COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN READING COMPREHENSION TAUGHT

USING AUTHENTIC ADVERTISEMENT AND THOSE WHO ARE TAUGH

USING MODIFIED ADVERTISEMENT AT SMK 2 MEI BANDAR LAMPUNG
(A Research Proposal)

by
Siti Munawaroh
0413042011

ENGLISH DEPARTEMENT
TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY
LAMPUNG UNIVERSITY
BANDAR LAMPUNG
2008/2009

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background

In the modern world, English is a language that has been widely used to transfer science,

technology, and art, and to engage human relationships among countries around the

world. This implies that English plays a very important role in a nation’s development.

Thus, there have been needs for teaching the language to Indonesian students because

school must produce competitive graduates who are sufficiently capable to face

globalization era.

In order to develop effective methods in the educational system, our government allows

the use of informational technology to enhance the way faculties teach and students learn.

Various forms of information systems—audio, visual, and audio-visual—will provide an

abundant amount of learning resources, including those for learning EFL reading.

Moreover, they present a wide variety of information necessary for carrying a large

number of fact and ideas that can relate learning in classrooms to the real world and thus

make learning much more meaningful. Teachers’ task is to pick up a piece or component

of those resources that fits best to the learning material as well as to students’ need and

interest.

One of the information systems very popular among us is newspaper, which is presented

with a variety of sections—news, readers’ comments, advertisements, etc. Newspapers

useful for the teaching-learning of reading are of course those printed in English (such as

the Jakarta Post). Every section in a newspaper can be used, with or without
modification, to aid students to learn the skills and aspects of English, including for

learning reading. For example, the teacher uses an article of entertainment section to

teach reading comprehension or generates a cloze-test from it for a listening task. Any

modification could be made to the article used, such as when some words need to be

replaced or omitted if they do not suit to students’ vocabulary-mastery range, or when it

is such a long text that it may create boredom over students.

Among the various sections in a newspaper, advertisement—or commonly called ‘ad’—

comes with somewhat unique characteristics. It is written in large and made in short, uses

some phrases—sometimes unusual words or phrases—to be simpler, and most often

accompanied with colorful visual arts such as graphics, photos, and funny cartoons.

Advertisements present their messages using as few words as possible without reducing

their comprehensibility.

In classrooms, teaching-learning of English—especially reading lesson—often appears to

be monotonous and boring activity. It still depends primarily on conventional, prescribed

media such as a textbook, a workbook, a reader book, or a reference book. Teaching-

learning, which should be connected to the real world, remains classroom based. Teacher

only brings materials that are stated in the text book or guidance book.

Future need of teaching English reading absolutely demands that teachers be aware that

they must provide and facilitate themselves with effective and applicable teaching

materials. They must invent potential problems that arise during the reading classroom
instruction and put an effort to find or by themselves create variation of materials

important to develop students’ reading comprehension. It is also urgent to create good

condition related to students’ motivation in reading, so that reading class can be more

meaningful and enjoyable.

With the interesting, unique characteristics mentioned above, advertisement is expected

to be applicable as an alternative material. It is assumed that advertisement needs less

reading activity and explores more background knowledge or schemata in the students’

mind which, in turn, releases more creativity and freedom in their thinking process.

Moreover, advertisement is supposed to be able to reduce more students’ boredom,

something that often hinders the teaching-learning process of EFL reading.

In case of this research, two forms of advertisements, i.e. authentic and modified, will be

brought into a comparative study to identify each form’s effect over students’ reading

comprehension.

1.2 Formulation of the Problems

The main problems of the research are as follows:

1. What is the influence(s) of the use of advertisement on students’ reading

comprehension?

2. Is there a significant difference of students’ achievements in reading

comprehension between students taught with the authentic advertisement and

those with the modified one?

1.3 Objectives

The objectives of the research are:

1. To see the influence(s) of the use of advertisement on the students’ reading

comprehension.

2. To see the significant difference of students’ achievements in reading

comprehension between the two treatments.

1.4 Uses of the Research

The research is projected to be useful in two ways, i.e.:

1. Theoretically, it would be useful as reference for further research and the

development of EFL reading theories.

2. Practically, it would give an insight to the teacher that advertisement might be

beneficially applicable as an alternative material for teaching EFL reading.

1.5 Scope of the Research

This research is a quantitative research using pre-experimental design that will try to

seek the influence of and the significant difference between the use of authentic

advertisement and that of modified advertisement in teaching reading comprehension.

The subject of the research will be the second graders of SMK 2 Mei Bandar Lampung.

The data will be taken from the treatment and the reading test. In selecting advertisement,

the text based on themes stated in the curriculum of second-grade SMK will be put into

consideration.
 II. FRAME OF THEORIES

2.1 Concept of Reading

Reading can be defined as the window to knowledge through which people are able to

know and comprehend much information they cannot get completely from other skills

such as listening, speaking, or writing. It may be said that through speaking with others

and listening to the radio or watching television, someone will get knowledge or

information. However, the amount of the information will not be as perfect as when she

or he does reading. In reading, the reader will find the reasons, examples, explanations,

comments, notes and summary of the news. But in other skills, they may just get the main

information, or get nothing at all in case that they have weak memory and retention.

Some experts define reading in almost the same way. According to Grabe et al. (1988),

reading process is not simply a matter of extracting information from the text. Rather, it

is one in which a range of knowledge in the readers’ mind is activated to interact with the

new information provided by the text. Mackey (1989: 19) produces something

complementary to Grabe’s. He defines reading as an active process where the reader

forms a preliminary expectation about the material and selects the fewest, most

productive cues necessary to confirm or reject that expectation. This is a sampling

process in which the reader takes advantage of the knowledge of vocabulary related to the

material. Therefore, reading involves interaction between thought and language, closely

relating the readers’ background knowledge and the information states in the text.

Silberstein in Simanjuntak (1988: 24) and Nuttal (1982) also have not quite different
definitions. In short, reading is as an active cognitive process in which interaction

between the reader’s prior knowledge and the printed verbal symbol occurs in order for

the reader to achieve certain extent of comprehension of the message sent.

Comprehension signifies not only the understanding of the surface meaning of the text,

but also the recognition of the purpose and the mind idea.

2.2 Concept of Advertisement

Advertisement is a form of both printed media and broadcast media. Heitber et al. (1988:

334) describes advertising as a specialized form of persuasion, while Winardi (1980: 248)

defines it as any form of non personal presentation and promotion ideas, good or services

for sale which is done by a sponsorship. In producing advertisements, advertisers usually

involve the use of printed words, sounds, pictures, diagrams, and also symbols. The

advantage of advertisements may come from their characteristics. They can be quite

useful as a general communication system as they are highly repetitive.

According to Heath (1975: 22), much of advertisement in modern society is concerned

with giving information about goods and services for sale and this type of advertisement

might be called “information”. But there are various kinds of advertisements beside those

about goods and services for sale. In newspapers or other public media (magazine,

television, radio, etc) we can find advertisements about vacancies or missing people or

pets. Whatever an advertisement is about, it is commonly very efficient in using words

and made to attract attention and arouse interest of the readers. It usually uses phrases and

in some types presents funny words as well as visual arts; therefore, it would be easier to
memorize and understand.

In short, advertisements is an information system created with effective, attractive words,

simple language and phrases, and sometimes visual arts aimed to make easy for the

readers to get the message.

2.3 Modified Advertisement

Modified advertisement is one (authentic advertisement) changed into a passage form

without changing the message intended to be sent. In this case, only the form of

advertisement sentences will be changed. While authentic advertisement usually uses

simple sentences and phrases, modified advertisement uses (more) complete sentences.

Interpreting process is used in changing the material of reading in order to ensure that the

passage is responsible and valid.

2.4 Use of Advertisement in Language Teaching

An important factor for students in order to have interests in participating to the teaching-

learning process is motivation. English teacher should be able to motivate the students in

the learning process. It is supported by Brown (1987) who defines motivation as an inner

drive, impulse, emotion, or desire that moves one two particular action. Without

motivation, the students themselves will try to create barriers for new knowledge and

information, either consciously or unconsciously.

According to Yorkey (1982: 1), motivation may come from students’ outside impulse and

emotion, such as media used in the teaching-learning process. Related to the

characteristics of advertisement (use of effective words and phrases), it will be applied as

a material in teaching reading. It will be used as an external impulse to generate students’

motivation to learn English reading. However, selection of material should be done

carefully. Students’ level, needs, and interest will be taken into consideration.

2.5 Procedure of Teaching Reading through Authentic Advertisement

The procedures that will be applied are as follows:

1. The teacher prepares the advertisements and introduces the materials that will

be discussed.

2. The teacher asks students’ general perceptions about advertisement such as:

 What do they know about advertisements?

 Have they ever found advertisements in their daily life?

 What is the advantage of advertisements to their life?

3. The teacher gives an advertisement to the students as reading material.

4. The teacher discusses the advertisement with the students in order to know

their respond to the material.

5. The teacher gives a chance to the readers to read the advertisement to give

motivation to them.

6. The teacher asks the students to do the exercise by giving some questions
 related to the advertisement in order to know their comprehension.

2.6 Procedure of Teaching Reading through Modified Advertisement

The procedures that will be apply by the teacher in teaching reading as follows:

1. The teacher prepares modified advertisements and introduces materials that

will be discussed.

2. The teacher asks students’ general knowledge of advertisements such as:

 What do they know about the topic given?

3. The teacher gives a modified advertisement to the students as reading

material.

4. The teacher discusses the material with the students in order to know their

respond to the material.

5. The teacher gives a chance to the readers to read the material to give

motivation to them.

6. The teacher asks the students to do the exercise by giving some questions

related to the modified advertisement in order to know their comprehension.

2.7 Theoretical Assumption

Based on the explanation above, it is assumed that teaching reading with authentic

advertisement is more effective because it enables students to learn some phrases.

Therefore, teaching reading with authentic advertisement would increase students’

motivation to learn, make them active in their learning and arise their attention to the

subject.

In contact with the assumption above, teaching reading with modified advertisement is

effective but it may make the students more passive and lack motivation to learn as the

material is given in passage form. They may feel that they have use this form of text

frequently and therefore may create boredom and make students less active.

2.8 Hypothesis

The hypothesis is formulated as follows:

Ho : T1 = T2

Ha : T1 ≠ T2

where:

Ho : the reading achievement of those taught through authentic advertisement is not

different from those taught through modified advertisement.

Ha : the reading achievement of those taught through authentic advertisement is higher

than those taught through modified advertisement.

III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design

This research is a quantitative study using pre-experimental design. A pre-experimental

study is one that uses a group of student given two or more treatments. The formula of

the research design is:

X1 T1 X2 T2

where:

X1 : Treatment with modified advertisement

T1 : Test on modified advertisement

X2 : Treatment with authentic advertisement

T2 : Test on authentic advertisement

In this case the author wants to identify whether there is a significant difference of

reading comprehension between those taught through authentic and modified

advertisements. In collecting the data the author will teach the students with modified

advertisement (X1) followed by the first test (T1) to see the students’ reading

achievement. Then, the writer will teach the students with authentic advertisement (X2)

followed by the second test (T2). After the data have been gained, the test results will be

compared.

To analyze the data the repeated measures T- Test will be applied as this research will be

conducted in one class (a group of students) and has two variables, the independent

variables, i.e. authentic and modified advertisements, and the dependent variable, i.e.

students’ achievement in reading comprehension.

3.2 Population and Sample

The population of this research is the second-grade students of SMK 2 Mei Bandar

Lampung consisting of seven classes, while the sample is Class 2 TKJ of the second-

grade classes. The sample class is determined randomly.

3.3 Data Collecting Technique

In collecting the data, the author will use:

1. Reading test from modified advertisement (T1)

A post- test will be given after the students are taught reading through modified

advertisement. The type of the test is multiple-choice test. The total numbers of item are

20 items, which are related to the materials. The research will use multiple-choice test

with options provided a, b, and c. The highest score will be 100. In scoring students’

result of the test, the following formula will be used:

R
S= × 100
N

S = score

R = the right answer

N = number of item

(Arikunto, 1992)

2. Reading test from authentic advertisement (T2)

After conducting the teaching in the class, the author will administer an authentic-

advertisement test (T1) to the students in order to know the students’ reading
achievement of authentic advertisement. The test used is the same as that used in the

modified-advertisement test.

3.4 Test Try-Out

Before conducting the research at SMK 2 Mei Bandar Lampung, a try-out test will be

administered. It is given to a second-grade class consisting of 44 students (a class

different from the one used for the experiment). The try-out is conducted in order to

know the quality of the test items in term of difficulty level, discrimination power,

reliability, and validity. The number of items prepared on the try-out test is 25 items.

From the try-out it is found that 20 items are valid and reliable to be used as the

instrument for data collection in the experiment.

3.5 Research Procedure

The procedure of the research consists of the following steps:

1. Find the population and determine the sample

2. Find and select the instructional material to be taught.

3. Distribute reading test to the subject.

4. Correct and score the result.

5. Interpret the data.

6. Make report.

3.6 Data Analysis

The data from the reading test, whether it is from authentic or modified advertisement,

will be arranged from the highest until the lowest one. The category in specifying the
groups will be based on the magnitude of gaining scores on the reading test. It is used to

determine the learners into the similarity-sized groups, namely the highest and the lowest

groups.

To compare the data from the reading tests through authentic and modified

advertisement, T-Test is undertaken to compare means from the two tests. The type of T-

Test applied in this research is the repeated measures T-Test, and the data will be

calculated using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) version 11.0 for Windows.

3.7 Validity and Reliability of the Test

The validity of the test is based on the content validity. The test is valid if the instrument

can measure what it should measure (Arikunto, 1986: 64). Moreover, Shohamy (1985:75)

adds that the test should have good presentation of the material which needs to be tested.

Therefore, the author should consider the test based on the materials that have been

presented; the materials are suited to the themes stated in the Curriculum 1994. In this

case, the theme is Economics and the sub-theme is Newspaper.

In computing the reliability of the test, split-half method will be used in which a certain

test will be divided in two parts where each part’s level of difficulty is the same. All even

items are for type X and odd items are for type Y. To compute the reliability of the test,

the following formula is used:

2(r 1 2 12 )
( r11 ) =
Coefficient reliability of the test 1 + (r 1 2 12 )

r 12 12 = coefficient reliability between odd items and even items

The criteria are:

0.90 – 1.00 is high

0.50 – 0.89 is middle

0.0 – 0.49 is low

(Malo, 1985: 139)

3.8 Homogeneity Testing

The statistical formula of F-test is used to test whether the data of the test from authentic

(T2) and modified advertisement test (T1) is homogenous or not.

S2 (the large variance)

F ratio =
S2 (the smaller variance)

The criteria are:

Ho : F-ratio is lower than F-table (the variances of the data are homogenous)

Ha : F-ratio is higher than T-table (the variances of the data are not homogenous)

(Sudjana, 1984: 450)

4.9 Hypothesis Testing

It is used to prove whether the hypothesis proposed is accepted or not. The hypothesis is

formulated as follows:

Ho : T1= T2
 Ha : T1 ≠ T2

where:

Ho : students’ reading achievement of those taught through authentic advertisement

is not different from those taught through modified advertisement.

Ha : students’ reading achievement of those taught through authentic advertisement

is higher than those taught through modified advertisement.

Where the criteria are: the hypothesis is accepted if t-ratio is lower than t-table; if t-ratio

is higher than t-table, Ha is rejected.

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