THE EFFECT OF USING SEMANTIC MAPPING AS METACOGNITIVE STRATEGY TRAINING ON THE GRADE SEVEN STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION ACHIEVEMENT AT SMPN 2 GENTENG BANYUWANGI

Abstract

English as Foreign Language (EFL) students at Junior High School in Indonesia often experience difficulties in comprehending reading texts given by the teacher in the classroom. To overcome their problem in reading, they need a learning practical strategy of how to understand the reading text effectively. One of learning strategies that can be used to solve the students’ problem in comprehending the text is semantic mapping. It is the strategy that can visualize the ideas of the text by categorizing and showing the relationships of the ideas. By looking at the relationship of ideas of the text, the Junior High School students will be able to get the information presented in the text. This research was conducted to investigate whether or not there was a significant effect of using semantic mapping as one metacognitive strategy training in reading English texts of the grade seven students at SMPN 2 Genteng Banyuwangi. The respondents of this research were the grade seven students of SMPN 2 Genteng Banyuwangi in the 2010/2011 academic year that was determined by cluster random sampling by using lottery after conducting homogeneity test. The total number of the respondent was 72 students, grouped into the experimental (grade VII E) and the control group (grade VII F). The experimental group that consisted of 36 students who were taught by using semantic mapping as a metacognitive strategy in comprehending the reading text, while the control group that consisted of 36 students who were taught conventionally by using question-answer technique in teaching reading. The primary data of this research were collected from the students’ score of reading test which were obtained after the experimental treatment completed, while the supporting data of the research were gained through interview, documentation, and observation guide. The primary data were collected and then analyzed by using the t-test formula on SPSS Computing program. The result indicated that the value of statistical Sig. (2-tailed) was 0.043 and the degree of freedom 70. Thus, it was lower than that of the significance level used (0.043 < 0.05). This means that the result rejected the null hypothesis (Ho): “There is no significant effect of using semantic mapping as metacognitive strategy training on the grade seven students’ reading comprehension achievement at SMPN 2 Genteng Banyuwangi. ” In contrast, the result accepted the alternative Hypothesis (Ha) saying: “There is a significant effect of using semantic mapping as metacognitive strategy training on the grade seven students’ reading comprehension achievement at SMPN 2 Genteng Banyuwangi. ” Therefore, it was proved that that there was a significant effect of using semantic mapping as a metacognitive strategy training on the grade seven students at SMPN 2 Genteng Banyuwangi. Based on the result of this research, it is recommended to the English teacher to also use semantic mapping as a metacognitive strategy in visualizing and categorizing the ideas of the text to make the ideas are easier to understand.