The Effectiveness of the KWLM Technique in the Teaching of Reading Comprehension in the Non-English Departments. (Thesis)

Graduate Program in English Language Teaching, State University of Malang. Advisors: (I)Dr. Sri Rachmajanti, Dip. TESL.,M.Pd. (II)Dr. ArwijatiWahjudiMurdbjono, Dip. TESL.,M.Pd. Key words:effectiveness, reading comprehension, KWLM technique, conventional technique This study was conducted to investigate whether the use of the KWLM technique in the teaching of reading is effective. The objective of the study is to investigate the effectiveness ofthe KWLMtechnique in teaching reading comprehension in the non-English department students. The hypothesis for this study is stated as follows: OC£The reading comprehension score of students who are taught using the KWLM technique is significantly higher than those who are taught using the conventional technique.OCO The design of the study was quasi-experimental with non-randomized pre-test post-test. The samples of this study were taken from the population of the first semester students of the faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science in Brawijaya University in the 2011/2012 academic year. The populations were 550 students; distributed in 11 classes.Each of the group basically had the same possibility to be the sample of the research. In the present study, classes B and D were chosen because in this semester, the researcher was assignedby the faculty to teach these two classes. The result of the lottery showed that class B was the experimental group, while class D was the control group. In collecting data, the instruments used were test (major data), studentsOCO questionnaires and observation sheet (minor data). The test was in the form of multiple choice which covered the subject matter of reading comprehension. Pre-test was administered to both groups at the same day before treatment. The same test was also used in the post-test which was administered after the treatment to both groups in the same day. The experimental group was then taught using the KWLM technique in the treatment. Meanwhile, the control group was taught using the conventional technique, DRA in the treatment. The minor data, the student questionnaire was used to explain the studentsOCO motivation in learning English language before the treatment (for experimental and control groups). The questionnaire on studentsOCO attitude in the teaching of English in general was given only to the experimental group to support the description of the studentsOCO active participation as the effect of the KWLM technique.The studentsOCO opinion was used to know the studentsOCO attitude in the implementation of the KWLM technique. The observation sheet was used to assure that the teaching and learning process was appropriate based on the lesson plans made. The pre-test means of both groups were analyzed statistically using a LeveneOCOs test, and it was revealed that the significant value was .537 that was higher than the level of significance 0.05. This result indicates that the difference between variances is not significant. It means the subjects of the experimental and control groups are not significantly different before the experiment in their pre-test scoresof reading comprehension test. Therefore, an independent t-test was used to analyze the pre-test means. On the statistical computation for post-test by using independent t-test revealed that t-value for df 98is 2.34.The value is bigger than t-critical value 2.27 at the level of significance of 0.05 for a one tailed test (t-value>t-critical value: 2.34>2.27). This indicates that there is a significant difference of means scores between students who are taught using KWLM technique and those who are taught using conventional technique in teaching reading comprehension. The gain of reading comprehension means score of experimental group is significantly higher than the gain of reading comprehension means score of control group. Therefore, Ho was rejected and the H1 works. Based on the result of research findings, it can be concluded that using the KWLM in teaching reading comprehension proved to be effective in increasing the studentsOCO reading comprehension achievement. Thus, it is suggested that English lecturer to utilize the KWLM technique in teaching reading comprehension, for it was proven that this teaching technique can improve the studentsOCO achievement in reading comprehension. Besides, for future researchers are suggested to investigate the gain of micro-skills and to consider the subject characteristics like learning style, genders, learning strategies, or learning motivation when they are going to conduct research on the effectiveness of the KWLM technique in the teaching of reading in other than non-English departments