pictures and colors. Teacher also should create a good

atmosphere in teaching-learning in order to make students motivated to learn and

interested during the teaching-learning process.

2. For Students

Students should motivate themselves to learn English. They should follow all

the activities in teaching and learning process in groups or individually. Students

must keep their attitude during the teaching and learning process. They should not

disturb the other friends who pay attention to the teacher. Students also should not

be afraid of making mistakes and keeping on trying in making mind mapping.

They should have more practices both in school and at home.

3. For Other Researchers

This study discusses the use of mind mapping as a teaching technique to

improve students’ reading comprehension in Junior High School. It is expected

that the result of this study can be used as an additional reference in conducting

classroom action research for reading comprehension and other skills.

Documents

“IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION …... · improving students’ reading COMPREHENSION THROUGH MIND MAPPING (An Action Research at the Seventh Year Students of SMP N