Introduction*
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The Department of National Education
has made English as a compulsory subject and positioned it as the first foreign
language to be taught at school based curriculum. It is regulated on the
Indonesian Government Number 20, 2003 about National Education
System and the Law Government Number 19, 2005 about National Education Standard
which is revised by Government Regulation Number 32, 2013. It
has been evaluated from time to time for preparing students to meet
the challenges in the work-force. English is included as one of the subjects
examined in the National Examination. However, the skills for English lesson
included on National Examination are only reading, listening and writing. One
of the language skills that will be focused in this study is reading skill. Actually, it is a
crucial
skill. It is a complex activity which needs times to read more
effectively. The indicators in Curriculum 2013
related to reading reading conpetence are as follows.
First,
to identify
the general
information about the text. Second, to identify the main idea
explicitly. Third, to identify the main idea implicitly.
Fourth,
to get detail
information about the text. The last, to infer words, phrases, and sentences meaning
based on the context.
In syllabus
design, the competence standard that belongs to reading skill is that
the students have to comprehend the meaning of functional text. The
teachers must
consider
seriously about a proper strategy to teach reading
competence. For
instance, a
strategy which can assist students to improve their reading skill as
one of the four language skills. For example, the form of material that is
presented in the National Examination, UN (Ujian
Nasional), is frequently a text or reading passage. The students have
to read English texts with a limitation time to understand and find related
information to answer the questions. To overcome this problem, the teacher
should use appropriate technique to improve students’ reading skill to be
better. The readers do not need to read every word in the text to be efficient
readers
(Wallace,
2004) It means that the readers only need to find the
information they need from the text without reading the whole text in order to
make them able to manage their time effectively.
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From
the preliminary observation and informal interview with the English teacher and
some of grade-eleventh students of SMA Negeri 1 Tana Toraja,
the researcher found problems in the English teaching and learning process. The
students have low skills in comprehending English texts and have low
participation in teaching and learning process. The
most problem occurred in the classroom is the limitation time for the students
to read. It happens because the common activity in the classroom is the
combination between some skills and components of English. The result is the
students lose their time because they are busy with difficult
words and read every word in the text. When the students do the exercise in
the text, they find it difficult to answer the questions because they do not
know the content of the text and when they face the exam or National
Examination there is a limitation time, so they need to get used to think and
comprehend the text. Consequently, they spent much time to answer the
comprehension question related to the text because they do not know what
technique that can be used to get the information quickly from the text.
The researcher
also found the students who mostly didn’t understand how to answer the
questions in reading comprehension level such as literal, inferential
and critical reading comprehension quickly. Therefore, in this case, the researcher
wants to make the student’s literal, inferential, and critical reading
comprehension level improve, so that they are able to find the information that
explicitly stated in the text, to interpret, to analyze and to review the text
with their prior knowledge and defend their point of view about the text
quickly.
The purposes of this study
are:
1.
To find out whether the implementation of skimming and
scanning techniques can improve reading comprehension of grade eleventh students of SMA Negeri 1
Tana Toraja.
2.
To find out how effective skimming and scanning techniques in
improving reading comprehension of grade-eleventh students in
SMA Negeri 1
Tana Toraja.
THEORY/CALCULATION (if any)
Skimming and scanning techniques
help to improve the students’ speed reading and their abilities
of comprehension (Abdelrahman &
Bsharah, 2014). Skimming and scanning are the effective
techniques that are useful to enhance the students' reading comprehension. (Grabe & Stoller, 2002) states that skimming is a specialized type
of reading in which the reader reads quickly for general understanding of the
text and for the gist of the passage. (Brown,
2003) says scanning is the
process of quickly searching for particular piece or pieces of information in a
text. The purpose of scanning is to extract specific information without
reading the whole text. Skimming and scanning techniques are required in
helping students in comprehending a text, getting general idea, detailed
information and other reading tasks. Skimming and scanning techniques are
also intended to help students in overcoming the Senior High School
curriculum tasks in Indonesia. Based on that explanation, the
researcher
concludes that these techniques are very useful for the students to avoid
spending unnecessary time in reading and finding the specific or general
information. To apply skimming and scanning techniques, they may become one of the
reading improvement programs which can be applied by a teacher to assist the
students to read various topics of reading materials. By applying these
techniques, the students will be able to build their existing knowledge
about the topic material of reading material in order to help them in
comprehending the reading passage.
The teacher should be able to
develop students’ reading comprehension in which they can
read the text effectively and efficiently. The readers should have a particular
purpose in their mind before they interact with the text. He effective
and efficient reading always purposeful and tends to focus mainly on the purpose
of the activity and the purpose of reading. (Farstrup & Samuels, 2002) stated that teachers should be aware and knowledgeable of
many instructional methods and strategies available to promote students’
reading comprehension and motivate their students towards reading, promote
their interest and encouragement in reading one, develop their
reading comprehension skills, and aid them in accomplishing reading
comprehension tasks successfully. This is in line with (Manurung, 2012)
who argues
that there is a change of the role of a teacher from teaching to facilitating
the learning process in order to motivate learners to learn. The purpose of reading also determines the appropriate
technique to reading comprehension.
Skimming and scanning are two specific speeds reading techniques to help
the readers to read effectively. It enables the readers to get information from
a material very rapidly. These two techniques are similar in process but
different in purpose. According to (Pappas
& Tepe, 2002),
students need to use the strategies of skimming and scanning to determine if the information they have located is even
relevant to their research or information need.
a.
Skimming as well as scanning is a speed reading technique.
Yet, they are not the same. These two strategies which have different purposes, eventhough both of them include getting the ideas of the
text quickly. According to (Brown, 2004), skimming is the process of rapid
coverage of reading matter to determine its gist or main idea. Meanwhile the
purpose of skimming, according to (Mikulecky, S. B. & Jeffries, 2004) is to get a general sense of a
passage or book, not specific details. Furthermore, he claims that when we do skimming
it means that we have a general question about the whole text first.
b.
Scanning technique is defined as “quick
reading”, focusing on locating specific information (Macleod,
n.d.). It means scanning is a technique of
reading to look for detail or specific information based on the purpose of the
readers, e.g. when the readers want to identify or look for the specific
information (name, time, date, place, and initial).
The skimming and scanning task instructions
for the students:
Skimming
1.
Read the first few paragraphs, two or three
middle paragraphs and the final two or three paragraphs of a piece trying to
get a basic understanding of the information.
2.
Some people refer to skim by reading the first
and last sentence of each paragraph (i.e., the topic sentences and concluding
sentences)
3.
If there are pictures, charts or diagrams, a
quick glance at them may help you to understand the main idea or point of view
in the text.
4.
Remember: you do not have to read every word when
you skim.
5.
Generally, move your eyes horizontally and
quickly as you skim.
Scanning
1. Knowing your
text well is important. Make a prediction about where in the text you might
find a word, a date, a name or a fact.
2. Note how the
information is arranged on page. Ask yourself, “Will headings, diagrams, boxed
or highlighted information guide me? Is information arranged by alphabetical or
numerically as it might be in a telephone book or glossary?”
3. Move your eyes
vertically or diagonally down a page, letting them dart quickly from side to
side, and keeping in mind the exact type of information that you want. Look for
closely associated words that might steer you towards the detail for which you
are looking.
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You have scanned successfully when you have found the
information you were looking for.
Method
This research
used True-experimental research design. (Creswell, 2002) states True-experimental studies
require random selection of subject and assignment of control and experimental
groups. There are two groups involved in this research, the one is experimental
and the other one is control class. The experimental class received new
treatment by using skimming and scanning techniques and control class received
conventional treatment.
The population of this
research was the grade eleven students of SMA
Negeri 1 Tana Toraja consists of 6 classes (Science) and 177 students. The sample
was selected by using random sampling techniques. 50 students selected as a
sample, 25 students in experimental class and 25 students in control class. The
sample was randomly chosen by lottery.
In collecting the data the
researcher used observation, questionnaire, and test. The researcher observed
the condition of the students’ atmosphere in the class during the teaching and
learning process through skimming and scanning technique. It is
used as the instrument of effectiveness of techniques applied. The objectives
of distributing questionnaire are to get valid data regarding to the effectiveness of
the skimming and scanning techniques, to make sure that the treatment has a
benefit and to collect student’s point of view and interest about the Implementation
of the treatment. Last, the test covered pretest and posttest.
Testing Hypothesis
To know whether the
hypothesis of the research was accepted or rejected, the researcher tested
based on7034961397on. The criteria were if the t-calculated
is greater than t-table value, the alternative hypothesis (Ha) is
accepted and the null hypothesis (Ho) was rejected. It implied that the
7034961397
The
effectiveness of skimming and scanning techniques seen from student’s activity
(observation), students responds (questionnaire) and students learning outcomes
(posttest)
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Table 1
The Result of Effectiveness
|
No |
Scale |
Classification |
|
1 |
81 – 100% |
Effective |
|
2 |
61 – 80% |
Moderately Effective |
|
3 |
41- 60% |
Slightly Effective |
|
4 |
0 – 40% |
Not Effective |
(Adopted from Riduwan, 2013)
results and discussion
The researcher observed the students
activities during the treatment with the intention to catch all of them by
moving from one student to another, one place to the next, or standing and
typically at a distance that allow her to watch the entire class. The
researcher taught the students with her eyes, ears, and mind opened to what is happening in
the classroom. Watching and listening to students with curiosity and wonder who
are they, what they know about the material, what they do during the activity
and to ensure that the students understand the techniques applied. The observation
covered all students’ activities during the pre-, while-, and post-activities. It was
found that students are motivated to read the text by using skimming and
scanning techniques, do the exercises individually, worked cooperatively make a
conclusion about the materials that they have learned. In teaching and learning
process the students were active in asking question to the researcher’s
explanation about the material and techniques, active in sharing their ideas
and discussed the task with the researcher.
The Result of Questionnaire
The questionnaire
contained 10 items which were categorized into two major central points.
They were
students’
previous learning of reading practice and their attitudes toward the influence of
treatment on students’ literal, inferential and critical reading level, while
the second point was aimed at finding out the effects of the implementation of
students’ way of thinking by using skimming and scanning techniques.
The first item concerned
with teacher previous technique in teaching reading. The result showed that
almost all students (88%) confirmed that they had never been taught with
skimming and scanning techniques and only a few students (20%) not sure that
they had.
The second item was
decided to concentrate on teacher’s attitude of giving answer to the questions
that followed of reading text after his students could not find the answer
themselves. It indicated that there were 17 students (68%) agreed that the
teacher gave help while a few students 8 (32%) he did not. The third item
showed that almost all of the students 23 (92%) confirmed they had experience difficulties
in finding and comprehending the text quickly, while only 2 (8%) students not
sure. It can be said that the improvement of students’ reading level after the
application of the treatment was not affected by students’ prior learning of
reading practice.
The data gathered from the
students’
questionnaire in item 4 until 10 showed that 83% of students agree with the
application of skimming and scanning techniques and it significantly activates,
motivates, and give challenge to the students during reading class.
The Result of Tests
The pretest was
administered measure the students’ ability in literal, inferential and critical
reading to both classes. After conducting the pretest, the researcher gave
treatment to experimental class for six meetings while the control group was taught by using conventional
teaching method by the English teacher. Then, after giving treatment the
researcher conducted posttest to both classes. The researcher used the same formula to
calculate the students’ score on posttest of experimental group and control
group.
Figure
1
Mean
Score of Pretest and Posttest
Based on the result, there
was difference on students’ reading skill of literal, inferential, and critical
reading in experimental class after getting the treatment. After calculating
the mean deviation of both groups, it shows that the mean deviation of experimental
group was higher than control one. The mean deviation of experimental group on
pretest and posttest was 16.96 while the mean deviation of control one was 8.64
Next, the researcher continued to find out the score of two groups using
t-table to see whether there was significant difference between the means of
two classes and the result showed that the t-counted was 4.3.
To achieve
the t-table value, the researcher applied interpolation formula
because the degree of freedom (df) 48 (N1 + N2 – 2) with level of significant
0.05 cannot be found in the t-table list, the researcher applied the
interpolation computation 
and found t-table value is 2.013. The result of the test showed that t-counted
(4.3) was greater than t-table (2.013). It means that researcher
hypothesis was accepted. In other words, skimming and scanning techniques can
improve student’s literal, inferential and critical reading comprehension by
the grade eleven students at SMA Negeri 1 Tana Toraja.
The Improvement of Students’ Reading Comprehension
The reading comprehension
test was aimed at measuring students’ reading comprehension levels in literal,
inferential, and critical by using skimming and scanning techniques.
Table
3
|
Variable |
t-test |
Df |
t-table |
Sig. (2 tailed) |
|
Literal |
3.335 |
24 |
2.064 |
0.003 |
|
Inferential |
6.176 |
24 |
2.064 |
0.000 |
|
Critical |
3.869 |
24 |
2.064 |
0.001 |
The result shows that
there was significant difference between t-table and t-test in literal,
inferential, and critical level after treatment by using skimming and scanning
techniques. The statement was proved by the t-test value of literal
comprehension (3.335), at the level of
significance 0.05 and the degree of freedom (N -1) = (25 – 1) = 24, or sig.(2-tailed)
is smaller than α (0.003<0.05, df=24). The t-test value of Inferential
comprehension (6.176), and sig.(2-tailed) is
smaller than α (0.000<0.05, df=24). The t-test value of critical
comprehension (3.869), and sig.(2-tailed) is smaller than α
(0.001<0.05, df=24).
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Analysis of the Effectiveness of Skimming and Scanning
Techniques
After analyzing the
students learning activities the average of the indicators of effectiveness
(observation), responds (questionnaire), and final score (posttest) was 83% .
The result of data analysis showed that techniques were effective in giving a
good impact on students’ reading comprehension, especially to get the
information quickly from the text.
DISCUSSION
After conducting the research, it can
be concluded
that there were two factors that have contributed in improving students'
reading
comprehension after applying skimming and scanning techniques.
The first factor was the students act in response. During the treatment, it
found that the students had high interest to study reading. It can be seen when
the steps of skimming and scanning techniques were introduced at the beginning
of the class, the students enthusiastically asked about the topics. When the
techniques were implemented, the students were persuading to skipping some words
that would not harm their understanding of the texts. After a few practice in
every meeting on how to determined key words and phrases that could help them
comprehend the text efficiently, they became more aware of the tips and tricks
in answering the reading comprehension test by using skimming and scanning
techniques. When they are invited to skim and scan the narrative text, they
were excitedly did it. The students
are asked to read the first text in order to get the general or main idea of
it. To stimulate the students to read they were told words such as “quickly,
quickly, do you know what the general idea of the text is? Where did story
happen? Who is the main character?” The students seemed to be motivated to
read faster, and after half a minute they had the information of the text. It
indicated that the students were active in the teaching and learning process.
The students are also interested in applying the steps of these techniques when
reading in class and answer the questions based on the text during the
treatment. This situation indicated that the students understood the lesson and
enjoyed the teaching and learning process because they were facilitate,
motivated, and stimulate in the reading process by using these
two
techniques
The second factor
was the advantages of the techniques. The steps of skimming and scanning
techniques helped the students to read efficiently. The techniques assist the
students to make predictions on the purpose of the texts, the main topic and
conceivably some supporting ideas rapidly. The students do not waste much time
in understanding and obtaining information from the text. During the treatment
the students were enthusiastically. They were able to tell all the details
about the passage, their knowledge about the text can be said to be profound.
The information extracted from the process of skimming and scanning techniques
was enough to give a simple and accurate answer to the questions from the
reading texts; as an outcome they were able to explain the answer in more
detail. The students were trained how to use these techniques effectively and
appropriately through applying some explicit instructions such as: make
predictions before begin to read, guess the meaning of the text which surrounds
it, select the keywords, predict
the purposes of the text as well as identify the gist of the text, give feedback, provide friendly-explanation, and
guidance. The implementation of the skimming and scanning techniques was also
found during the treatment. Despite these techniques can save time in answering
questions from reading texts, the students are required to be in the state of
high concentration in using these techniques. If they are unfocused, they end
up and not understanding the
text at all. This was found in this current research; when students are
unfocused, even just a little bit, they ended up reread the entire text to
understand it. The classroom situation needs to be controlled with great deal
to overcome this problem. The students who were noisy or were distracting their
friends had to be swiftly stopped and handled to get them back on tract. The
students were actively guided and motivated both individual with particular
difficulties and the whole group if general difficulties arise and actively
observed to make sure that the students are using the steps of the techniques
correctly.
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conclusion
Having
discussed and analyzed the data in the preceeding
chapter, the researcher concludes that the implementation of skimming and
scanning techniques significantly improves the students’ reading
comprehension of grade-eleventh students of SMA Negeri 1 Tana Toraja. The data gathered from the indicator of effectiveness
show that the skimming and scanning techniques are effective in improving
students reading comprehension.
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