The Implementation of Story Mapping to Improve the Comprehension of 8th Grade Students of SLTP Negeri 10 Malang in Reading Narrative Texts

ABSTRACT Nisa, Larasati Chairun. 2010. The Implementation of story mapping to improve the comprehension of 8th grade students of SLTP Negeri 10 Malang in reading narrative texts. Thesis, English Departmenet, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang. Advisor: Nur Hayati, M.Ed Key Words: reading, comprehension, story mapping, narrative Reading has always received the greatest emphasis in teaching English. There are some reasons for this. Firstly, reading takes an important role in learning process. Reading skill is an instrument that can facilitate students to enrich their knowledge. Secondly, reading is important not only because it can give a lot of information but also pleasure and joy. In junior high school level, students face some problems in reading. Most of the students found difficulties in comprehending text, especially narrative text. Based on the researcher's observation, the major problem faced by them is how to comprehend the elements of the story. To overcome the problems, a story mapping strategy is proposed to be applied in teaching reading. The technique is chosen because it is simple and considered suitable for students in the junior high school level. To comprehend the elements of the story the students are assigned to make a story map based on the story given. Classroom Action Research (CAR) is used in this study. The research is conducted in two cycles, each cycle covers planning an action, implementing the action, observing the action, and reflecting on the observation. The subjects were the students of class VIII.F of SMP 10 Malang which consisted of 44 students. There were two kinds of data gained: the students' scores and field notes. The data on the students' score were obtained from the reading comprehension test. The score were used to evaluate the students' comprehension in reading narrative text. The field notes were made after each meeting during the CAR and were used to find out the students' attitudes and the condition of the classroom when story mapping is implemented. The result of the research showed that the story mapping strategy effectively improved the students' comprehension in reading narrative text. The scores of the students in Cycle 2 increased compared to the scores of the students in the preliminary study and cycle 1. From Cycle 1, the percentage of students who passed the KKM were increased from 25 % in preliminary study into 34%. Then from cycle 1 into cycle 2 the total of students who passed the KKM were increased from 34% into 86. 4 %. Based on the students' distribution score, the researcher concluded that story mapping could help the students to improve their comprehension in reading narrative text. Based on the results of this study, it is suggested that English teachers apply the story mapping strategy to improve the students' comprehension in narrative text. In addition, further researchers are suggested to use more respondents in different setting and conditions to see whether the strategy can be implemented effectively.