The Effects of Using Communicative Approach through Understanding Poems in Teaching Reading Ability to The Eighth - Grade Students of SMP N 33 Purworejo in The School Year 2011/2012

Abstract

English is the first foreign language in the schools in Indonesia and even as one of the major lessons. It has the main function to give the information by reading something. Reading is central to the learning process, but many students are poor in reading English. If the teacher could take an appropriate method in teaching reading, it would help the students to read in effective way.One of the approaches or methods that can be used in improving the students reading ability is communicative approach. It is through understanding poems. A poem is an arrangement of words containing meaning and musicality. A poem can be rhyming or nonrhyming, with a regular meter or a free flow of polyrhythms. A poem has short sentences but its sentences contain many meanings. It can help stimulate the imagination of the students, to develop their sensitive abilities and to increase their emotional awareness. The objective of this research is to find out the effect of using communicative approach through understanding poems in teaching reading ability. In order to know the effect the writer compares the result of teaching by using common method to the result of teaching using communicative approach through understanding poems. This research is an experimental research which has conducted on the eighth-grade students of SMP 33 Purworejo in the school year 2011/2012. The population of the study consists of 218 students from 7 classes. The writer took purposively class VIII C, which consists of 32 students as the experimental group, and VIII D, which consists of 32 students as the control group. The test consists of 25 items. This is the multiple choices reading test. Statistically, the writer analyzed the data by using t-test. The result of this study shows that there is significant effect of using communicative approach through understanding poems on the students’ reading ability, since it was found that the result of t-value is 6.084 the degree freedom (df) 62 and the level significance of ttest table is 5%. It shows 2.000 It is proven by the result of the t-test sample related that the t-value is higher than t-table. The research findings indicated that there is significant effect of using communicative approach through understanding poems to the students toward their English reading ability. It is suggested that communicative approach through understanding poems can be used by the teacher in teaching reading ability in the classroom. The students who are taught by using communicative approach through understanding poems will get better ability rather than students who have been taught using common method.