ABSTRACT

Dhani Aldila Putra. 2011. Improving Students Achievement in Reading Comprehension by Applying Contextual Teaching and Learning. A Thesis. Faculty of Languages and Arts. State University of Medan.

This study focuses on the improvement of students achievement in reading comprehension by applying Contextual Teaching and Learning. The objective of this study is to discover whether the application of CTL could significantly improve students achievement in reading comprehension. This study was administered by applying Classroom Action Research, which was conducted in two cycles that consisted of eight meetings. The subject of this study was the eleventh grade students (class XI IA-1) of SMA Swasta Al-Ulum Medan that consisted of 29 students. The data of this study were in two forms, which were quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative data were obtained by giving objective tests in the form of multiple-choice questions to the students and calculating the mean of their scores. The qualitative data were obtained by using diary notes, observation sheet, and questionnaire sheet. Based on the objective tests scores, the students scores kept improving in each test. The mean of students scores of Test 3 in the second cycle (73.56) was higher than those of Test 2 in the first cycle (61.03) and those of Test 1 or the initial test (53.56). Based on the diary notes, the observation sheet, and the questionnaire sheet, it was also found that the teaching and learning process went well. The students were more active and more attractive during the teaching and learning process in the second cycle than that in the first one. The result of the research showed that the application of Contextual Teaching and Learning (CTL) significantly improved students achievement in reading comprehension.

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